Short post today. Being that it is the start of a month, I calculated my energy consumption for the month of February 2011. I generated 193kWhr and only used 35kWhr from the grid for a total of 228kWhr for the month! Compare this to February 2010, 928kWhr used. This reduction is mostly contributed to heating the house with wood for the entire month.
On another positive note, at 10:30pm, I picked up Cheryl from Logan and by 11:30pm she was safe at home for the first time in 5 month! This may conclude this blog for a while. It was difficult to post everyday and I'm sure pretty boring for most people. Thanks for tuning in. I may have future posts just for fun.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
2/28/11
The start of the new week. I hope things will settle down a bit, the last few days have been so chaotic that I haven't had much time to blog... let alone clean the house for Cheryl's arrival. This morning the dogs and I were back to our typical routine. After feeding them breakfast, I caught up on two days of blogs, but still behind a day. Next I started getting ready for work, noticed it was getting late, so took the pups on our morning walk.
Only one side of the street had the sidewalk plowed, so that is the side we went to. The dogs were good, we did our walk to the Middle St. Market and back without running into any other dogs. When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, then continued to get ready for work. As I was getting ready, it started to spit frozen rain outside. I made it into work on time and proceeded to work on some outstanding tasks.
The majority of my day I was in meetings, only spent an hour or 2 out of meetings over the entire day. At lunch I came home and played with the pups. By this time the weather had turned to just rain. We played for about 15 minutes before I brought them in. Of course, took another 5 minutes to dry the pups off in the mudroom, but that doesn't get rid of the wet dog smell. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, with a few veggie straws on the side. After lunch I went back to work. The rest of the day I was involved in a single meeting.
At 5pm, I left for home. I took the pups right outside and we played ball for another 15 minutes. When I brought them in, I fed them dinner. I got on the computer and sent out a few emails I have been trying to get out for the past few days. Then I made myself a microwave dinner. I have a few in the freezer that I should eat before Cheryl gets back. I watched a little tv, just to catch up on the news... by the way, since when in America does Charlie Sheen being an ass make primetime news? Oh yeah, this is America, we can't talk about the World, only our actor's lives.
At 7:30pm, the dogs and I went out for our evening walk to Middle St. Market and back. This time, both sidewalks were plowed. This may only make a difference to me because I have a favorite side of the street to walk on. The pups were good, the sidewalk was pretty sloppy due to slush, which will freeze nicely tonight. We got home and I dried off the dogs and we settled in for the night. Reece and I snuggled on the couch watching some tv. I fell asleep at around 9:30pm, waking up at midnight. I turned off all the lights and tv and headed to bed.
Only one side of the street had the sidewalk plowed, so that is the side we went to. The dogs were good, we did our walk to the Middle St. Market and back without running into any other dogs. When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, then continued to get ready for work. As I was getting ready, it started to spit frozen rain outside. I made it into work on time and proceeded to work on some outstanding tasks.
The majority of my day I was in meetings, only spent an hour or 2 out of meetings over the entire day. At lunch I came home and played with the pups. By this time the weather had turned to just rain. We played for about 15 minutes before I brought them in. Of course, took another 5 minutes to dry the pups off in the mudroom, but that doesn't get rid of the wet dog smell. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, with a few veggie straws on the side. After lunch I went back to work. The rest of the day I was involved in a single meeting.
At 5pm, I left for home. I took the pups right outside and we played ball for another 15 minutes. When I brought them in, I fed them dinner. I got on the computer and sent out a few emails I have been trying to get out for the past few days. Then I made myself a microwave dinner. I have a few in the freezer that I should eat before Cheryl gets back. I watched a little tv, just to catch up on the news... by the way, since when in America does Charlie Sheen being an ass make primetime news? Oh yeah, this is America, we can't talk about the World, only our actor's lives.
At 7:30pm, the dogs and I went out for our evening walk to Middle St. Market and back. This time, both sidewalks were plowed. This may only make a difference to me because I have a favorite side of the street to walk on. The pups were good, the sidewalk was pretty sloppy due to slush, which will freeze nicely tonight. We got home and I dried off the dogs and we settled in for the night. Reece and I snuggled on the couch watching some tv. I fell asleep at around 9:30pm, waking up at midnight. I turned off all the lights and tv and headed to bed.
2/27/11
Sunday morning means basketball. Even the 6" of snow, and still falling, can't keep me from playing a little pickup game. We had 6 guys show up, which was perfect for 3-on-3 games. The teams were pretty evenly matched, we played 7 games and split 4-3. I played until 11:30am. When I got home, I played with the pups a bit, finished shoveling the driveway, then crashed on the couch for a long nap.
I periodically got up to play with the pups and to feed wood in the stove, but pretty much vegged out until 4pm. I got up, took a shower and headed to the grocery store for some food. I ran in to Jill and Tim at the store and we talked for a few minutes. When I got back to the house I fed the dogs. I made myself a pizza for dinner and watched some more tv.
Nothing too exciting, being that I used up so much energy today that I could barely move around. Cheryl sent me her itinerary, looks like she will be back in NH on Tuesday!
I periodically got up to play with the pups and to feed wood in the stove, but pretty much vegged out until 4pm. I got up, took a shower and headed to the grocery store for some food. I ran in to Jill and Tim at the store and we talked for a few minutes. When I got back to the house I fed the dogs. I made myself a pizza for dinner and watched some more tv.
Nothing too exciting, being that I used up so much energy today that I could barely move around. Cheryl sent me her itinerary, looks like she will be back in NH on Tuesday!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
2/26/11
Early in the morning consisted of another trip to the hospital with my father. After w few hours in the emergency room, he was released again. Meanwhile I went into Portsmouth and met up with a friend to catch up. I was requested to include in my blog a chronological database of all the vehicles I've been through.
After picking up my dad at the hospital, we headed up to his place in Wakefield and I helped shovel out his driveway and rake the snow off his roof. For dinner, we went to the Poor People's pup for a bite to eat.
I got home around 7pm and fed the pups. Next I took them out for our evening walk and gearing up for some more snow to come over night.
After picking up my dad at the hospital, we headed up to his place in Wakefield and I helped shovel out his driveway and rake the snow off his roof. For dinner, we went to the Poor People's pup for a bite to eat.
I got home around 7pm and fed the pups. Next I took them out for our evening walk and gearing up for some more snow to come over night.
2/25/11
A quick recap of my friday. As usual, Friday is pastry day at work. The morning was typical, with the pups. Work was pretty stressful, I had a lot to do, and not much time to do it. I was able to get the most critical items done, taking a late lunch. I went home with the pups and we played a little ball in the backyard. In the afternoon, I heard that the hospital had released my dad.
After work, I headed home and played with the pups. Did our typical evening routine, then readied the house for my father to spend the night. Nothing too interesting to talk about.
After work, I headed home and played with the pups. Did our typical evening routine, then readied the house for my father to spend the night. Nothing too interesting to talk about.
Friday, February 25, 2011
2/24/11
Another day, but at least I have updates to the events that have occurred in the last few days.
My dad made it through surgery great, the doctor's inserted a stint in a blocked artery. My sister stayed with him for much of the afternoon after he got back to his room. I went up to see him a little after 4pm. He had a steady flow of friends stop by, at one time there wasn't enough space in the room for the nurse to come in. He was in great spirits and is looking to get out of the hospital in a couple days.
The latest on Cheryl is still uncertainty. She will be flying to Christchurch and essentially have a layover for another flight to take her to Aukland. Cheryl has been given the option to get on the next flight home, but this is relative, the next available flight might be a week away. The hopes are that she leaves Antarctica on monday and spends a day or two in Aukland and makes it home before the end of next week. We will see, more updates to come.
My dad made it through surgery great, the doctor's inserted a stint in a blocked artery. My sister stayed with him for much of the afternoon after he got back to his room. I went up to see him a little after 4pm. He had a steady flow of friends stop by, at one time there wasn't enough space in the room for the nurse to come in. He was in great spirits and is looking to get out of the hospital in a couple days.
The latest on Cheryl is still uncertainty. She will be flying to Christchurch and essentially have a layover for another flight to take her to Aukland. Cheryl has been given the option to get on the next flight home, but this is relative, the next available flight might be a week away. The hopes are that she leaves Antarctica on monday and spends a day or two in Aukland and makes it home before the end of next week. We will see, more updates to come.
2/23/11
I am not going to write a ton here, the major portions of my day were no different than any other day. But today I just have a two things on my mind.
My father was admitted to the hospital late in the afternoon, with a possible heart attack. My sister and I went to see him around 6pm. When we left at 9pm, he was doing well, got out of the emergency room and was given a room in the main area of the hospital. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning and I will get more information out then.
Second, Cheryl is still stuck in Antarctica. Looks like we will be canceling our vacation and hopefully Cheryl will get back here as soon as possible. More updates to come.
My father was admitted to the hospital late in the afternoon, with a possible heart attack. My sister and I went to see him around 6pm. When we left at 9pm, he was doing well, got out of the emergency room and was given a room in the main area of the hospital. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning and I will get more information out then.
Second, Cheryl is still stuck in Antarctica. Looks like we will be canceling our vacation and hopefully Cheryl will get back here as soon as possible. More updates to come.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
2/22/11
A new morning, same routine with the pups. The dogs and I got out early, then back in for their breakfast. I had some coffee while surfing the net looking at the pictures that were starting to come in at Christchurch. At the time of the quake, Cheryl had dozens of friends that were still in the City and it will take time to find out if everyone is ok. After being on the computer, I got ready for work, then took the pups for their morning walk. Nothing too exciting happened on the walk and the dogs were good. It was a tough walk though, the temperature had dipped to 9F, I hate taking my gloves off to pick up poop when it is this cold.
We got back to the house and I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, then headed in to work. I continued to work on tasks to complete before my vacation. I also took some time to contact my accommodations for vacation to see what was going on for airlines, rental cars, planned reservations. Still being so early after the quake, everything was still up in the air. At lunch I headed home, played some ball in the backyard with the pups and then made myself a PB&J sandwich. I went back to work and continued with my work as usual.
After work, I went home and let the dogs out, stoked the fire in the wood stove and then played some ball in the yard. We came in and I fed them dinner and then got back on the computer to see if any updates have been posted in New Zealand. I made myself a cheese 'burger' for dinner and ate it while watching the news. I mulled around the house for a bit, checked on flight options to avoid Christchurch, but they all added $1000 to what I already paid for a flight.
At 7:15pm, I took the pups out for the evening walk. It was much warmer than this morning and the dogs were good. Nothing too exciting, as most walks go. We got back in time to watch NCIS with a bowl of chocolate pudding. I watched NCIS-LA afterwards and then went to bed at 10pm.
We got back to the house and I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, then headed in to work. I continued to work on tasks to complete before my vacation. I also took some time to contact my accommodations for vacation to see what was going on for airlines, rental cars, planned reservations. Still being so early after the quake, everything was still up in the air. At lunch I headed home, played some ball in the backyard with the pups and then made myself a PB&J sandwich. I went back to work and continued with my work as usual.
After work, I went home and let the dogs out, stoked the fire in the wood stove and then played some ball in the yard. We came in and I fed them dinner and then got back on the computer to see if any updates have been posted in New Zealand. I made myself a cheese 'burger' for dinner and ate it while watching the news. I mulled around the house for a bit, checked on flight options to avoid Christchurch, but they all added $1000 to what I already paid for a flight.
At 7:15pm, I took the pups out for the evening walk. It was much warmer than this morning and the dogs were good. Nothing too exciting, as most walks go. We got back in time to watch NCIS with a bowl of chocolate pudding. I watched NCIS-LA afterwards and then went to bed at 10pm.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
2/21/11
A short post for today as I am running out of time this morning to write. Nothing too exciting happened today to talk about.
I am currently reading through reports of the devastation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Cheryl was scheduled to fly there on tuesday, and I was going to meet up with her in a week. There are a ton of Cheryl's friends that had just arrived in Christchurch and she is trying to find out if they are ok.
Looks like Cheryl will stay in Antarctica for a little while longer. There is talk of the last flight landing somewhere else, maybe Australia, but nothing for sure. Anyway, wishing the best for everyone in Christchurch.
I am currently reading through reports of the devastation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Cheryl was scheduled to fly there on tuesday, and I was going to meet up with her in a week. There are a ton of Cheryl's friends that had just arrived in Christchurch and she is trying to find out if they are ok.
Looks like Cheryl will stay in Antarctica for a little while longer. There is talk of the last flight landing somewhere else, maybe Australia, but nothing for sure. Anyway, wishing the best for everyone in Christchurch.
Monday, February 21, 2011
2/20/11
Sunday morning means basketball! Dogs woke me up at the regular time (5:45am), I took them out an fed them breakfast, then went back to sleep for another hour. When I finally got up, I had some coffee and wrote in my blog. Next I started to get ready for basketball. Before I got too far, I took the pups out for our morning walk to Union St. and back (0.7 miles). There were a couple close encounters, but we were able to avoid all the dogs on the walk. When we got home, I finished getting ready for basketball and headed to the gym.
We had a really good turnout this week, we had 13 guys show up! We played a first game of 5-on-5, then split it up to have two games going with 3-on-3, doing a mini tournament of 3 games. For the last game, we went back to the 5-on-5. I misses a ton of layups and easy shots, but I think I did pretty well on the rebounds and defense.
After basketball, I came home and took a shower, then laid down on the couch to get a nap in. I must have na
pped for 2 hours. I think I use as much energy during basketball as I do during a half marathon... I'm usually wreaked for the next 24 hours. At 3pm, I took the pups for a nice 1.0 mile walk. I usually shy away from letting the pups meet other dogs on the walk (while I am alone), but I saw a puppy border collie heading right at us and I had to stop and see him. It was a 6 month old male, so adorable. Chance was being a jerk because it was a boy, Reece was playful, but starting to get a little aggressive. Anyway, I had my puppy fix, and immediately sent a picture to Cheryl to brag about the meeting.
pped for 2 hours. I think I use as much energy during basketball as I do during a half marathon... I'm usually wreaked for the next 24 hours. At 3pm, I took the pups for a nice 1.0 mile walk. I usually shy away from letting the pups meet other dogs on the walk (while I am alone), but I saw a puppy border collie heading right at us and I had to stop and see him. It was a 6 month old male, so adorable. Chance was being a jerk because it was a boy, Reece was playful, but starting to get a little aggressive. Anyway, I had my puppy fix, and immediately sent a picture to Cheryl to brag about the meeting.After the walk, Jake stopped by to get a house key and see the pups. We talked for 20 minutes or so. Next I went off to Target, I bought some more cereal and some swedish fish for Dennis. Then I went over to the grocery store and got some staples for the next week. I got home around 4:30pm and watched the end of the Daytona 500. If NASCAR is wonder why people are stopping watching this sport, just look at the 'overtime finish' and the freezing the field at caution. I can't stand this green-white-checker idea, I know they limit it to 3 times, but you are almost guaranteed a crash in the last 2 laps... let the guys race back to the finish line like the sport was intended. It really sucks that someone who is 20th causes an accident and the fans get jipped out of a good exciting finish. There is my rant for Nascar.
Next I fed the dogs and then took them in the backyard for a bit. When we came in, I made dinner for myself and watched some more tv. I fell asleep again around 6:30pm, waking up at 8pm, just in time for animation domination! Unfortunately, I fell asleep again and missed it. I woke up at 10pm and turned off everything and went to bed.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
2/19/11
Got up this saturday morning just like all others. Took the pups outside and then fed them breakfast. Put in a load of laundry and had some coffee while surfing the net. Next I sat back in front of the TV and watched the 2nd half to a movie I tried to watch last night. I finished it, and put the DVD out for the mailman. Next I took the pups on a morning walk (0.7 miles) to Union St. and back. It was a bit cold, mostly because of the gusting wind. I mulled around the house a bit longer, then went out shopping.
First I stopped off at Bank of America and finally closed my checking account there. I noticed they started charging me $9/mo. for that account, it was my last account with them. Then I went up to Kittery Trading Post to get some nylon straps, also picked up some SmartWool socks, and a few misc. items for my trip. Next I went to Kohl's and returned the leather jacket I bought last week. After wearing it a few times, it really was
too big, I needed a smaller size. Since they only had large sizes, I just got my money back. Then I went to Pet Quarters and got the dogs some more food.
too big, I needed a smaller size. Since they only had large sizes, I just got my money back. Then I went to Pet Quarters and got the dogs some more food.When I got home, it was noon. I made a PB&J for lunch and took the dogs in the backyard. It has gotten really icy back there again, and the dogs don't like to play ball on ice. We came in, I made some cheese and crackers and watched some TV, falling asleep multiple times (so did the pups). At 3:30pm, the pups and I went for a nice long walk. We did our 1.0 mile loop near the funeral home. It was such a great day, sunny and beautiful, but windy. When we got back, I decided to do a few things around the house I've been meaning to get to.
I climbed up to the 3rd floor loft and took out the filters to the Venmar, brought them down and cleaned them. Later I put the back up, while in that area, I changed out the battery to the smoke/carbon monoxide detector. Next I started re-typing the Dog Notes I leave for the people dog sitting. At 5pm, Cheryl called on the video chat. We talked for 30 minutes or so, during which I fed the dogs their dinner. Cheryl now has 4 days left on the ice! Can't wait to see her. After talking, I made some ravioli for dinner and ate upstairs in front of the TV. I am assuming that once Cheryl gets back, my TV watching will be reduced substantially.
For the rest of the night, I continued to work on getting things ready for my backpacking trip. I have the tw
o sleeping bags airing out. I have my two sleeping pads blown up, trying to decide which one to take. Trying to find the right clothes to bring, I don't want to carry too much, plus I am trying to keep my luggage to carry-on only.
o sleeping bags airing out. I have my two sleeping pads blown up, trying to decide which one to take. Trying to find the right clothes to bring, I don't want to carry too much, plus I am trying to keep my luggage to carry-on only. Finally I passed out on the couch around 9pm, woke up around 11pm and turned off all the lights. I decided to try and sleep on the couch to see if that helps my back.
2/18/11
Friday, so exciting. I will keep this post short. Did the typical morning thing with the pups and then off to work. At lunch I came home and played a little ball with the dogs in the backyard. After work I played with the dogs, fed them dinner, talked to Cheryl on the phone and ran to the ATM. At 6pm, I took the pups for a walk. At 6:45pm, I was off to a poker game. The game was for Frank's birthday, there were 16 guys, two tables. It was a lot of fun and I walked out with the same amount I walked in with! I got home and took the pups out one last time, then off to bed.
Friday, February 18, 2011
2/17/11
Got up this morning with the dogs and did our typical routine of taking them outside, back in for breakfast and blogging about the previous day. Afterwards, I took the garbage and recycling out. It took almost 2 months to accumulate enough garbage to fill a bag to put out. This is usually ok for the winter months, but during the summer the garbage has to go out more often because it starts stinking pretty good. Next, the dogs and I went for our morning walk to Union St. and back (0.7 miles). I think these walks are counter-productive for Chance... he just eats ice cubes off the ground the entire time, so whatever he pees, he more than makes up for in ice.
We got back to the house and I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then got ready for work. I didn't start a fire in the wood stove today because it is suppose to be warm and sunny. I headed out a little early, just because. Work is the same, nothing too exciting to really talk about. I am pretty busy, but mostly because I am getting things in place before I leave for vacation. At lunch, I headed into town and met up with Seth at Me & Ollie's. What a beautiful day, 54F and sunny, we decided to take our sandwiches outside and eat on one of the benches. Couldn't ask for a better day. I had a great time talking with Seth, we walked midway over the Memorial Bridge. But, as all good things must come to an end, my cubicle awaited my return. On the way back to work, I stopped in at the house and played with the pups outside for 10 minutes.
When I got back to work, I continued to finish up o few things, similar to the morning. At 5pm, I headed home and took the pups right outside, it was still 49F and some sun left in the sky. We played for almost 20 minutes, then I fed them dinner. I put a load of laundry in, then talked to Cheryl on the phone for almost 40 minutes. Afterwards, I made my dinner, ravioli and sauce and some crackers and cheese. I finished eating around 7:30pm, time for the dogs evening walk. We did the down and back (0.7 miles), everything went well. When we got back, I watched an hour or so of TV, falling asleep on the couch. I woke up around midnight, turned everything off and went to bed.
We got back to the house and I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then got ready for work. I didn't start a fire in the wood stove today because it is suppose to be warm and sunny. I headed out a little early, just because. Work is the same, nothing too exciting to really talk about. I am pretty busy, but mostly because I am getting things in place before I leave for vacation. At lunch, I headed into town and met up with Seth at Me & Ollie's. What a beautiful day, 54F and sunny, we decided to take our sandwiches outside and eat on one of the benches. Couldn't ask for a better day. I had a great time talking with Seth, we walked midway over the Memorial Bridge. But, as all good things must come to an end, my cubicle awaited my return. On the way back to work, I stopped in at the house and played with the pups outside for 10 minutes.
When I got back to work, I continued to finish up o few things, similar to the morning. At 5pm, I headed home and took the pups right outside, it was still 49F and some sun left in the sky. We played for almost 20 minutes, then I fed them dinner. I put a load of laundry in, then talked to Cheryl on the phone for almost 40 minutes. Afterwards, I made my dinner, ravioli and sauce and some crackers and cheese. I finished eating around 7:30pm, time for the dogs evening walk. We did the down and back (0.7 miles), everything went well. When we got back, I watched an hour or so of TV, falling asleep on the couch. I woke up around midnight, turned everything off and went to bed.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
2/16/11
Woke up this morning with Reece on the bed and Chance licking my face, ahhh the best. We got up and did our typical morning routine. The dogs went outside, then back in for their breakfast. I had some coffee and blogged. Afterwards, I took a shower and got dressed for the day. The dogs and I went for our morning walk to Union St. and back (0.7 miles). I can't wait for the snow to melt. The dogs are finding the nooks and crannies of people's footstep in the snow and some sort of aiming game to get all their poop in one of these depressions. Then it is like trying to get peanut butter out of the nooks and crannies of a toasted english muffin. We made it back to the house, I had a 3-egg green pepper, onion and cheese omelet then got ready for work.
For the most part of the day today, I was in meetings. At lunch, I went with Carl and Dennis to Herbert's, I had the Monti Cristo sandwich. Looks like Carl is looking around for a house in the area, there seem to be a large amount of houses on the market. After lunch, I headed home to let the dogs out and to play ball. I put some more wood in the stove and headed back to work. The remaining part of the day I spent in meetings.
At 5pm, I headed home to play with the dogs. We got about 10 minutes of play time in, then I fed them dinner, put more wood in the stove and headed out to meet up with Jeff. I met Jeff, Tucker and Tucker's wife at The Brewery for some dinner, I had the pulled pork sandwich. After a couple beers, we headed over to The Music Hall for the Banff Film Festival. I got to see Angela, and we talked a bit in the lobby before the start of the show. The show was pretty good, this year it seemed to be more about humor than challenges of the sports. It got over at 10:20pm, so I headed home and let the pups out one last time. I got into bed around 10:45pm.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
2/15/11
Tuesday morning... the number of days that I write in this blog are starting to count down now. No longer am I counting weeks, now it's days! The dogs and I got up as usual and did our morning routine. Nothing too spectacular going on in my life right now to write about. After our routine, we went out for a 0.7 mile morning walk, waved at Dave as he drove by. Got home and had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and headed off to work a bit early.
Work was the same as usual, continued to work on tasks, knocking them off my list one by one. At lunch I went home and played ball in the backyard with the dogs. Reece decided to hide under the stairs to the side door while Chance ventured out onto the snowy area near the chimney (we almost never go over there since it snowed). I came in, had a yogurt and PB&J for lunch. Since the house was still warm from yesterday, I still haven't started a fire today! After eating, I headed back to work. The rest of the afternoon was much like the morning, nothing too interesting to speak of.
I got home right after 5pm, started a fire in the wood stove and took the pups outside for some ball. I stayed out as late as possible to get the last bit of daily sun. We came in, the dogs had their dinner and I went upstairs and did a workout. Next I took a shower, made my dinner (ravioli and a salad), and ate while watching some TV. After dinner, the dogs and I went out for our evening 0.7 mile walk. Looks like the sidewalk salter came through some time today... there was a nice new layer of salt over the sidewalks. Chance barely made it home with a limp.
The rest of the evening involved me the pups on the couch. Chance even spent some time with me looking for some belly rubs, too cute. I fell asleep a bit before 10pm.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
2/14/11
Another morning, same routine. Had the dogs out first thing, then back in for their breakfast. I had some coffee and blogged about the weekend. I was so happy to post that photo of the dogs yesterday, it is among the cutest ever! It was already a warm start to the day, in the low 30s this early in the morning... good things to come. After blogging, I got dressed to take the pups out. We went for a morning walk down the Union St. and back (0.7 miles). I got to try out some new poop bags... yes, that is the most exciting part of the walk for me. The dogs were pretty good. We walked up to a golden (also had a gentle leader on). With the snow banks, it is very difficult to ditch the current route and take an alternate route to avoid confrontations. The dogs did OK, Reece began to bark and pull after the golden started barking. I just didn't have the time to pull out treats to entice Reece (I was wearing my large mitts that don't fit in my pocket).
When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and surf the information super highway (a.k.a. the internets) for a few more minutes. I went upstairs and got cleaned up for work, got dressed and headed out the door. Work was as usual. Everyone seemed excited for this Hallmark holiday... another excuse to buy a card and flowers. At lunch I went home with the pups, it was hard not to enjoy being outside. Though it was pretty cloudy, it was in the low 50s for the first time in months. The dogs were able to play ball in the yard because the ice had softened up, we stayed out as long as possible. When we went in, I made a ham & cheese with greens and ranch dressing wrap... pretty good. Then I headed back to work.
The rest of the afternoon at work went ok as well. I continued to close out tasks, transitioning to get things complete before my vacation in 2 weeks. I ended up working a bit late in order to get a few things done for first thing tomorrow.
I got home around 5:45pm, Cheryl called as I was walking through the door. I immediately let the dogs out in the yard and we played ball for 15 minutes while talking with Cheryl. It was still above 50F and I didn't want to go in. But I brought the pups in, fed them dinner and finished my conversation with Cheryl. I headed over to EMS to pick up a sleeping pad for our hike. I saw Michael, our neighbor there, we talked for a few minutes. Then I headed over to Shaw's to pick up some food... I can't believe how much more expensive Shaw's is over Hannaford... crazy.
I got back to the house, put the food away and immediately headed out for the evening walk with the dogs. It was 7:30pm, and still 45F... it was great, I didn't even have to wear gloves. We went for a nice long 1.0 mile loop. The dogs seemed to enjoy the longer walk and were pooped when we got back. I made some buffalo 'chicken' tenders and a salad for my dinner and ate it while watching some TV. I finally got to bed around 10pm.
When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and surf the information super highway (a.k.a. the internets) for a few more minutes. I went upstairs and got cleaned up for work, got dressed and headed out the door. Work was as usual. Everyone seemed excited for this Hallmark holiday... another excuse to buy a card and flowers. At lunch I went home with the pups, it was hard not to enjoy being outside. Though it was pretty cloudy, it was in the low 50s for the first time in months. The dogs were able to play ball in the yard because the ice had softened up, we stayed out as long as possible. When we went in, I made a ham & cheese with greens and ranch dressing wrap... pretty good. Then I headed back to work.
The rest of the afternoon at work went ok as well. I continued to close out tasks, transitioning to get things complete before my vacation in 2 weeks. I ended up working a bit late in order to get a few things done for first thing tomorrow.
I got home around 5:45pm, Cheryl called as I was walking through the door. I immediately let the dogs out in the yard and we played ball for 15 minutes while talking with Cheryl. It was still above 50F and I didn't want to go in. But I brought the pups in, fed them dinner and finished my conversation with Cheryl. I headed over to EMS to pick up a sleeping pad for our hike. I saw Michael, our neighbor there, we talked for a few minutes. Then I headed over to Shaw's to pick up some food... I can't believe how much more expensive Shaw's is over Hannaford... crazy.
I got back to the house, put the food away and immediately headed out for the evening walk with the dogs. It was 7:30pm, and still 45F... it was great, I didn't even have to wear gloves. We went for a nice long 1.0 mile loop. The dogs seemed to enjoy the longer walk and were pooped when we got back. I made some buffalo 'chicken' tenders and a salad for my dinner and ate it while watching some TV. I finally got to bed around 10pm.
Monday, February 14, 2011
2/13/11
Sunday morning routine... After my weekday morning routine with the dogs, Sunday's I head over to the court to play some hoops with some friends. The turnout was a little lite this week, but we still had lots of fun. As usual, I put out a lot of energy and I'm usually toast for the rest of the day.
Tired dogs are good dogs!
When I got home, I did a load of laundry, washed the dirty dishes, vacuumed the downstairs and played with the pups in the backyard. Then I took a shower and layed on the couch watching TV... catching a few naps in the process. I did spend some time on-line looking up camping sleeping pads. Next thing I know, it's 5:30pm. I fed the pups their dinner and made myself a pizza. At 7pm, the dogs and I went out for the evening walk.
We got back and I vegged out on the couch again, watching TV until 11pm... what a slug I am.
2/12/11
A lazy saturday... actually, I was out and about quite a bit. I will keep it short, as weekends are difficult to keep track of on monday morning when I write the blog. Ultimately, we did our morning routine and eventually made it out for a long walk (to Rte 1A light and back - 1.0 miles). I picked up the house a bit, then went out to go shopping. First I went to EMS again to look at camping stuff. Then I went up to Kittery Trading Post. I bought a compression sack and two dry sacks that were on sale.
I came home to check up on the dogs, and to stoke the fire. We went out and played a bit, then I was off to Lowes. I had a few more house keys made, then walked over to Target. I got some cereal, and some food for the vacation as well as some travel stuff. On the way out, I saw Mackenzie, Dan, Emerson and Cailan coming in. We chatted at the entrance for 10 minutes or so, then I took off. I headed over to Kohl's to look at a new wallet. I also looked through their 20 racks of clothes on sale 60-90% off. I bought a few nice button-up shirts, a leather jacket for riding my motorcycle ($110 marked down to $22) and a new wallet.
When I got home, I tried out the compression sack with my sleeping bag and checked out my available room in my backpack. Follow this by trips outside with the dogs and most of my day was filled up. I got to talk to Cheryl on Google chat for 15 minutes or so, our video chatting is getting more frequent now that there are less people on station. Seth stopped by during his run to say hi and see how I was doing... he got a chance to say hi to Cheryl through video chat. Afterwards, I went upstairs and did my daily workout, took a shower and relaxed for the rest of the day.
The dogs and I went out for another walk to end the day, only going to Union St. and back (0.7 miles). For the rest of the night, I kinda vegged out on the couch watching TV and relaxing.
I came home to check up on the dogs, and to stoke the fire. We went out and played a bit, then I was off to Lowes. I had a few more house keys made, then walked over to Target. I got some cereal, and some food for the vacation as well as some travel stuff. On the way out, I saw Mackenzie, Dan, Emerson and Cailan coming in. We chatted at the entrance for 10 minutes or so, then I took off. I headed over to Kohl's to look at a new wallet. I also looked through their 20 racks of clothes on sale 60-90% off. I bought a few nice button-up shirts, a leather jacket for riding my motorcycle ($110 marked down to $22) and a new wallet.
When I got home, I tried out the compression sack with my sleeping bag and checked out my available room in my backpack. Follow this by trips outside with the dogs and most of my day was filled up. I got to talk to Cheryl on Google chat for 15 minutes or so, our video chatting is getting more frequent now that there are less people on station. Seth stopped by during his run to say hi and see how I was doing... he got a chance to say hi to Cheryl through video chat. Afterwards, I went upstairs and did my daily workout, took a shower and relaxed for the rest of the day.
The dogs and I went out for another walk to end the day, only going to Union St. and back (0.7 miles). For the rest of the night, I kinda vegged out on the couch watching TV and relaxing.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
2/11/11
Another friday, another week down. Same routine this morning as usual, up wiht the dogs early, outside for a quick duty, then inside for their breakfast. A cup of coffee and a blog, next I am getting ready for the day. I do a 10 minute stretching routine upstairs, get cleaned up and dressed and I am out the door with the dogs on a morning walk. We walked to Union St. and back (0.7 miles) with little excitement. When we got back, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then got ready for work.I got into work about 15 minutes early, wanted to take care of a few things before the rush of meetings. I attended meetings from 8am all the way up to lunch. At lunch I went home to the dogs. We went outside and played a little bit of fetch, then came inside. I made a ham & cheese wrap with mixed greens and ranch dressing. It actually tasted pretty good. Once I was done, I took the dogs out for a quick walk around the block (0.4 miles) before going back to work. The rest of the day at work was normal, and not too exciting to speak about.
I made it home by 5:15pm, and took the dogs out for some ball. We got about 5 minutes of play time in, then they came in for dinner. I washed some dishes, cleaned up a bit, then did my workout upstairs. Afterwords, I heated up some of the breaded chicken from the other night, added a salad and cottage cheese for my dinner. After dinner, I took the pups out for our evening walk to Union St. and back (0.7 miles). Again, nothing too exciting to talk about, the dogs were good and are enjoying the walks again.
When we got back to the house, I grabbed a bowl of pudding and watched a couple more episodes of The IT Crowd season 2. Well, I have managed to watch all the episodes now, in the course of 2 weeks. It was a very enjoyable show, it's too bad british tv seasons are only 6 episodes long, compared to 22 in the US. Around 10pm, I went to bed.
Friday, February 11, 2011
2/10/11
Another morning, same routine. I love waking up to the dogs, they are so sweet... except for the wake-up paw in the eye tactic. So we got up and headed outside for a few, then I brought them in for their breakfast. Next i grabbed some coffee and blogged about yesterday. I tossed the hanging laundry in the dryer for a 20 minute cycle, and got ready for work. At 6:50am, the dogs and I went out for our morning walk. We made it to Union St. and back (0.7miles). The dogs were very good and nothing too exciting happened. When we got back, I made a 3-egg and cheese scramble with OJ for my breakfast. I put out the recycling and then headed to work.
I will skip talking about work today, and focus more on my personal life. At lunch I went home and quickly let the dogs out. Then I went upstairs and did my workout routine. I took a shower, got dressed, and took the dogs out again for a little ball. The area we play ball is getting really icy and not much fun for the dogs. I put the dogs back in the house, had a yogurt for lunch, then headed to the Music Hall. I picked up a couple tickets to the Banff Film Festival for Jeff and I, next wednesday night. Then I headed back to work.
At 5pm, I left work and got home to let the dogs out. They didn't want to play on the ice, so I brought them in for dinner and stoked the fire for the evening. Once they were done eating, I took them for a short 0.3 mile walk. We got back to the house, and I took off to meet some co-workers at Red Hook for drinks and food at 5:30pm. I had organized another 'young' employees night out. We took a 3 month hold on the night out, mostly because of peoples schedules. It was fun, Aaron, Matt and Brianna joined. Brianna is a new employee at CHI that helps out with IT and will be doing documentation control as well.
We had a good time chatting, I'm glad we spent a large portion of time not talking about work. At 8pm, we all took off and I headed home. As I got home, I took the dogs out for our evening walk to Union St. and back (0.7miles). The dogs we good and the walk was just what I needed after eating and drinking. We got back to the house and I put in The IT Crowd DVD season 2 and watched an episode before falling asleep.
I will skip talking about work today, and focus more on my personal life. At lunch I went home and quickly let the dogs out. Then I went upstairs and did my workout routine. I took a shower, got dressed, and took the dogs out again for a little ball. The area we play ball is getting really icy and not much fun for the dogs. I put the dogs back in the house, had a yogurt for lunch, then headed to the Music Hall. I picked up a couple tickets to the Banff Film Festival for Jeff and I, next wednesday night. Then I headed back to work.
At 5pm, I left work and got home to let the dogs out. They didn't want to play on the ice, so I brought them in for dinner and stoked the fire for the evening. Once they were done eating, I took them for a short 0.3 mile walk. We got back to the house, and I took off to meet some co-workers at Red Hook for drinks and food at 5:30pm. I had organized another 'young' employees night out. We took a 3 month hold on the night out, mostly because of peoples schedules. It was fun, Aaron, Matt and Brianna joined. Brianna is a new employee at CHI that helps out with IT and will be doing documentation control as well.
We had a good time chatting, I'm glad we spent a large portion of time not talking about work. At 8pm, we all took off and I headed home. As I got home, I took the dogs out for our evening walk to Union St. and back (0.7miles). The dogs we good and the walk was just what I needed after eating and drinking. We got back to the house and I put in The IT Crowd DVD season 2 and watched an episode before falling asleep.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
2/9/11
Mid week, so exciting. I got up with the dogs and we did our morning routine. After blogging, I got cleaned up and dressed to take the pups for our first morning walk in 4 weeks. I know this is going to be confusing poor little Chance. He is a dog of schedules and routine. The walk went pretty well, the dogs were good, we walked down to Union St. and back (.75miles). At one point Reece stopped walking and lifted up her paw as if she was hurt. Only I found some one's discarded lollipop stuck to her paws. After removing it, we proceeded as normal. When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and got completely ready to head to work.
I got to work 15 minutes early and began my day. The day was filled with challenges. Things seemed to get more and more difficult throughout the day. I did my best to make corrective actions and find closure to most of the issues. At lunch I went over to Herbert's with Dennis. As we sat down, Aaron came in, so we encouraged him to join us. I had the chicken parm on spaghetti. We talked a bit about things outside of work, which was a good thing. Afterwards, Dennis and Aaron went back to work and I headed into town. I stopped off at the Post Office to pick up a mammoth box from Cheryl. Then I stopped off at the house to let the dogs out, drop off the package and to stoke the fire. Next I got back to work and finished off the afternoon closing out items on my checklist.
At 5:30pm, I headed home and let the dogs right out. We played ball for a few minutes, but the backyard has turned to ice, so they don't really enjoy ball time. I brought them in, fed them dinner then talked with Cheryl on the phone. She gets off the ice in 2 weeks! And I get to meet up with her 3 weeks from tomorrow! After our phone conversation, I did my back stretching workout upstairs... with the help of the dogs of course. Next I made myself a breaded chicken dinner. Complete with veggie medley, cottage cheese, and a side pickle. I understand that this mix of food may not be for everyone, but it was great. After cleaning up, it was time to take the pups out for their evening walk.
We went down to Union St. and back (0.75miles) and it was pretty uneventful. The dogs were great and the cold temps (22F) weren't too bad. Chance is now stopping every two feet to pick up ice cubes. For a bit he was walking with a giant chunk of ice in his mouth like he does with sticks some times. When we got back, I popped in season 2 of The IT Crowd on the DVD from Netflix. It was weird, Netflix had season 1, 3 and 4 streaming, but season 2 only available on DVD. I ended up falling asleep during one of the episodes. I woke up around 11:45pm, and headed to bed.
I got to work 15 minutes early and began my day. The day was filled with challenges. Things seemed to get more and more difficult throughout the day. I did my best to make corrective actions and find closure to most of the issues. At lunch I went over to Herbert's with Dennis. As we sat down, Aaron came in, so we encouraged him to join us. I had the chicken parm on spaghetti. We talked a bit about things outside of work, which was a good thing. Afterwards, Dennis and Aaron went back to work and I headed into town. I stopped off at the Post Office to pick up a mammoth box from Cheryl. Then I stopped off at the house to let the dogs out, drop off the package and to stoke the fire. Next I got back to work and finished off the afternoon closing out items on my checklist.
At 5:30pm, I headed home and let the dogs right out. We played ball for a few minutes, but the backyard has turned to ice, so they don't really enjoy ball time. I brought them in, fed them dinner then talked with Cheryl on the phone. She gets off the ice in 2 weeks! And I get to meet up with her 3 weeks from tomorrow! After our phone conversation, I did my back stretching workout upstairs... with the help of the dogs of course. Next I made myself a breaded chicken dinner. Complete with veggie medley, cottage cheese, and a side pickle. I understand that this mix of food may not be for everyone, but it was great. After cleaning up, it was time to take the pups out for their evening walk.
We went down to Union St. and back (0.75miles) and it was pretty uneventful. The dogs were great and the cold temps (22F) weren't too bad. Chance is now stopping every two feet to pick up ice cubes. For a bit he was walking with a giant chunk of ice in his mouth like he does with sticks some times. When we got back, I popped in season 2 of The IT Crowd on the DVD from Netflix. It was weird, Netflix had season 1, 3 and 4 streaming, but season 2 only available on DVD. I ended up falling asleep during one of the episodes. I woke up around 11:45pm, and headed to bed.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
2/8/11
Another happy morning here at the Reece and Chance house. We got up as usual and did our morning routine of going outside, back in, dogs had breakfast and I blogged with a cup of coffee. I am prepping for a colder day today. We had 3 days of thawing weather, and now all the snow that melted will become ice. After blogging, I went upstairs and did some of my back stretching exercises and then got ready for work. I took the pups outside, and sure enough, our path of nice fluffy snow is now an ice slick. The pups don't like to play fetch on this, and neither do I, it has emergency vet written all over it.
After playing ball outside for a few, we came in and I made a egg, green pepper, onion and cheese breakfast sandwich for myself. Finished getting ready for work, then out the door. Work was fine today, more challenges that I think I handled pretty well. Nothing too exciting to speak of other than Dennis and I wore the same black argyle sweaters today, it was a little weird but funny. At lunch I went home and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We played for 15 minutes, then came in for my lunch. I had a yogurt and a PB&J sandwich. I am trying out a new all natural peanut butter that has honey in it. And because of this, it isn't like other natural peanut butters that the oil separates and you must keep refrigerated. By the way, how can you claim a 'smooth or creamy' peanut butter that goes in the fridge??? Anyway, so far the new stuff is very tasty, all natural, and I can store it where it is easily spreadable. After mu lunch, I went back to work. The afternoon was as eventful as the morning.
At 5pm, I went home. I took the dogs out and re-stoked the fire. We played for 10 minutes, then I brought them in for dinner. I cleaned up the house a bit, then did a workout upstairs for about 45 minutes. I got cleaned up, came down and made myself dinner. I had a 'chicken' sandwich, a salad with a side pickle. I then got to IM Cheryl for about 10 minutes, mostly we talked about the rental car for our vacation. At 7:30pm, I took the dogs out for their first walk in 3 or 4 weeks. The City finally came through and cleared the sidewalks. We did the down and back to the Middle Street Market (0.6miles). I think the dogs enjoyed getting out the backyard for a bit
We got back just as NCIS was starting. I plopped down on the couch and watched TV until 10pm. Then I went to bed.
After playing ball outside for a few, we came in and I made a egg, green pepper, onion and cheese breakfast sandwich for myself. Finished getting ready for work, then out the door. Work was fine today, more challenges that I think I handled pretty well. Nothing too exciting to speak of other than Dennis and I wore the same black argyle sweaters today, it was a little weird but funny. At lunch I went home and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We played for 15 minutes, then came in for my lunch. I had a yogurt and a PB&J sandwich. I am trying out a new all natural peanut butter that has honey in it. And because of this, it isn't like other natural peanut butters that the oil separates and you must keep refrigerated. By the way, how can you claim a 'smooth or creamy' peanut butter that goes in the fridge??? Anyway, so far the new stuff is very tasty, all natural, and I can store it where it is easily spreadable. After mu lunch, I went back to work. The afternoon was as eventful as the morning.
At 5pm, I went home. I took the dogs out and re-stoked the fire. We played for 10 minutes, then I brought them in for dinner. I cleaned up the house a bit, then did a workout upstairs for about 45 minutes. I got cleaned up, came down and made myself dinner. I had a 'chicken' sandwich, a salad with a side pickle. I then got to IM Cheryl for about 10 minutes, mostly we talked about the rental car for our vacation. At 7:30pm, I took the dogs out for their first walk in 3 or 4 weeks. The City finally came through and cleared the sidewalks. We did the down and back to the Middle Street Market (0.6miles). I think the dogs enjoyed getting out the backyard for a bit
We got back just as NCIS was starting. I plopped down on the couch and watched TV until 10pm. Then I went to bed.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
2/7/11
The weekend is over, back to work. I got up with the dogs as usual and we went outside for our morning routine. Then I fed the pups and had some coffee and blogged a bit. Since it was 66F in the house and it is suppose to be a warm (42F) and sunny day, I decided not to have a fire going all day. Next I got a few thing ready for work, had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We got in a full 20 minutes of play time this morning, it was hard to come in it was so nice out. I got dressed and cleaned up and headed out the door for work a bit early.
Work was the same as any day, nothing too exciting to talk about. I did get an email from my friend Gretchen who works at a company I worked at 5 or 6 years ago. It was good to hear she is doing well. At lunch I went home and played ball with the dogs in the yard. Again, it was such a beautiful day, I didn't want to bring the pups in. Eventually I had to, then I had a yogurt and PB&J sandwich for lunch and headed back to work. The afternoon was much like the morning, not spectacular to talk about, but pretty productive. At 5:30pm, I headed home.
I got home and started a fire in the wood stove, the house temperature only dropped 2F over the entire day! Then I took the pups outside to play ball, brought them in and fed them dinner. I then did a 30 minute stretching and back exercise workout. I am worried that all this snow shoveling is going to make my back sore for my hiking vacation coming up. Next I took the pups outside for 20 minutes of ball, then headed to the grocery store to pick up this weeks groceries. I like the store on monday evenings, almost empty.
I got home and we watched a little TV, had the pups outside one last time, then went to bed a little early.
Work was the same as any day, nothing too exciting to talk about. I did get an email from my friend Gretchen who works at a company I worked at 5 or 6 years ago. It was good to hear she is doing well. At lunch I went home and played ball with the dogs in the yard. Again, it was such a beautiful day, I didn't want to bring the pups in. Eventually I had to, then I had a yogurt and PB&J sandwich for lunch and headed back to work. The afternoon was much like the morning, not spectacular to talk about, but pretty productive. At 5:30pm, I headed home.
I got home and started a fire in the wood stove, the house temperature only dropped 2F over the entire day! Then I took the pups outside to play ball, brought them in and fed them dinner. I then did a 30 minute stretching and back exercise workout. I am worried that all this snow shoveling is going to make my back sore for my hiking vacation coming up. Next I took the pups outside for 20 minutes of ball, then headed to the grocery store to pick up this weeks groceries. I like the store on monday evenings, almost empty.
I got home and we watched a little TV, had the pups outside one last time, then went to bed a little early.
Monday, February 7, 2011
2/6/11
Got up early for a Sunday, took the pups outside and then fed them. I got on the couch and watched some infomercials and tried to get a little more sleep. Finally got up at 7am, had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and made some coffee. At 8:30am I headed over to the gym to play some basketball. As I was getting into my car, I slipped on the icy driveway and landed pretty hard with my back pinned in the door jamb of the car. This is going to be sore today. I made it to basketball and we had enough to play 4-on-4. I had a great time, as usual on sunday's. We didn't play as late as we usually do, everyone was getting ready for the Super Bowl.
I got home and took a shower and played with the pups outside. It felt like shorts weather all day, sunny and 42F... couldn't ask for more. I kinda mulled around the house for a couple more hours, then went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the football party. During basketball, I was invited to go to a friend of Seth's house for the game, I was told he has a pub built into his pool house.
After the grocery store, Jake stopped by. Jake works part time at Yellow Dog's Barn and does dog sitting as well. For an hour, I showed Jake around the house and introduced him to Chance (he already knew Reece from YDB). I am trying to line up sitters for when I am got on vacation. Next I knew I would not make it through the game tonight without a nap, so I took a nice little 2 hour nap with Reece. When I got up, I made my little finger foods as contribution to the party, Seth told me not to bring beer, just put $5 in a jar because this guy has 4 kegs on tap. This is one of those classic, envisioning something and it turning out to be much bigger than you imagine.
At 6pm, I followed Seth to Dennis' house. They guy lived at the end of a cul-de-sac that was used as a parking lot for everyone who came over. When we got down to the pool house, I was amazed. Dennis had a full bar and grille in the pool house with granite counter tops, a restaurant quality grille, flat screen TV's everywhere, portable heaters and 4 kegs on tap. I looked at my cheese & crackers and veggie chips I brought in shame. I had a great time, got to see most everyone that plays basketball and some others that I got to meet at Frank's Turkey Bowl this year.
Dennis also holds few raffles during the game, and wouldn't you know, I won the first prize. This is my luck, I go to something that I wasn't really invited to (invited by a friend of the host) and I win something. I ended up taking home a retro Patriots hoody, very nice. I had a great time, Dennis and his family were very nice and great hosts to a wonderful party. I left a few minutes before the end of the game.
I got home and let the dogs out to for one last outside. Then I watched the post-game action, then went to bed. As I got into bed, I had to take a picture of Chance, who tried his best to fit his entire body on a small area of the bed, so cute.
I got home and took a shower and played with the pups outside. It felt like shorts weather all day, sunny and 42F... couldn't ask for more. I kinda mulled around the house for a couple more hours, then went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the football party. During basketball, I was invited to go to a friend of Seth's house for the game, I was told he has a pub built into his pool house.
After the grocery store, Jake stopped by. Jake works part time at Yellow Dog's Barn and does dog sitting as well. For an hour, I showed Jake around the house and introduced him to Chance (he already knew Reece from YDB). I am trying to line up sitters for when I am got on vacation. Next I knew I would not make it through the game tonight without a nap, so I took a nice little 2 hour nap with Reece. When I got up, I made my little finger foods as contribution to the party, Seth told me not to bring beer, just put $5 in a jar because this guy has 4 kegs on tap. This is one of those classic, envisioning something and it turning out to be much bigger than you imagine.
At 6pm, I followed Seth to Dennis' house. They guy lived at the end of a cul-de-sac that was used as a parking lot for everyone who came over. When we got down to the pool house, I was amazed. Dennis had a full bar and grille in the pool house with granite counter tops, a restaurant quality grille, flat screen TV's everywhere, portable heaters and 4 kegs on tap. I looked at my cheese & crackers and veggie chips I brought in shame. I had a great time, got to see most everyone that plays basketball and some others that I got to meet at Frank's Turkey Bowl this year.
Dennis also holds few raffles during the game, and wouldn't you know, I won the first prize. This is my luck, I go to something that I wasn't really invited to (invited by a friend of the host) and I win something. I ended up taking home a retro Patriots hoody, very nice. I had a great time, Dennis and his family were very nice and great hosts to a wonderful party. I left a few minutes before the end of the game.
I got home and let the dogs out to for one last outside. Then I watched the post-game action, then went to bed. As I got into bed, I had to take a picture of Chance, who tried his best to fit his entire body on a small area of the bed, so cute.
2/5/11
A saturday filled with multiple naps, what could be better. I got up with the pups as usual and we did our normal routine. After blogging, I looked around on the internet for some items for camping on our vacation. Just looking at a few different compression sacks and other things. And because I am one that does an extreme amount of research just to not buy something, that pretty much held true on this day as well. At around 9:30am, I went out to EMS to check out their stuff first hand. They were also having a clearance sale on all their winter jackets that i wanted to look at.
After walking out of EMS with nothing, I went over to Pet Quarters and got the dogs a bag of food and a magic hair remover sponge. I am skeptical about this device, but thought for a couple bucks I would give it a try. Next I walked over to Dick's to see what they had for impulse buys. Luckily I walked out of there empty handed. On the way back to the house I stopped off at the bank and made a deposit.
For the rest of the morning, I rotated between taking the pups outside to play and taking naps. Lately I have not been sleeping well. If I shovel at all during the day, my back feels fine until about 2am on the bed. For some reason, the bed aggravates whatever back issues I get during the day shoveling. After the mailman came, I watched my new Netflix DVD. 'The Other Guys' was pretty funny... I will always look at the term 'soup kitchen' differently after watching that movie.
It was right after watching the movie that it started to rain. This was a mixed blessing. I am hoping this finally clears the snow off the solar panels, but I don't want too much rain to flood the basement. For the rest of the day, I heard snow coming down off the roof. I got to video chat with Cheryl for a bit, I always love seeing Cheryl. I can't wait to see here in a few more weeks.
The rest of the night was a little blurry, I can't really remember what I did.
After walking out of EMS with nothing, I went over to Pet Quarters and got the dogs a bag of food and a magic hair remover sponge. I am skeptical about this device, but thought for a couple bucks I would give it a try. Next I walked over to Dick's to see what they had for impulse buys. Luckily I walked out of there empty handed. On the way back to the house I stopped off at the bank and made a deposit.
For the rest of the morning, I rotated between taking the pups outside to play and taking naps. Lately I have not been sleeping well. If I shovel at all during the day, my back feels fine until about 2am on the bed. For some reason, the bed aggravates whatever back issues I get during the day shoveling. After the mailman came, I watched my new Netflix DVD. 'The Other Guys' was pretty funny... I will always look at the term 'soup kitchen' differently after watching that movie.
It was right after watching the movie that it started to rain. This was a mixed blessing. I am hoping this finally clears the snow off the solar panels, but I don't want too much rain to flood the basement. For the rest of the day, I heard snow coming down off the roof. I got to video chat with Cheryl for a bit, I always love seeing Cheryl. I can't wait to see here in a few more weeks.
The rest of the night was a little blurry, I can't really remember what I did.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
2/4/11
Friday, another week almost gone. I guess when I am 90 I will be wondering why I wanted weeks to go by so fast when I was young. Anyway, another fabulous morning with the pups. Up and outside in the matter of a couple minutes. I didn't check the temperature when going out, but I could tell it was really cold. When we got back in, I fed the pups and checked the temp... 11F. Next I had some coffee and downloaded pictures in for yesterday's blog. I took the pups out two more time before getting ready and heading off to work.
No pastries this morning, so Dennis headed out to get Dunkin Donuts, I got him to grab me a bacon, egg and cheese on a plain bagel. Nothing too exciting happened during the day, my workload is starting to slow down a bit. I guess this is good since I will be going on vacation soon. At lunch I went home and played with the dogs in the backyard for a bit. It was actually a pretty nice day, sunny and around 34F. We played ball for 20 minutes, then we came inside. I had a yogurt and some chips for lunch and headed back to the office. The rest of the afternoon was really slow. I didn't have any work for the final 2 hours, so I tried to do some market research online.
At 5pm, Dennis and I went over to Kim Lai so that Dennis could get a Scorpion bowl. I had a beer and we talked until 6pm. I ordered sweet and sour chicken to go. I got home and immediately played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We played for 10 minutes, then we came in and the dogs ate their dinner. I got my dinner all ready and headed upstairs to watch some TV. After eating, we all went out again for some more ball in the yard. Afterwards I watched some more TV and finally fell asleep on the couch. I woke up thinking it was 1am... it was only 9:30pm. I took the dogs out for one last time, then got into bed.
No pastries this morning, so Dennis headed out to get Dunkin Donuts, I got him to grab me a bacon, egg and cheese on a plain bagel. Nothing too exciting happened during the day, my workload is starting to slow down a bit. I guess this is good since I will be going on vacation soon. At lunch I went home and played with the dogs in the backyard for a bit. It was actually a pretty nice day, sunny and around 34F. We played ball for 20 minutes, then we came inside. I had a yogurt and some chips for lunch and headed back to the office. The rest of the afternoon was really slow. I didn't have any work for the final 2 hours, so I tried to do some market research online.
At 5pm, Dennis and I went over to Kim Lai so that Dennis could get a Scorpion bowl. I had a beer and we talked until 6pm. I ordered sweet and sour chicken to go. I got home and immediately played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We played for 10 minutes, then we came in and the dogs ate their dinner. I got my dinner all ready and headed upstairs to watch some TV. After eating, we all went out again for some more ball in the yard. Afterwards I watched some more TV and finally fell asleep on the couch. I woke up thinking it was 1am... it was only 9:30pm. I took the dogs out for one last time, then got into bed.
Friday, February 4, 2011
2/3/11
Thought I would post some pictures of the snow and of the pups playing in the snow instead of a lengthy blog. Enjoy.
Chance 'Tender Paws' enjoying some sun in the snow. Minutes later, his paws were frozen.
My walkway to the wood shed.
The snow mounded up above my back porch.
Reese playing in the snow. All the patio furniture is buried and the snow is creeping up on the fence.
Front of the house snow mound... almost 8' high. Cheryl, notice your stone sculpture on our big rock is buried.
Chance 'Tender Paws' enjoying some sun in the snow. Minutes later, his paws were frozen.
Reese and Chance playing ball in the snow, so cute.
Today Reese jumped from one of the path areas to an area that we haven't walked in yet, she disappeared. I had to help her get out, her eyes got really big and she got pretty nervous for a second. That area is 30" deep.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
2/2/11
Snow snow snow snow snow... I could go on. Got up this morning as usual with the dogs. We did our morning routine. As you may have noticed, the dogs and I have stopped doing our walks. This is for two reasons, one is that Chance, or as he sometimes goes by his native american name 'tender paws' doesn't like the snow or salt on his paws. The other reason is that with so many snow storms so close together, the City can't keep the sidewalks clear to use. For now, the pups will have to deal with playing in the backyard, which is a solid 2-1/2 feet of snow. And when I say solid, I mean, that is the packed down areas.
Anyway, on with my day. After bringing the pups in, they had breakfast and I had some coffee and blogged. Next I got dressed and put on snow pants. I let the pups in the backyard while I shoveled what fell overnight. This is in anticipation of another 12"+ today, which I don't feel like shoveling all at once. As I got a good portion done, I went in the backyard and played ball with the pups for about 10 minutes, made them go to the bathroom, then brought them in. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, got cleaned up and headed to work.
Though I had brought my laptop home in hopes of working from home, I figured I might as well go in, plus I had 3 meetings today. When I got to work, it was a ghost town, there were only 8 people that made it in, I'm so glad I only live 1.8 miles away. As expected, the meetings were canceled due to low turnout. The day was pretty productive, and quiet. At lunch I went home to play ball with the dogs. I initially let them outside in the backyard while I shoveled the driveway nearest the road. This at least got rid of the city plow hump left earlier. Next I played ball for about 15 minutes with the dogs. We came in and I heated up some 'chicken' nuggets for lunch. Afterwards, I headed back to work for the afternoon. The rest of the day was pretty similar to the morning, very quiet.
When I got home after work, I put the dogs out in the backyard and continued shoveling. Both Paul and Dexter were out shoveling there driveways too, we had a good laugh of frustration about the whole thing. Finally after 45 minutes I finished the driveway and then played with the pups in the backyard. As I brought them in for dinner, the plow guy went by and made a nice mound at the entrance to my driveway again. I quickly got out there and took it out within 15 minutes. Finally, get inside and relax, not that it is close to 7pm.
I made some more of the 3 cheese tortellini from last night for dinner. I settled in on the couch and watched my latest Netflix movie. At 8:30pm, I took the pups out for another round of ball and bathroom. Came back in, watched some more TV and climbed into bed around 10pm with a sore back, but with a warm puppy.
Anyway, on with my day. After bringing the pups in, they had breakfast and I had some coffee and blogged. Next I got dressed and put on snow pants. I let the pups in the backyard while I shoveled what fell overnight. This is in anticipation of another 12"+ today, which I don't feel like shoveling all at once. As I got a good portion done, I went in the backyard and played ball with the pups for about 10 minutes, made them go to the bathroom, then brought them in. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, got cleaned up and headed to work.
Though I had brought my laptop home in hopes of working from home, I figured I might as well go in, plus I had 3 meetings today. When I got to work, it was a ghost town, there were only 8 people that made it in, I'm so glad I only live 1.8 miles away. As expected, the meetings were canceled due to low turnout. The day was pretty productive, and quiet. At lunch I went home to play ball with the dogs. I initially let them outside in the backyard while I shoveled the driveway nearest the road. This at least got rid of the city plow hump left earlier. Next I played ball for about 15 minutes with the dogs. We came in and I heated up some 'chicken' nuggets for lunch. Afterwards, I headed back to work for the afternoon. The rest of the day was pretty similar to the morning, very quiet.
When I got home after work, I put the dogs out in the backyard and continued shoveling. Both Paul and Dexter were out shoveling there driveways too, we had a good laugh of frustration about the whole thing. Finally after 45 minutes I finished the driveway and then played with the pups in the backyard. As I brought them in for dinner, the plow guy went by and made a nice mound at the entrance to my driveway again. I quickly got out there and took it out within 15 minutes. Finally, get inside and relax, not that it is close to 7pm.
I made some more of the 3 cheese tortellini from last night for dinner. I settled in on the couch and watched my latest Netflix movie. At 8:30pm, I took the pups out for another round of ball and bathroom. Came back in, watched some more TV and climbed into bed around 10pm with a sore back, but with a warm puppy.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
2/1/11
So, as I do each month, I check to see how my energy use compares to the year before, always trying to reduce the amount of electricity I consume. This January I used 542 kWhr of electricity for lights and heat. I only sued the electric heat 4 full days & 4 half days, otherwise I heated with the wood stove. Last January I used 1818 kWhr of electricity, a whopping 3 times more! Anyway, I'm happy I could conserve that much, but keeping the wood stove going all the time alone is difficult.
This morning was just like all the others, I got up with the dogs and took them outside, then back in for breakfast. I had coffee and blogged a bit before going upstairs and showering. I got dressed for work, then took the pups outside in the backyard to play ball for about 15 minutes. Nothing too exciting going on. I pulled my sleeping bag out of its stuff sack, figured I would let it air out awhile before bringing it on the New Zealand trip. Next I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and got ready for work.
I got to work and continued on my daily tasks. Not a whole lot different from yesterday. At lunch I went home as the snow started falling (phase 1 of a 2 phase blockbuster snow storm). I took the pups in the backyard for some ball. We played 15 minutes, the dogs loved the fresh new snow on the ground. They had made a slick track of snow where they normally fetch the ball, so the new snow was a lot of fun for them. For me, I want it all gone... but not at once, because then there would be flooding issues. We came in and I had a PB&J sandwich and yogurt for lunch. Then I headed back to work. The rest of the afternoon was pretty much the same, nothing too exciting to write about.
After work, I went home and took the pups right outside to relish in the freshly fallen 5" of snow. At least it is light and fluffy. We played for 10 minutes, then I took them in for dinner. As they ate, I shoveled the driveway. Since this is light and fluffy, it is easier to shovel, tomorrows 14"+ is suppose to be wet and heavy... awesome! When I came in, I noticed that the wood stove temp was over 850F, (should be at 700F max). I closed the damper and waited for it to cool down before taking the pups outside again for some more ball. We played for another 15 minutes, then we came in for my dinner.
I made a tortellini and pasta sauce dish, it was actually pretty good. It was a three cheese tortellini. After dinner, I turned on the TV to get the news of how deep we were going to get hit. I was watching as the neighbor to the left of my house had a snow blower making paths on the side between our houses... of course, blowing all the snow into my yard. Not that I care, but they had the chute going so high that it wasn't just coming into my yard, he was hitting my house with the snow. At one point he hit a rock and it hit the house pretty hard, about 5' from my window. These are good neighbors, I don't know if I should say anything... I hope it was an isolated incident.
After watching some TV, I had the dogs out again for some ball and one last 'outside'. We came in and settled on the couch. Reece turned into a complete potato resting her head on my arm and leg. There was no way I would be able to get up, it was the cutest thing EVER. Once in a while she would get into a snoring dream, too cute. Finally around 10pm, we got up and went to bed.
This morning was just like all the others, I got up with the dogs and took them outside, then back in for breakfast. I had coffee and blogged a bit before going upstairs and showering. I got dressed for work, then took the pups outside in the backyard to play ball for about 15 minutes. Nothing too exciting going on. I pulled my sleeping bag out of its stuff sack, figured I would let it air out awhile before bringing it on the New Zealand trip. Next I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and got ready for work.
I got to work and continued on my daily tasks. Not a whole lot different from yesterday. At lunch I went home as the snow started falling (phase 1 of a 2 phase blockbuster snow storm). I took the pups in the backyard for some ball. We played 15 minutes, the dogs loved the fresh new snow on the ground. They had made a slick track of snow where they normally fetch the ball, so the new snow was a lot of fun for them. For me, I want it all gone... but not at once, because then there would be flooding issues. We came in and I had a PB&J sandwich and yogurt for lunch. Then I headed back to work. The rest of the afternoon was pretty much the same, nothing too exciting to write about.
After work, I went home and took the pups right outside to relish in the freshly fallen 5" of snow. At least it is light and fluffy. We played for 10 minutes, then I took them in for dinner. As they ate, I shoveled the driveway. Since this is light and fluffy, it is easier to shovel, tomorrows 14"+ is suppose to be wet and heavy... awesome! When I came in, I noticed that the wood stove temp was over 850F, (should be at 700F max). I closed the damper and waited for it to cool down before taking the pups outside again for some more ball. We played for another 15 minutes, then we came in for my dinner.
I made a tortellini and pasta sauce dish, it was actually pretty good. It was a three cheese tortellini. After dinner, I turned on the TV to get the news of how deep we were going to get hit. I was watching as the neighbor to the left of my house had a snow blower making paths on the side between our houses... of course, blowing all the snow into my yard. Not that I care, but they had the chute going so high that it wasn't just coming into my yard, he was hitting my house with the snow. At one point he hit a rock and it hit the house pretty hard, about 5' from my window. These are good neighbors, I don't know if I should say anything... I hope it was an isolated incident.
After watching some TV, I had the dogs out again for some ball and one last 'outside'. We came in and settled on the couch. Reece turned into a complete potato resting her head on my arm and leg. There was no way I would be able to get up, it was the cutest thing EVER. Once in a while she would get into a snoring dream, too cute. Finally around 10pm, we got up and went to bed.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
1/31/11
Well, one more month down, another to go. Good thing February is the shortest month! I got up with the dogs as usual, we went outside (a bit chili 11F) for the morning wake-up. We came in, I fed them breakfast and then caught up on 3 days of blogging. Next I put on some clothes, and took the pups out to play some ball, for about 10 minutes. We came inside and I got ready for work and had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Picked up a few things in the house, had the pups outside for one more quick one, then headed off to work.
Work went pretty well for a monday. During the morning I was able to get a lot of things hammered out that have been lingering on my desk for a bit. It felt like my most productive 4 hours in awhile. At lunch, I went home and let the dogs outside for some ball. We played for 15 minutes and came back inside. I had a banana, and grabbed a Amy's Enchilada meal to eat at work. I stopped off at the bank to make a deposit, then stopped to fill up the tank with gas. When I got to work, I headed up my lunch and continued on working. The afternoon went well, my streak of getting outstanding issues resolved continued, but not at the rate from the morning.
After work I went home and made sure the fire in the wood stove was still going, then took the pups outside for some play time. We played ball for 10 minutes, then I brought them in for dinner. I took them outside again for another 10 minutes, then Cheryl called and we chatted for 30 minutes. Cheryl is doing well, having fun, things are slowing down for her, only 3.5 weeks left for her on the ice! After our chat, I ran out to the grocery store. It seems like my normal schedule of going to the store co-insides with a snow storm, so the store is always packed. Or it could be that we are getting major snowstorms every 5 or 6 days.
After braving the store, I got home, but away the groceries and played some ball in the yard with the pups. I made myself a pasta, shrimp and vegetable dish for dinner... it was ok. Then I settled in on the couch to watch some TV, but what is up with the re-runs? I remember a day when a new season would start and every week you would see a new show. Anyway, I fell asleep multiple times between 8pm and 11pm. Finally, I took the pups out one last time and made it into bed.
Work went pretty well for a monday. During the morning I was able to get a lot of things hammered out that have been lingering on my desk for a bit. It felt like my most productive 4 hours in awhile. At lunch, I went home and let the dogs outside for some ball. We played for 15 minutes and came back inside. I had a banana, and grabbed a Amy's Enchilada meal to eat at work. I stopped off at the bank to make a deposit, then stopped to fill up the tank with gas. When I got to work, I headed up my lunch and continued on working. The afternoon went well, my streak of getting outstanding issues resolved continued, but not at the rate from the morning.
After work I went home and made sure the fire in the wood stove was still going, then took the pups outside for some play time. We played ball for 10 minutes, then I brought them in for dinner. I took them outside again for another 10 minutes, then Cheryl called and we chatted for 30 minutes. Cheryl is doing well, having fun, things are slowing down for her, only 3.5 weeks left for her on the ice! After our chat, I ran out to the grocery store. It seems like my normal schedule of going to the store co-insides with a snow storm, so the store is always packed. Or it could be that we are getting major snowstorms every 5 or 6 days.
After braving the store, I got home, but away the groceries and played some ball in the yard with the pups. I made myself a pasta, shrimp and vegetable dish for dinner... it was ok. Then I settled in on the couch to watch some TV, but what is up with the re-runs? I remember a day when a new season would start and every week you would see a new show. Anyway, I fell asleep multiple times between 8pm and 11pm. Finally, I took the pups out one last time and made it into bed.
Monday, January 31, 2011
1/30/11
Yeah, the dogs let me sleep in until 7am this morning! I got up and we did our typical morning routine of going outside, then breakfast for the dogs. I had a bowl of cereal for an early breakfast and some coffee while getting ready for basketball. I spent some of the morning just hanging with the pups and playing outside. At 8:30am, I headed over to the gym to play ball. I had a great time and played some decent basketball. Jeff came as well and we had a really good turnout. At one point we had 15 people which allowed us to do multiple 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 games. Finally at 11:30 am, I took off for home.
When I got home, the dogs and I had about a 10 minute play time outside. We came in and I crashed on the couch to take a nap. I woke up around 3pm, it was much needed. Next I played with the dogs outside again, came in and took a shower. I did a little playing around on the internet and then watched some Netflix movies. I have to admit, it was a pretty lazy sunday for me, but I was just too tired to do much. The dogs and I made multiple trips outside to play ball, but not for too long. I fed the pups at 6pm, them made myself a pizza for dinner.
For the rest of the night, I watched TV, and when I say I watched TV, I mean I started watching a program and kept falling asleep midway. I last took the dogs out at 8pm, then fell asleep on the couch again, finally getting up at 11pm and making my way tot he bed.
When I got home, the dogs and I had about a 10 minute play time outside. We came in and I crashed on the couch to take a nap. I woke up around 3pm, it was much needed. Next I played with the dogs outside again, came in and took a shower. I did a little playing around on the internet and then watched some Netflix movies. I have to admit, it was a pretty lazy sunday for me, but I was just too tired to do much. The dogs and I made multiple trips outside to play ball, but not for too long. I fed the pups at 6pm, them made myself a pizza for dinner.
For the rest of the night, I watched TV, and when I say I watched TV, I mean I started watching a program and kept falling asleep midway. I last took the dogs out at 8pm, then fell asleep on the couch again, finally getting up at 11pm and making my way tot he bed.
1/29/11
Saturday morning! Surely the dogs would let me sleep in... wrong. Up at 6am with the dogs. First we went outside as usual, then back in and I fed them breakfast. Next I crashed on the couch with some coffee, this is how I skip blogging in the mornings. I tried to get some rest on the couch and maybe a nap. However, Reece kept growling at people and dogs walking by, so my attempt to get more sleep was a failure.
The dogs and I went out multiple times throughout the day. I took out the roof rake and continued to chip away at the caked on snow on the solar panels. At least I am making progress. I also shoveled the paths in the backyard so I could get to the woodshed and the other shed. I did a load of laundry, hung it up to dry. Next I ventured out to the mall, I didn't really have much to buy but I wanted to get out of the house. First I went to Kohl's, looking for a pair of jean I bought almost 2 years ago. After being overwhelmed, I called off the rest of my shopping.
I got back to the house and played some more with the dogs in the backyard. I also tried another time to get more snow off the solar panels. I came in and got to video chat with Cheryl for about 30 minutes. This was cool because we haven't done the video thing in a couple months.
I was suppose to go head up to Aaron's house in Maine today because he was having a birthday party for his wife, turning 30. I didn't make it up, I was just too tired, plus I had basketball early the next morning. The rest of the night I hung out with the dogs, I had Kim Lai Chinese food for dinner. Though Kim Lai doesn't have the quantity of Xin Ping, the food tastes much better.
The dogs and I went out multiple times throughout the day. I took out the roof rake and continued to chip away at the caked on snow on the solar panels. At least I am making progress. I also shoveled the paths in the backyard so I could get to the woodshed and the other shed. I did a load of laundry, hung it up to dry. Next I ventured out to the mall, I didn't really have much to buy but I wanted to get out of the house. First I went to Kohl's, looking for a pair of jean I bought almost 2 years ago. After being overwhelmed, I called off the rest of my shopping.
I got back to the house and played some more with the dogs in the backyard. I also tried another time to get more snow off the solar panels. I came in and got to video chat with Cheryl for about 30 minutes. This was cool because we haven't done the video thing in a couple months.
I was suppose to go head up to Aaron's house in Maine today because he was having a birthday party for his wife, turning 30. I didn't make it up, I was just too tired, plus I had basketball early the next morning. The rest of the night I hung out with the dogs, I had Kim Lai Chinese food for dinner. Though Kim Lai doesn't have the quantity of Xin Ping, the food tastes much better.
1/28/11
Last day of the work week. I wanted to sleep in after getting home so late, but the pups don't let that happen. I got up and we did our normal routine. I had some coffee while catching up on blogging. Then I went out and shoveled the driveway from the snow that was gone. Next I played with the pups in the yard a bit and then got ready for work. I got to work on time and had a pastry for breakfast.
I caught up on a few things that I missed while being out of the office. Nothing too exciting to talk about with regard to work. Had a few minutes to catch up with Dennis and Aaron. At lunch I went home and played with the pups outside. They really enjoyed getting out and running around. I don't think Liz, the dogsitter, comes over at lunch to let them out. It's fine because she spends a lot of time playing with them before and after work. Being that it was 3 days ago, I can't remember what I had for lunch, but I think it was just a bowl of cereal. Next I headed back to work.
The afternoon was much of the same, nothing to exciting to write about. At 5pm, I went home and took the pups out in the backyard for some play time. I brought them in and fed them dinner and kept the fire going. The rest of the night, I can't really remember. I believe I had another bowl of cereal for dinner and I took the dogs outside at least two more times before we went to bed.
I caught up on a few things that I missed while being out of the office. Nothing too exciting to talk about with regard to work. Had a few minutes to catch up with Dennis and Aaron. At lunch I went home and played with the pups outside. They really enjoyed getting out and running around. I don't think Liz, the dogsitter, comes over at lunch to let them out. It's fine because she spends a lot of time playing with them before and after work. Being that it was 3 days ago, I can't remember what I had for lunch, but I think it was just a bowl of cereal. Next I headed back to work.
The afternoon was much of the same, nothing to exciting to write about. At 5pm, I went home and took the pups out in the backyard for some play time. I brought them in and fed them dinner and kept the fire going. The rest of the night, I can't really remember. I believe I had another bowl of cereal for dinner and I took the dogs outside at least two more times before we went to bed.
Friday, January 28, 2011
1/27/11
Woke up in the hotel. Went down and met up with Peter and Kevin in the lobby restaurant for some breakfast. First hotel I have been to in awhile that didn't have at least a free continental breakfast. All food cost something. Philly ended up with 15" of snow over the night, though it was crystal clear skies this morning. After breakfast, we headed back up to our rooms. I began working on an addendum to my specifications and answering some emails I had put to the side.
At 11am, we shoveled the cars out of the snow and headed for the airport. We turned in the rental cars and got through security. As we got through, we got notice that our flight was now delayed until 4pm. We did a little work in the terminal, then went to an airport restaurant for lunch. I had two soft tacos with chicken. Pretty good, but expensive. When we walked out of the restaurant, the board now showed our flight canceled.
I called Southwest and found out that the next two flights to Manchester (a 3:15pm delayed till 6pm and an 8pm flight) were all booked. We could do standby, but there was already a list. The next flight to Manchester with seats was the 7:50am tomorrow. I found a flight going to Boston that still had seats, so I booked us all on that flight, which was already delayed until 6:05pm. As we wandered the terminal, we ran into two other CHI employees, Joe and Carl. They too were stuck trying to get home.
Finally our plane arrived at 6:10pm, it was de-planed and reloaded fairly quickly. However, for some reason we sat on the Tarmac for another hour. Finally we took off for Boston at 7:30pm. The flight was fine, nothing too exciting... except for the guy sitting next to Peter kept tearing paper... reminded my of the movie (I know it was a book first) 'The Langalears' by Stephen King. Then the guy was telling us a story of his previous flight having a bird go into the engine, talking about a burning flesh smell. This guy was creeping me out pretty good.
We landed in Boston without much trouble, then looked for the Flightline van to take us to Manchester. I contemplated taking the C&J back to Portsmouth and finding a way to get my car another time, but jumped in the van with Peter and Kevin anyway. It was another 1hour ride to Manchester. As soon as I got there, I ditched Peter and Kevin. They had to go find their bags that they checked, good luck. I got our of the garage and headed home.
I got home around 11:15pm. I took the dogs outside for a potty break and then we all went to bed. The end to a long day.
At 11am, we shoveled the cars out of the snow and headed for the airport. We turned in the rental cars and got through security. As we got through, we got notice that our flight was now delayed until 4pm. We did a little work in the terminal, then went to an airport restaurant for lunch. I had two soft tacos with chicken. Pretty good, but expensive. When we walked out of the restaurant, the board now showed our flight canceled.
I called Southwest and found out that the next two flights to Manchester (a 3:15pm delayed till 6pm and an 8pm flight) were all booked. We could do standby, but there was already a list. The next flight to Manchester with seats was the 7:50am tomorrow. I found a flight going to Boston that still had seats, so I booked us all on that flight, which was already delayed until 6:05pm. As we wandered the terminal, we ran into two other CHI employees, Joe and Carl. They too were stuck trying to get home.
Finally our plane arrived at 6:10pm, it was de-planed and reloaded fairly quickly. However, for some reason we sat on the Tarmac for another hour. Finally we took off for Boston at 7:30pm. The flight was fine, nothing too exciting... except for the guy sitting next to Peter kept tearing paper... reminded my of the movie (I know it was a book first) 'The Langalears' by Stephen King. Then the guy was telling us a story of his previous flight having a bird go into the engine, talking about a burning flesh smell. This guy was creeping me out pretty good.
We landed in Boston without much trouble, then looked for the Flightline van to take us to Manchester. I contemplated taking the C&J back to Portsmouth and finding a way to get my car another time, but jumped in the van with Peter and Kevin anyway. It was another 1hour ride to Manchester. As soon as I got there, I ditched Peter and Kevin. They had to go find their bags that they checked, good luck. I got our of the garage and headed home.
I got home around 11:15pm. I took the dogs outside for a potty break and then we all went to bed. The end to a long day.
1/26/11
Woke up at the hotel, went downstairs for the breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and some pastries. After breakfast, we headed to the job site. Throughout the morning I met with surveyors and geotechnical engineers in preparation of the project starting this spring. The weather was due to get lousy, be we kept my 1pm pre-bid meeting on schedule.
At lunch we ran out the Wawa... a gas station super center in NJ. It was packed so we got some pre-made cold sandwiches to go. Made it back to the site just before the pre-bid meeting. The meeting was with 5 potential contractors. Everything went pretty well and smooth. After the meeting was over, I received a text that our 8pm flight out of philly was canceled. I arranged to get on the 7:50am flight tomorrow morning.
At 5:30pm, we left the site to get as close to philly as possible and get a hotel room. We made it to within 15 miles, goo thing too because the snow storm was starting to get pretty hairy. We stayed at a Holiday Inn and had dinner in the lobby bar/restaurant. I had a philly chicken cheese-steak. It was really good. Just as we were going to head back to our rooms, I got another text that the 7:50am flight was canceled. I managed to get us re-booked on the next flight, a 1:40pm to Manchester. Since we no longer had to get up early, we had another round of drinks. At around 11pm, I went to bed.
At lunch we ran out the Wawa... a gas station super center in NJ. It was packed so we got some pre-made cold sandwiches to go. Made it back to the site just before the pre-bid meeting. The meeting was with 5 potential contractors. Everything went pretty well and smooth. After the meeting was over, I received a text that our 8pm flight out of philly was canceled. I arranged to get on the 7:50am flight tomorrow morning.
At 5:30pm, we left the site to get as close to philly as possible and get a hotel room. We made it to within 15 miles, goo thing too because the snow storm was starting to get pretty hairy. We stayed at a Holiday Inn and had dinner in the lobby bar/restaurant. I had a philly chicken cheese-steak. It was really good. Just as we were going to head back to our rooms, I got another text that the 7:50am flight was canceled. I managed to get us re-booked on the next flight, a 1:40pm to Manchester. Since we no longer had to get up early, we had another round of drinks. At around 11pm, I went to bed.
1/25/11
A typical morning with the dogs. Nothing too exciting. We went outside first thing, then back in and the dogs had breakfast. I sat at the computer with some coffee blogging. Afterwards, I got dressed for work and the dogs and I went in the backyard to play ball. Because Chance has had problems on the walks, I decided to just play with them in the yard. We came in and I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. At 7:45, off to work. I worked the morning in the office. At lunch I stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some food, then went home.
I played with the dogs a few times in the backyard, made myself a quick bite to eat, then cleaned up the house for the dogsitter. At 1:30pm, I got in the car and headed to Manchester to catch my flight to Philly. Everything went pretty smoothly through security and I had enough time to have a Quiznos sub for lunch. The flight was interesting. It was a small plane 2 seats on each side, holding maybe 50 people. It was interesting how they made 2 people siting in the front move to the back, "in order to get the weight right'. I have to say, I was concerned that the fluctuation of 300lb would mess up the plane. I also thought it was interesting, sitting next to the guy pushing 300lbs making the statement "I think they are making these seats smaller". Really?? Too bad as Americans, we don't see the obvious about ourselves.
Landed in Philly, stopped off at an ATM and picked up my rental car. Drove out of Philly in rush-hour traffic towards Atlantic City, NJ. Met up with a couple co-workers at the hotel around 6:45pm and we headed out for some dinner. I did take a picture of the bathroom at the hotel room, first time I've seen a wall mounted bottle opener in a hotel... classy. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I had a sampler of sorts. It was a dish with a small chicken Parmesan and a small lasagna and some mashed potatoes. It was pretty good. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. I stayed up and watched some of the State of the Union address... Come on Obama, I'm tired of hear "we have to do this" and it doesn't get done. Time to come up with solutions, not just statements. Finally went to bed around 10pm.
I played with the dogs a few times in the backyard, made myself a quick bite to eat, then cleaned up the house for the dogsitter. At 1:30pm, I got in the car and headed to Manchester to catch my flight to Philly. Everything went pretty smoothly through security and I had enough time to have a Quiznos sub for lunch. The flight was interesting. It was a small plane 2 seats on each side, holding maybe 50 people. It was interesting how they made 2 people siting in the front move to the back, "in order to get the weight right'. I have to say, I was concerned that the fluctuation of 300lb would mess up the plane. I also thought it was interesting, sitting next to the guy pushing 300lbs making the statement "I think they are making these seats smaller". Really?? Too bad as Americans, we don't see the obvious about ourselves.
Landed in Philly, stopped off at an ATM and picked up my rental car. Drove out of Philly in rush-hour traffic towards Atlantic City, NJ. Met up with a couple co-workers at the hotel around 6:45pm and we headed out for some dinner. I did take a picture of the bathroom at the hotel room, first time I've seen a wall mounted bottle opener in a hotel... classy. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I had a sampler of sorts. It was a dish with a small chicken Parmesan and a small lasagna and some mashed potatoes. It was pretty good. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. I stayed up and watched some of the State of the Union address... Come on Obama, I'm tired of hear "we have to do this" and it doesn't get done. Time to come up with solutions, not just statements. Finally went to bed around 10pm.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
1/24/11
Start to a new week, can't wait for what the day will bring. The dogs and I got up and went outside... -11F on the temp readout! It actually wasn't all that cold, but the dogs didn't want to go out more than a few minutes. We came back in and I fed them breakfast, made some coffee and blogged. Nothing too interesting today, same old. Next I took a shower and got cleaned up for work. At 7am, the dogs and I ventured out for a 'walk'. It turned into Reece walking besides me, and Chance being carried. I think from now on, I will leave Chance home for the walks.
After the walk, I had a a bowl of cereal and headed out to work. Work was the same as last week, nothing too exciting to talk about. I had a project meeting at 10am, then I went down to Lynn, MA for a site visit with a co-worker at 11am. We met a contractor on-site to give us a price to install siding and roofing on the structure I designed. It was just as cold there (5F) as Portsmouth, but with a fantastic sea breeze. We got back to P-town at 3pm and I headed home for lunch. I played with the dogs a few minutes, then had a PB&J sandwich. For all those really dedicated followers of mine, you will note that PB&J was my lunch of choice last year, but this is my first one this year (great trivia question that may show up on Jeopardy).
After lunch I went back to work for the remaining 2 hours. I wasn't able to get everything done that I wanted before leaving at 5:30pm. When I got home, I played with the pups for 10 minutes outside, then brought them in for dinner. While they ate, I vacuumed the house and picked up a few things. At 6:45pm, I drove into downtown to meet up with a few friends at The Brewery. It was a lot of fun, 7 guys showed up and we just chatted for a bit. Seth put out a challenge to try the volcano sauce chicken tenders. I stayed out of this one and let the others sweet it out. I ended up having a espresso chocolate pie for dinner, it was fantastic.
At 9pm, we all headed out. I got home and took the dogs out again and stoked the fire for what is to be another cold night. I did a load of laundry and watched a little TV before heading to bed at around 11pm.
After the walk, I had a a bowl of cereal and headed out to work. Work was the same as last week, nothing too exciting to talk about. I had a project meeting at 10am, then I went down to Lynn, MA for a site visit with a co-worker at 11am. We met a contractor on-site to give us a price to install siding and roofing on the structure I designed. It was just as cold there (5F) as Portsmouth, but with a fantastic sea breeze. We got back to P-town at 3pm and I headed home for lunch. I played with the dogs a few minutes, then had a PB&J sandwich. For all those really dedicated followers of mine, you will note that PB&J was my lunch of choice last year, but this is my first one this year (great trivia question that may show up on Jeopardy).
After lunch I went back to work for the remaining 2 hours. I wasn't able to get everything done that I wanted before leaving at 5:30pm. When I got home, I played with the pups for 10 minutes outside, then brought them in for dinner. While they ate, I vacuumed the house and picked up a few things. At 6:45pm, I drove into downtown to meet up with a few friends at The Brewery. It was a lot of fun, 7 guys showed up and we just chatted for a bit. Seth put out a challenge to try the volcano sauce chicken tenders. I stayed out of this one and let the others sweet it out. I ended up having a espresso chocolate pie for dinner, it was fantastic.
At 9pm, we all headed out. I got home and took the dogs out again and stoked the fire for what is to be another cold night. I did a load of laundry and watched a little TV before heading to bed at around 11pm.
Monday, January 24, 2011
1/23/11
Got up early today (well kinda early), the dogs let me sleep in until 7am. We got up and went outside for a few minutes, a little chilly start to the morning. Then we came in and I fed the pups their breakfast. I had some coffee and a bowl of cereal, then surfed the web for a bit. Speaking of the internet, social media is always talking about phases that age you... if you say 'surfing the web', do the young kids say that these days? I'm assuming that phase makes it clear I'm in my 30's. Anyway, after eating my cereal, I got ready for basketball. Looks like we are going to have a big turnout today, there were a lot of confirmation emails.
I took the pups for a quick walk to the Middle St. Market (0.6miles) before basketball. The dogs were good and ready to get back in, still a bit chilly. At 9am, I went to play some basketball. We had 10 people show, we usually have a tough time getting 6, so we had enough for 5-on-5 going full court. The first game, I actually played really well. I had a few steals off my friend Seth, which amazed me because Seth is such a great ball handler. I also had a few good shots and rebounds down low. The second game I played OK, but really wasn't a factor. At the start of the 3rd game I had my ankle stepped on and rolled pretty hard. I went straight for the floor. After a few minutes I made my way over to the sideline to sit out the rest of the game. My friend 'Tank' had rebounded a bal and started run with it, pushing off on my ankle. I was able to match the treads on his sneakers to the marks on my ankle.
After sitting out 30 minutes, I tried to run on the ankle. I was OK running straight, but couldn't take a turn at all. So I jumped back in for some more basketball. I was pretty much useless, but at least got in some more playing time. Afterwards, I headed home to take a nap with the dogs. I crashed on the couch for some time, watching TV and taking naps. I finally got up around 2:30pm and took the pups out for some ball in the backyard. I made some snacks and went back up to watch some football on TV at 3pm.
After the first football game, I fed the dogs dinner, then took them out for some ball in the backyard. When we came back in, I made a pizza for my dinner and headed up to watch the second football game of the day. At half-time, I took the pups out for a walk. We didn't quite make it to the Middle St. Market before Chance started limping. After he did his duty, I carried him the rest of the way home. It sure is tough carrying a 50lb dog while still having another dog on a leash, with a bad ankle in 6" of snow (the sidewalks still aren't clear from the last snow storm). We made it back and I parked my butt on the couch again to finish watching the game. I must have fallen asleep with a few minutes to go, because I woke up up to the news. I turned off the TV and went to bed at 11pm.
I took the pups for a quick walk to the Middle St. Market (0.6miles) before basketball. The dogs were good and ready to get back in, still a bit chilly. At 9am, I went to play some basketball. We had 10 people show, we usually have a tough time getting 6, so we had enough for 5-on-5 going full court. The first game, I actually played really well. I had a few steals off my friend Seth, which amazed me because Seth is such a great ball handler. I also had a few good shots and rebounds down low. The second game I played OK, but really wasn't a factor. At the start of the 3rd game I had my ankle stepped on and rolled pretty hard. I went straight for the floor. After a few minutes I made my way over to the sideline to sit out the rest of the game. My friend 'Tank' had rebounded a bal and started run with it, pushing off on my ankle. I was able to match the treads on his sneakers to the marks on my ankle.
After sitting out 30 minutes, I tried to run on the ankle. I was OK running straight, but couldn't take a turn at all. So I jumped back in for some more basketball. I was pretty much useless, but at least got in some more playing time. Afterwards, I headed home to take a nap with the dogs. I crashed on the couch for some time, watching TV and taking naps. I finally got up around 2:30pm and took the pups out for some ball in the backyard. I made some snacks and went back up to watch some football on TV at 3pm.
After the first football game, I fed the dogs dinner, then took them out for some ball in the backyard. When we came back in, I made a pizza for my dinner and headed up to watch the second football game of the day. At half-time, I took the pups out for a walk. We didn't quite make it to the Middle St. Market before Chance started limping. After he did his duty, I carried him the rest of the way home. It sure is tough carrying a 50lb dog while still having another dog on a leash, with a bad ankle in 6" of snow (the sidewalks still aren't clear from the last snow storm). We made it back and I parked my butt on the couch again to finish watching the game. I must have fallen asleep with a few minutes to go, because I woke up up to the news. I turned off the TV and went to bed at 11pm.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
1/22/11
Got up early this morning, planning to get a lot done. We did our normal routine, then I started modifying one of the roof rakes. I took apart the squeegee, then attached it to the cutting edge of the roof rake (hopefully safe for the solar panels). I also had 32' of poles to reach high up on the panels. So, what I thought would take 10 minutes, took about an hour to get the first layer of snow off the roof. I came in to take a break and eat some cereal and have some coffee. The goal is to let the sun heat up the panels a little bit, then try it again.
So, for the next four hours I alternated taking the pups out in the yard and raking the snow off the solar panels. After my arms were plenty tired, I was done. I came in and played on the internet for a bit, eating a bag of those pretzel M&M's. After all that, I went down to get a haircut for tonight's company party. Next I watched a little TV and took a beauty nap. When I got up, I took a shower and got prepped for the party tonight.
I walked the pups just before heading out at 7pm. I met up with Dennis just before the party, I am taking Dennis' fiance, Christine's 20-year old daughter as my date for party. It is always fun to see people's faces when they see me with some one other than Cheryl, I'm sure it will start rumors at work. The party was pretty good, this is the first time that I had 4 people my own age that I could have conversations with. For dinner, I had some portabella mushrooms, stuffed ravioli, rice and mashed potatoes. After the owner's speeches, it was time to leave. I got home around midnight, took out the pups and went to bed.
So, for the next four hours I alternated taking the pups out in the yard and raking the snow off the solar panels. After my arms were plenty tired, I was done. I came in and played on the internet for a bit, eating a bag of those pretzel M&M's. After all that, I went down to get a haircut for tonight's company party. Next I watched a little TV and took a beauty nap. When I got up, I took a shower and got prepped for the party tonight.
I walked the pups just before heading out at 7pm. I met up with Dennis just before the party, I am taking Dennis' fiance, Christine's 20-year old daughter as my date for party. It is always fun to see people's faces when they see me with some one other than Cheryl, I'm sure it will start rumors at work. The party was pretty good, this is the first time that I had 4 people my own age that I could have conversations with. For dinner, I had some portabella mushrooms, stuffed ravioli, rice and mashed potatoes. After the owner's speeches, it was time to leave. I got home around midnight, took out the pups and went to bed.
1/21/11
Another friday, more snow. So since I am way behind on my blog, I'll make this quick. We did our regular morning routine, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Off to work in the snow. Work was the same as usual. For lunch, Dennis, Carl H and I went out to Hebert's. I had a open faced turkey sandwich. The rest of the day, I continued to complete tasks. After work, I went home to play with the pups.
I got to play in the backyard for 15 minutes, then brought the pups inside to eat dinner. Then I went outside and began shoveling the snow... again. We got between 6 and 8" of really light fluffy stuff. This is the type of winter that makes you ponder a snow blower. For the rest of the night, I took the pups out multiple time to play ball, then for a short 0.6 mile walk. At 8pm, I went out to Lowes and Home Depot to purchase two roof rakes and a giant sqeegee. Stopped into Target for some milk and food. For dinner I had a bowl of cereal while watching TV. I final got to bed around 10pm.
I got to play in the backyard for 15 minutes, then brought the pups inside to eat dinner. Then I went outside and began shoveling the snow... again. We got between 6 and 8" of really light fluffy stuff. This is the type of winter that makes you ponder a snow blower. For the rest of the night, I took the pups out multiple time to play ball, then for a short 0.6 mile walk. At 8pm, I went out to Lowes and Home Depot to purchase two roof rakes and a giant sqeegee. Stopped into Target for some milk and food. For dinner I had a bowl of cereal while watching TV. I final got to bed around 10pm.
Friday, January 21, 2011
1/20/11
Another day, the same routine. Up by 5:50am, coffee being made, stoke the fire, take the pups outside, feed the pups breakfast, check the electric meter, then relax with some coffee while blogging. After checking a few things on the internet, I took a shower and got cleaned up for work. At 6:55am, the dogs and I were out the door for our morning walk. We did our typical down and back to Middle St. Market (0.6miles), nothing too spectacular happened and the walk was pretty enjoyable. When we got home, I made a bowl of cereal for breakfast, finished getting cleaned up, then off to work.
Just another day at work, Dennis was out for the day, which usually makes for a non interesting day. Dennis really makes work enjoyable with his fast wit and humor. For the most part, I was able to get quite a few things done. Unfortunately, it seemed that as I was completing tasks, even more piled on top. At lunch I went home to the pups and played ball in the yard. We played for 15 minutes, then we came in and I had a Amy's 'chicken' pot pie wrap. It was pretty good, but the dough was pretty soft, I like the dough to be crusty on a pot pie. The afternoon at work was similar to the morning, I continued working on my assignments, finally making some headway.
At 5:30pm, I headed home to let the pups out. We played ball for 10 minutes, then I brought them in for dinner. Cheryl called and we talked on the phone for only 10 minutes. Since nothing too exciting had happened to either of us in the last 24 hours, it was a short conversation. I took the pups outside for another 10 minutes of ball, then we went on an early evening walk. For this walk, we made the loop on Union St. (0.8 mile). The problem with the loops are that they go down Lincoln Ave, which has no sidewalks shoveled so you have to walk in the street. The dogs were good, and Chance didn't get too limpy.
After the walk, I took off for the library. The guys who built my house, Little Green Homes, were giving a seminar on green building. So, from 7-9pm, I was at the library, got to see how Chris was doing. Glad to hear his business is doing so well, and is gearing up for a busy spring. When I got home, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner, and let the dogs out for one last 'outside'. Then I sat in bed for 20 minutes playing Jewels on my cell phone before falling asleep.
Just another day at work, Dennis was out for the day, which usually makes for a non interesting day. Dennis really makes work enjoyable with his fast wit and humor. For the most part, I was able to get quite a few things done. Unfortunately, it seemed that as I was completing tasks, even more piled on top. At lunch I went home to the pups and played ball in the yard. We played for 15 minutes, then we came in and I had a Amy's 'chicken' pot pie wrap. It was pretty good, but the dough was pretty soft, I like the dough to be crusty on a pot pie. The afternoon at work was similar to the morning, I continued working on my assignments, finally making some headway.
At 5:30pm, I headed home to let the pups out. We played ball for 10 minutes, then I brought them in for dinner. Cheryl called and we talked on the phone for only 10 minutes. Since nothing too exciting had happened to either of us in the last 24 hours, it was a short conversation. I took the pups outside for another 10 minutes of ball, then we went on an early evening walk. For this walk, we made the loop on Union St. (0.8 mile). The problem with the loops are that they go down Lincoln Ave, which has no sidewalks shoveled so you have to walk in the street. The dogs were good, and Chance didn't get too limpy.
After the walk, I took off for the library. The guys who built my house, Little Green Homes, were giving a seminar on green building. So, from 7-9pm, I was at the library, got to see how Chris was doing. Glad to hear his business is doing so well, and is gearing up for a busy spring. When I got home, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner, and let the dogs out for one last 'outside'. Then I sat in bed for 20 minutes playing Jewels on my cell phone before falling asleep.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
1/19/11
Mid-week, yahoo! Woke up this morning much like how I wake up every morning... kisses from Reece. I got out of bed, took the pups out, then fed them breakfast. I checked the meter, stoked the fire and had some coffee while blogging. The rest of the morning I played around on the computer, then took the pups for our morning walk. I thought today was suppose to be better weather, but it is still raining. At least this should help get snow off the solar panels. The walk went fine, the sidewalks were now pools of water with no place to escape. The dogs were great on the walk, we did only 0.6 miles. When we got back, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and got ready for work.
I got into work a little before 8am, got settled in and began work. Nothing exciting going on. Well, actually, plenty of things are going on, but I won't go into details. For the most part of the morning I just kept chugging away at closing out tasks. At lunch I went home to be with the pups. We went outside and played ball for almost 20 minutes. We came in and I made myself a double cheese 'burger' and had some fruit snacks. I spent some time playing in the house with the dogs, then headed back to work. The afternoon at work was very stressful until 3pm. At 3 I had my 2 hour long weekly North Carolina meeting that lasted the rest of the day.
After work I went home and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. After the first round of playing, I brought them in for dinner. I talked with Cheryl on the phone for 10 minutes, we don't seem to have much to talk about these days... what will we talk about when she is back living here??? Afterwards, I took the pups out again to play more ball in the yard. We came in again and I fixed myself a nice bowl of cereal for dinner. I sat and watched some TV until 7:30pm. Then we went out for our evening walk. The weather was much the same, a little drizzly rain. The dogs were good, nothing exciting going on on the streets of Portsmouth.
When we got back, I watched a couple more episodes of The IT Crowd on Netflix, then went to bed around 9:30pm.
I got into work a little before 8am, got settled in and began work. Nothing exciting going on. Well, actually, plenty of things are going on, but I won't go into details. For the most part of the morning I just kept chugging away at closing out tasks. At lunch I went home to be with the pups. We went outside and played ball for almost 20 minutes. We came in and I made myself a double cheese 'burger' and had some fruit snacks. I spent some time playing in the house with the dogs, then headed back to work. The afternoon at work was very stressful until 3pm. At 3 I had my 2 hour long weekly North Carolina meeting that lasted the rest of the day.
After work I went home and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. After the first round of playing, I brought them in for dinner. I talked with Cheryl on the phone for 10 minutes, we don't seem to have much to talk about these days... what will we talk about when she is back living here??? Afterwards, I took the pups out again to play more ball in the yard. We came in again and I fixed myself a nice bowl of cereal for dinner. I sat and watched some TV until 7:30pm. Then we went out for our evening walk. The weather was much the same, a little drizzly rain. The dogs were good, nothing exciting going on on the streets of Portsmouth.
When we got back, I watched a couple more episodes of The IT Crowd on Netflix, then went to bed around 9:30pm.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
1/18/11
Just another day, woke up (always a good thing) and took the dogs out for their morning 'outside'. Brought them in and gave them breakfast, then a nice cup of coffee while blogging. Today's forecast is for a snow in the morning, switching to freezing rain in the afternoon. Already have a ton of snow, don't know where I'm going to put another 6" of wet stuff. Anyway, continued on with my typical morning, getting all cleaned up for work, then heading out on the morning walk with the dogs. As usual, the walk was short, we went to the Naber Market and back. By the way, the Naber market is now the Middle Street Market, with new super bright sign and longer hours. The old Naber Market closed everyday at 6pm, which I thought was tough hours for a corner convenient store. Getting off subject here, the dogs were good on the walk, when we got home I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and got ready for work. I headed out the door a few minutes early because the snow had already started to come down at a good clip.
I got to work and began working on my tasks. Not a lot to mention here. Very typical, non exciting day. At lunch I went home, stoked the fire and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We played for 15 minutes, then came in and I made myself lunch. I had a 'chik'-which with cheese and BBQ sauce. I made sure the pups were ok, then left to get back to work. In a moment of weakness, there was a Lunch & Learn going on that I didn't attend, but there was leftover pizza, so I grabbed a couple slices. After chowing down those, I felt like crap, I didn't need it. The rest of the day I think I made great progress to getting my assigned tasks completed. The last bit of business for the day was to purchase plane tickets for next wednesday's meeting I have in south Jersey. I was only planning on going one day (all I have dogsitting for), last minute before hitting the purchase button, by boss sends out an email saying he wants to stay 2 days. I will have to talk to him in the morning about this.
As I left work, and walked to the car, the parking lot was shear ice... I could have skated on it. With hearing sirens in the background, I knew I needed to take it slow on the roads. It took awhile, but I got home safe and sound... crap, as I am writing this on wednesday morning, I realize I forgot to send Cheryl a text message I made it home fine... sorry hun. When I got home, I let the pups out and played ball a little in the rain. I brought them in and gave them dinner. For 20 minutes I started shoveling the wet snow in the driveway. Then I alternated playing ball with the dogs and shoveling until 7pm. At 7pm, I made a bowl of cereal for dinner and watched some TV. At 8pm, I took the pups for their evening walk, in the freezing rain. Remember this day Cheryl, the next day you are home and it is freezing rain, you can walk the dogs on your own, it's a blast. We did the 0.6 mile down and back.
For the rest of the night, Reece and I watched TV on the couch while Chance slept on the couch downstairs. All night I could hear the snow finally coming off the roof in big avalanche sounding smashes. I finally got to bed around 11pm.
I got to work and began working on my tasks. Not a lot to mention here. Very typical, non exciting day. At lunch I went home, stoked the fire and played ball with the dogs in the backyard. We played for 15 minutes, then came in and I made myself lunch. I had a 'chik'-which with cheese and BBQ sauce. I made sure the pups were ok, then left to get back to work. In a moment of weakness, there was a Lunch & Learn going on that I didn't attend, but there was leftover pizza, so I grabbed a couple slices. After chowing down those, I felt like crap, I didn't need it. The rest of the day I think I made great progress to getting my assigned tasks completed. The last bit of business for the day was to purchase plane tickets for next wednesday's meeting I have in south Jersey. I was only planning on going one day (all I have dogsitting for), last minute before hitting the purchase button, by boss sends out an email saying he wants to stay 2 days. I will have to talk to him in the morning about this.
As I left work, and walked to the car, the parking lot was shear ice... I could have skated on it. With hearing sirens in the background, I knew I needed to take it slow on the roads. It took awhile, but I got home safe and sound... crap, as I am writing this on wednesday morning, I realize I forgot to send Cheryl a text message I made it home fine... sorry hun. When I got home, I let the pups out and played ball a little in the rain. I brought them in and gave them dinner. For 20 minutes I started shoveling the wet snow in the driveway. Then I alternated playing ball with the dogs and shoveling until 7pm. At 7pm, I made a bowl of cereal for dinner and watched some TV. At 8pm, I took the pups for their evening walk, in the freezing rain. Remember this day Cheryl, the next day you are home and it is freezing rain, you can walk the dogs on your own, it's a blast. We did the 0.6 mile down and back.
For the rest of the night, Reece and I watched TV on the couch while Chance slept on the couch downstairs. All night I could hear the snow finally coming off the roof in big avalanche sounding smashes. I finally got to bed around 11pm.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
1/17/11
A fantastic monday morning. As usual, I got up at 5:50am with the dogs. Only today for some reason my back really hurt all night and I had a very tough time sleeping. My back is usually sore in the morning, but this was pretty extreme. Seems it is telling me to get back to my back exercises. Well, after that revelation, I took the pups outside, then back in for their breakfast. I caught up on two days of blogging while having a cup of coffee. I was a little late finishing my blog, so right after I took the dogs for their morning walk. We walked to the Naber Market and back. Not a whole lot to talk about, it was pretty darn cold (6F) for the walk, but only 0.6 miles, it went pretty quick.
When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal then cleaned up for work. I was out the door at 7:45am. Work was the same, trying to get all the red tasks off my dry erase board. I write down tasks in red that need the first attention... my entire board is red. I should put something easy like, 'Come into work' as a task, then I can check it off every morning. The morning at work was pretty typical and nothing too exciting to write about. At lunch I went home to play ball with the dogs. We were only out for 10 minutes before Chance started his frozen paw routine. In his defense, at noon it was still only 11F out. We came in, I made a grilled 'chicken' and provolone sandwich for lunch. I spent some more time playing stupid dog tricks with the pups inside too.
After lunch I headed back to work. The afternoon was a little more challenging than the morning, but went by fast. At 5pm, I went home. I let the dogs out, stoked up the fire (been going constant for 6 days now), then played some ball. I brought the pups in around 5:20pm and settled in waiting for Cheryl's call. Cheryl and I talked for 20 minutes on the phone, I put her on speaker phone for the pups to hear her voice. After our conversation, I took the pups out to play again, only for 10 minutes. Then I grabbed a bowl of cereal for dinner and headed up to watch some TV. I continued to watch episodes of that british show The IT Crowd, pretty funny.
At 7:30pm, I took the pups for the evening walk. We did the down and back to Naber Market, again, nothing too exciting. It kinda sucks that the dogs walks have been cut back from 1.5 miles, to 1.0 miles, and now down to 0.6 miles. I feel bad, but Chance needs to put his big boy pants on and deal with cold paws. When we got back, Reece and I got on the couch and watched some TV together (who needs a wife?). At around 11pm, I turned off the TV and went to bed.
When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal then cleaned up for work. I was out the door at 7:45am. Work was the same, trying to get all the red tasks off my dry erase board. I write down tasks in red that need the first attention... my entire board is red. I should put something easy like, 'Come into work' as a task, then I can check it off every morning. The morning at work was pretty typical and nothing too exciting to write about. At lunch I went home to play ball with the dogs. We were only out for 10 minutes before Chance started his frozen paw routine. In his defense, at noon it was still only 11F out. We came in, I made a grilled 'chicken' and provolone sandwich for lunch. I spent some more time playing stupid dog tricks with the pups inside too.
After lunch I headed back to work. The afternoon was a little more challenging than the morning, but went by fast. At 5pm, I went home. I let the dogs out, stoked up the fire (been going constant for 6 days now), then played some ball. I brought the pups in around 5:20pm and settled in waiting for Cheryl's call. Cheryl and I talked for 20 minutes on the phone, I put her on speaker phone for the pups to hear her voice. After our conversation, I took the pups out to play again, only for 10 minutes. Then I grabbed a bowl of cereal for dinner and headed up to watch some TV. I continued to watch episodes of that british show The IT Crowd, pretty funny.
At 7:30pm, I took the pups for the evening walk. We did the down and back to Naber Market, again, nothing too exciting. It kinda sucks that the dogs walks have been cut back from 1.5 miles, to 1.0 miles, and now down to 0.6 miles. I feel bad, but Chance needs to put his big boy pants on and deal with cold paws. When we got back, Reece and I got on the couch and watched some TV together (who needs a wife?). At around 11pm, I turned off the TV and went to bed.
Monday, January 17, 2011
1/16/11
Happy Birthday Mackenzie!
This will be quick because I am running short on time. Got up early and did my typical morning routine. I had a banana for breakfast to keep it light. At 8:30am, I headed over to the gym to play some pickup basketball. None of the guys on the team showed up, so Jeff and I shot around for a while, then played some one-on-one until 11:30am. We headed back to the house, I let the pups out to play in the yard. Around 12:30pm, Shannon came by with Oskar and we all went downtown to eat lunch at Flatbread.
I had a great time catching up with Shannon and Jeff, Oskar was too cute watching everything going on at the restaurant. We sat close to the wood stove, so Oskar was watching the guys put in the pizzas all the time. I had their meat special pizza, it was great. Afterwards I went back home and Jeff and Shannon took off.
I pretty much crashed on the couch and watched TV for the rest of the night. I was tired from basketball, so I fell asleep a few times during the early football game. Once I thought it was over, I watched a few TV shows that Shannon recommended on Netflix. I got to watch the first 3 episodes of this British show called The IT Crowd, it was pretty good. After that I watched the Pats game, or what is called a game, but the Pats forgot to show up for. A miserable loss, oh well. I took the pups out after the game for a nice evening walk. Nothing too exciting. I made it back in time to watch animation domination. Finally went to bed around 10pm.
This will be quick because I am running short on time. Got up early and did my typical morning routine. I had a banana for breakfast to keep it light. At 8:30am, I headed over to the gym to play some pickup basketball. None of the guys on the team showed up, so Jeff and I shot around for a while, then played some one-on-one until 11:30am. We headed back to the house, I let the pups out to play in the yard. Around 12:30pm, Shannon came by with Oskar and we all went downtown to eat lunch at Flatbread.
I had a great time catching up with Shannon and Jeff, Oskar was too cute watching everything going on at the restaurant. We sat close to the wood stove, so Oskar was watching the guys put in the pizzas all the time. I had their meat special pizza, it was great. Afterwards I went back home and Jeff and Shannon took off.
I pretty much crashed on the couch and watched TV for the rest of the night. I was tired from basketball, so I fell asleep a few times during the early football game. Once I thought it was over, I watched a few TV shows that Shannon recommended on Netflix. I got to watch the first 3 episodes of this British show called The IT Crowd, it was pretty good. After that I watched the Pats game, or what is called a game, but the Pats forgot to show up for. A miserable loss, oh well. I took the pups out after the game for a nice evening walk. Nothing too exciting. I made it back in time to watch animation domination. Finally went to bed around 10pm.
1/15/11
Saturday, still got up at the same time to let the dogs out in the morning. It sure will be good when Cheryl gets back, she can let the pups out in the morning on the weekends and I will get to sleep in. After taking out the pups, I brought them in for their breakfast. I mulled around the house a bit before making my breakfast. I put in a load of laundry, made sure the fire in the wood stove was going, went through some recyclables, then made breakfast. I had french toast with morning 'sausage'. After I was stuffed with that great meal, I got dressed and took the dogs out for a walk.
The sidewalks still weren't clear, starting to get ridiculous. We did our walk to the Naber Market and back (0.6miles). Nothing too exciting going on, a bit too cold for most people to come out (7F). When we got back to the house, I did some vacuuming until the battery was drained, plugged it in to recharge. I spent a lot of time on the internet, I am contemplating starting my own LLC business for residential building consulting and solar evaluations. I don't think there is a huge demand right now, but something I could do on the side.
For most of the day I relaxed and played ball with the dogs outside. It was a nice sunny day, and I am really hoping the snow falls off the solar panels. At around 1pm, I decided to check out Lowes and Home Depot for what they have for snow rakes. They pretty much had the same thing, but they were only 16' long. I think it will take a longer pole to reach my panels. Plus, each rake was $40, tough to justify the cost. So, I walked out without buying anything.
When I got home, I did another load of laundry and decided to walk the dogs before heading to Hampton. To my surprise, the sidewalks were finally cleared! It was the first time since tuesday that we got to use the sidewalks. The pups and I still only wen to the Naber Market and back (0.6 miles) because of the salt irritating Chance's paws. When we got home, I hung up the laundry and fed the dogs an early dinner. I tried picking up a few things that I thought were easy Chance targets.
Next I headed down to Hampton to have dinner with Mackenzie, Dan, Dad, Emerson, and Cailan for Mackenzies birthday tomorrow. We met at their house, then headed over to the Galley Hatch at 5:45pm. We had a good time, enjoyed the company and the food. I had a three cheese ravioli and a peanut butter dessert. Afterwards, we went back to Mac's house, talked for a bit, then I headed home. On my way home, I stopped for gas. It was the first fill up in the new car (16 days!), only problem is I couldn't figure out how to open the gas door. It didn't have a lip on it to just pull it open, and I couldn't find a pull inside the car. Since I don't have the manual in the car, I was starting to get pissy. Finally I pushed on the gas door and it popped open. WTF, really, what a stupid design.
I have only a few complaints about Honda, #1 the daytime running lights... ok, so when you get into the car and turn it on, your daytime running light come on, but so do all the dash lights. The problem with this, if you get into the car at night. You think your headlight and taillights are on because the dash is all illuminated, but no, they are not on, you are driving without you typical lights on (just the low daytime lights). In the Toyota's, you never shut off the lights, you keep them in the on position when you turn off the car, and they turn off. Not in a Honda, you have to manually turn off the lights each time you get out of the car, or risk draining the battery. Honda... please change this and you will be the perfect car maker!
Sorry about that, thought I would use that opportunity to complain about a good car. Finally gassed up and made it home. I took the pups for a late evening walk on the sidewalks, then sat on the couch to watch some TV. I went to bed around 10pm.
The sidewalks still weren't clear, starting to get ridiculous. We did our walk to the Naber Market and back (0.6miles). Nothing too exciting going on, a bit too cold for most people to come out (7F). When we got back to the house, I did some vacuuming until the battery was drained, plugged it in to recharge. I spent a lot of time on the internet, I am contemplating starting my own LLC business for residential building consulting and solar evaluations. I don't think there is a huge demand right now, but something I could do on the side.
For most of the day I relaxed and played ball with the dogs outside. It was a nice sunny day, and I am really hoping the snow falls off the solar panels. At around 1pm, I decided to check out Lowes and Home Depot for what they have for snow rakes. They pretty much had the same thing, but they were only 16' long. I think it will take a longer pole to reach my panels. Plus, each rake was $40, tough to justify the cost. So, I walked out without buying anything.
When I got home, I did another load of laundry and decided to walk the dogs before heading to Hampton. To my surprise, the sidewalks were finally cleared! It was the first time since tuesday that we got to use the sidewalks. The pups and I still only wen to the Naber Market and back (0.6 miles) because of the salt irritating Chance's paws. When we got home, I hung up the laundry and fed the dogs an early dinner. I tried picking up a few things that I thought were easy Chance targets.
Next I headed down to Hampton to have dinner with Mackenzie, Dan, Dad, Emerson, and Cailan for Mackenzies birthday tomorrow. We met at their house, then headed over to the Galley Hatch at 5:45pm. We had a good time, enjoyed the company and the food. I had a three cheese ravioli and a peanut butter dessert. Afterwards, we went back to Mac's house, talked for a bit, then I headed home. On my way home, I stopped for gas. It was the first fill up in the new car (16 days!), only problem is I couldn't figure out how to open the gas door. It didn't have a lip on it to just pull it open, and I couldn't find a pull inside the car. Since I don't have the manual in the car, I was starting to get pissy. Finally I pushed on the gas door and it popped open. WTF, really, what a stupid design.
I have only a few complaints about Honda, #1 the daytime running lights... ok, so when you get into the car and turn it on, your daytime running light come on, but so do all the dash lights. The problem with this, if you get into the car at night. You think your headlight and taillights are on because the dash is all illuminated, but no, they are not on, you are driving without you typical lights on (just the low daytime lights). In the Toyota's, you never shut off the lights, you keep them in the on position when you turn off the car, and they turn off. Not in a Honda, you have to manually turn off the lights each time you get out of the car, or risk draining the battery. Honda... please change this and you will be the perfect car maker!
Sorry about that, thought I would use that opportunity to complain about a good car. Finally gassed up and made it home. I took the pups for a late evening walk on the sidewalks, then sat on the couch to watch some TV. I went to bed around 10pm.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
1/14/11
Friday means pastry day! This morning the pups and I got up as usual, went right outside for a few minutes and back in where I fed them breakfast. I sat down with some coffee and wrote in the blog. Afterwards, I got dressed for outside and took the pups for our morning walk. The city still hasn't cleared the sidewalks on Middle St. One side has 6-8" of snow, the other hasn't been touched and has 16". Anyway, we went to the Naber Market and back (0.6 miles). The dogs were good and we didn't run into any other dogs or kids. We got home and I got cleaned up for work.
I made it to work by 8am, we had a staff meeting to start the day and plenty of pastries to go around. Beyond the meeting, nothing too exciting happened during the morning hours. At lunch, Dennis and I went over to 99 Restaurant for some food. We got to chat a bit, then head back to work. The afternoon was pretty much the same at the morning. I had a deadline to get a bid package out for a South Jersey project by the end of the day. Right after lunch, we received mark-ups from the client that they sent in snail mail. No prior mention that they had changes to the package that they had since 11/24/10. Frustrating, but I was able to make all the changes and still get the package out at 4:30pm. At that point, I shut down mentally. At 5pm, I headed home.
I made it home and took the dogs outside for some ball. We played for 15 minutes, then headed in to feed them dinner. I got the house cleaned up a bit and ready for the night. I made myself some mac & cheese for dinner. Then the dogs and I played a bit outside again. I pretty much stop and go back indoors when Chance lays down in the snow because his paws are frozen. When he walks on the wood floor in the house, he sounds like a tap dancer because the snow gets jammed between his toes and freezes into ice balls. Poor boy.
Anyway, for most of the night I lounged around the house, not much going on. I had forgot to call Netflix today to get their address, will have to wait until tomorrow. I took the pups out for an evening walk, covering the same section of semi-cleared sidewalk as we have for the past 3 days. Nothing too exciting to report. When we got back, I sat down in front of the TV and relaxed. Contemplating how to get the snow off the solar panels... so far we have lost 3 days of production. At around 11pm, I went to bed.
I made it to work by 8am, we had a staff meeting to start the day and plenty of pastries to go around. Beyond the meeting, nothing too exciting happened during the morning hours. At lunch, Dennis and I went over to 99 Restaurant for some food. We got to chat a bit, then head back to work. The afternoon was pretty much the same at the morning. I had a deadline to get a bid package out for a South Jersey project by the end of the day. Right after lunch, we received mark-ups from the client that they sent in snail mail. No prior mention that they had changes to the package that they had since 11/24/10. Frustrating, but I was able to make all the changes and still get the package out at 4:30pm. At that point, I shut down mentally. At 5pm, I headed home.
I made it home and took the dogs outside for some ball. We played for 15 minutes, then headed in to feed them dinner. I got the house cleaned up a bit and ready for the night. I made myself some mac & cheese for dinner. Then the dogs and I played a bit outside again. I pretty much stop and go back indoors when Chance lays down in the snow because his paws are frozen. When he walks on the wood floor in the house, he sounds like a tap dancer because the snow gets jammed between his toes and freezes into ice balls. Poor boy.
Anyway, for most of the night I lounged around the house, not much going on. I had forgot to call Netflix today to get their address, will have to wait until tomorrow. I took the pups out for an evening walk, covering the same section of semi-cleared sidewalk as we have for the past 3 days. Nothing too exciting to report. When we got back, I sat down in front of the TV and relaxed. Contemplating how to get the snow off the solar panels... so far we have lost 3 days of production. At around 11pm, I went to bed.
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