I'm Broken From March Break

So we had a pretty packed March Break, all things concidered.  We hit the Sweetwater Festival down at Crawford Lake, visited the ROM, saw a few movies, wandered around the Science Center and even had a whole day where Garrett & I didn't leave the house or change out of our PJs. 

I even put a full day of work in on Wednesday... man, was that just on Wednesday?  It feels like 3 weeks ago...

Suffice it to say that while I'm not necessarily chomping at the bit to rush back to work tomorrow, I'm glad that the kids are going back to school :)  They were getting just a tiny bit too squirrelly the last couple of days.  I don't think Kara stopped talking since Friday...

Now to count down the next couple of days until my birthday.  Woo!

Eternity

High up in the North in the land called Svithjod, there stands a rock. It is a hundred miles high and a hundred miles wide. Once every thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak. When the rock has thus been worn away, then a single day of eternity will have gone by. - Hendrik Willem Van Loon (thanks XKCD)

And if we're lucky, I may even post a new update during that timeframe!

The sad thing is that I have a lot I could talk about (Monster Jam, Garrett's many presentations at school, how crazy my job has been, some cool games I've played) but I have either been too busy or too tired to compose a coherent thought of late when I finally do sit down at the computer.

Lord willing, if I get a chance in the next couple of days, I'm going to cobble together a nice little slideshow/album of pictures of our adventures since January and throw it up here.  Of course, I think I said that a month ago.  But I mean it this time!

I Lost On Jeopardy...

So the online Jeopardy! tests were this week and tonight was the last night. I signed up earlier in the day and spent most of tonight waiting patiently for my chance to squeeze a little of the trivia knowledge out of my brain in the general direction of Mr. Trebek.

Alas, I'll never know how I may have done BECAUSE FLASH CRASHED ON ME 20 QUESTIONS INTO THE TEST!

Stupid Flash.

I just sat there in shock when the screen suddenly went grey and a little sad face appeared to tell me that the Flash plug-in had crashed.  Then a mad scramble ensued to try to log back in and salvage whatever was left of my chance at glory.

Alas, 'twas not to be. I was greeted with a smug little picture of Alex saying, "Sorry, you're too late for tonight's test. TRY AGAIN NEXT YEAR, LOSER!*"

Ah well. It was pretty challenging, the 20 questions that I did do. Not super hard, but you only get 15 seconds per question to read and answer, and it's all typed in, so you can't even just shout out a quick guess.  It may have also gone smoother if I'd realized that I didn't have to hit Submit after each question. Sigh.

I think the only thing left to say is that I didn't even get a copy of the home version...

Till next year, Alex.  Then we shall meet on the field of trivia once more.

*I may have read something into his expresssion...

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a very happy New Year's Eve last night and was able to either sleep off their drunk or at least relax and take it easy today!

We had some friends over last night and played Quelph (which is an awesome board game, esp. if you have no shame :) and watched the ball drop online from NYC.  The kids even had a couple of countdowns when their friends left at 9pm and then again around 11 when they finally went to bed.

So far, 2013 is shaping up nicely.  We had more friends over tonight (and played more Quelph), Garrett & I painted his room and I've beaten at least one videogame today. 

Heck, I'm on call for work and only had to take one or two calls.  Huzzah!

I'll probably do a 2012 in review for us as a family tomorrow or the next day, but in case I don't, let's just say that 2012 was a year upon which I'll look back with very mixed feelings.  It was a very interesting (and positive) time for me on a professional level but it has been a pretty rough year for us as a family (I'll spare everyone the gory details, but we all came out of the fires for the better after a long road with lots of help!).  And we moved to our nice new house, which was worth it on multiple levels. 

So see you later, 2012.  We're going into 2013 and are ready to kick some booty!

Is This Thing On?

Well, I really dropped the ball on updates this past month (or two).

Chalk it up to my being insanely busy at work (hooray for year-end stuff!) and doing all sorts of stuff with the kids and Julie instead of posting here!

We've got all of our Christmas shopping done.  We've painted Garrett's room.  We've unpacked pretty much all of the boxes in Mount Boxalot.

Now we're on vacation and looking forward to Christmas with everyone!  Since we've all survived the Mayan Apocalypse, I hope that I'll get back to the blogging in the new year with something closer to my old output instead of the sporadic updates these days.

Keep following my Twitter to see me ramble about my lack of sleep and curse water in all its forms (seriously, it's out to get me!) and thanks for keeping me on your feeds!

Stop Licking Things!

Today Kara's teacher took a little time out of her day to ask us to have a word with Kara about licking things.  Supposedly the new game in Kindergarten is to lick... people? Playgrounds? I'm not sure exactly what, because the kids sure aren't telling us how this game is played, but we made it pretty clear that there shall be NO licking while at school (or anywhere else for that matter!).

Then the kids came up with the Germotologist, who is someone neither of them want to have come to visit.  So now we just have to remind them that if they don't wash they're hands, they're going to have a visit from the germotologist!

Happy Halloween!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates. We're still getting settled in the new place and work is also keeping us busy.

We went trick or treating in the new neighbourhood tonight. It was odd not making the rounds at the townhouses like we usually do, but we still had a pretty respectable haul for the hour and a half or so we were out.  The weather was wet, but not too bad and at least the wind was pretty mild compared to Saturday's dreary downpour.

Here's the kids and their haul. Enjoy!

Moving Day Is Looming

Man, it does not feel like we're moving in 3-4 days.  We just had a 4 day weekend home in Sarnia for Thanksgiving and work kept me running off my feet all day.  Who has time to pack?

The upside is that since we're just popping across town, we can just move a lot of stuff as is and just pile it up.  And we did do most of our packing prior to even selling the house, so that's probably why it doesn't feel so hectic.

But a week from now, we'll no longer have any ties to this house and we'll be settle in our new digs. Eek!

Please Help My Son. He's Weird.

Garrett's going through a picture taking phase right now. I hope he likes his new mugshots that I found on the iPad tonight...

Yep. These are going in the wedding reception album of embarassment!

Packing It In

Sorry for the lack of updates of late.  Not that I've been lighting the blog-o-sphere on fire this past year, but at least this month I've got a good excuse.

My new manager job is keeping me insanely busy. I wrapped up working 12 days straight as of Thursday and even then I had to run into work yesterday morning at 5am to take care of a minor emergency.  Sigh. 

A couple of weeks ago, I took Garrett to go see some wrestling action in Hamilton. He had a blast seeing the WWE crew do their thing live, even though it wasn't quite as fancy as on TV (no pyro).

And moving day is fast approaching.  I alternate between thinking that we've got everything that we can possibly pack already packed and then fearing that there's never going to be enough time to finish boxing up all of the detritus that is in this house of ours.  ARG!  3 more weeks and we'll be in our new place!

Julie's away next week on a business trip, so we'll see what kind of smoking crater is left upon her return.  I can give kids PB&J sandwiches, right?

More to come, but I'm going to go play more videogames.  Despite appearances, I barely get a chance to play these days and I need to go shoot some bad guys!

It's Your Birthday (Dave Edition)

Happy birthday Dave!  I can't believe I've got a little brother in the mid-30s.  That's just nuts (and now I feel even older.

Sigh.

Quickest Move Ever

So I helped Mr. Tim move tonight. That has got to be the quickest move I've ever done.  Thank you for not being a pack-rat, Mr. Tim. Thank you!

WWE, Come Get Your New Artist!

Garrett & I are going to see Smackdown in September when it comes to Hamilton. Garrett is understandably excited (WWE is pretty much all he talks about) and so he's busy making himself some signs to take to the show.

Here's his rough draft worksheet of some signs that he wants to make for his favourite rassler, Sheamus. I thought he did a pretty good job!

Here's what he's working from as reference:

What A Busy Month

When last we saw our hero, he was busy getting ready for some interviews and looking forward to vacation with the family!

What a difference a month makes. Let me break it down for you:

1) I got a promotion. I'm now a program manager at a new house which means that I've got a lot more work to do but a lot more flexibility to my schedule.  I'm still in the adjustment phase where I am getting used to coming and going at times that aren't 7-3pm or 3-11pm. I miss my days off during the week though, but Julie's happy to have me around on the weekends.

2) We had a crazy busy (but fun) week off at the beginning of the month.  We hit Canada's Wonderland, Marineland, Niagara Falls, a trampoline gym in Mississauga and even got a chance to sit down once or twice.  Phew. I'm pretty sure we have some pictures of our adventures so I'll get them posted toot sweet.

3) The kids are busy with summer camps. They keep saying that they hate it there in the afternoon but the next morning they're chomping at the bit to get there and have fun.  At least they get a break next week at Grandma & Grandpa's place (and we get a break from them!)

4) Speaking of which, MY grandpa has been in the hospital for the month. It's kind of frustrating because we don't seem to be able to get a clear answer on what exactly is wrong with him.  All I know is that he's in rough shape and very frail.  We keep dreading that the phone will ring and it will be bad news...  Please say a little prayer for him and my grandma if you're so inclined.

5) And last, but not least, we're moving.  Well, we're planning to move. Where? Probably just somewhere else in Acton.  We actually found a house we like but it doesn't have forced air heating or A/C, which, after this summer, is something we really don't want to have to do without.  That being said, we've emptied most of the clutter and books and such into a storage unit for the time being and it's kind of scary to see just how much space we have in here when all of the junk is gone.  Maybe we can keep it like this for a while! 

6) Garrett went to his first Jays game on the weekend. I was depressed because my beloved Tigers lost, but he was pretty happy.  It's just a shame it was so hot up in the 500 level nosebleed seats.  We could only sit there for a bit before we had to get up and walk around the interior of the SkyDome to cool off.  At least the tickets were cheap.

7) We also went to Fort George in Niagara On The Lake for the 1812 reenactments, which was pretty cool.  I even got a General Brock action figure which is displayed prominently in my office at work :)

So that's about it for what we've been up to for the month July.  It's been work, camp, packing, lather, rinse, repeat.  Heck, I've barely had a chance to play any videogames. That's just not right, I tell ya!

Happy 8th Birthday, Little Dude!

And you guys thought I would forget it!
This was the cake that we had made for Garrett's birthday party.  It captures his love for all things pro-wrestling, pretty well, I'd say.  Alas, the ropes started to give way before we could get a really great shot of it, but it's still pretty awesome.  And it tasted delicious too!

Garrett had a pretty sweet weekend for his birthday (he'll be 8 the instant this posts!)

Lazer tag with his friends, Brave with his family (yesterday) and then today he took his sparring gear for a spin at his friend's place, followed by an all-you-can-eat buffet of pizza and pasta at the local Boston Pizza for a fundraiser dinner.  Woo!

Of course, he wants to use his new metal detector to search for treasure, but I am going to try to hold that off until at least next weekend. 

A Blast Of A Party

What a busy day we had today.  It was Garrett's birthday party and he went to the Lazer Tag place in Milton. It was great fun, but tiring.

Later in the day, we went to see Brave.  What a great movie.  I recall seeing some rumblings on Twitter that it was just ok (or worse, it was a Pixar movie that felt like a Dreamworks movie!) but I thought it was phenomenal.  It's one of those movies that I think being a parent puts a different spin on the impact it has compared to if I was just some schmoe watching it and then going back to my empty basement.  I won't lie. There was a little bit of moisture accumulating near my eyes by the end.

Tomorrow is Garrett's actual birthday and I think he's going to be pleasantly surprised by the presents he's getting from us.  They're nothing that I can picture him actually expecting, but I think he'll love them both.

I'll post pictures of his awesome birthday cake and the presents sometime tomorrow.  I promise!

Back To The Ol' Stomping Grounds

So today marked my glorious return to the house I work at near Acton.  I've missed that place so much.

I'm not sure whether it was having less pressure due to the role, a shorter drive or just being able to see the crew I've worked with and supported for the past 6-7 years again that made me giddy, but I had a great time working a 12 hour shift!

There's just a special energy at that house that I haven't been able to get anywhere else in the organization. It's not perfect and it's not easy, but man, I love it.  Plus I'm not the manager anymore, so I think part of me is just happy to have some of that burden lifted off my shoulders, at least for now!

Of course, I got bit by a dog on the way to the car this morning, which I thought was an inauspicious omen to the day, but it seems like that must have just gotten the bad luck out of the way instead :)

Retreat? More Like A Rout...

So I went up to Paisley last week.  I have to say, it was an interesting experience being back in my old stomping grounds.  There were a lot of good sessions to learn things at, funny stories to be told and many, many boardgames to be played.


And then the bedbugs showed up.


Thankfully they seemed to be limited to one bed in one room, but they had to cut the week short and send us home.  Ah well. 

I also had some of the saltiest whipped cream ever.  The cook mixed up her sugar and salt containers and, unfortunately, I was the first person to try a big mouthful of the apple crisp with whipped cream on top.  Blah!

On another odd note, on the way home, I stopped to help a guy who lost his entire toolchest from his truck when the tailgate fell down while he was driving.  There were tools and screws and wrenches everywhere.  Yikes!

Back To The Beginning

If you haven't followed my Twitter feed, you may have missed the news that I'm going back to my old role at my old job at my old house in a week or two. I've been doing a manager job for the last 3 months. It was a temporary gig and I was only there to keep the seat warm until they picked a new, permanent person for the position and, alas (or not), that person was not me. It's ok though. I loved the experience of being a manager and being able to pick my own hours, but I also missed the house that I've been working at the past 7 years and really am looking forward to heading back to that merry band of misfits. I mean, I went paintballing with them last week. I can't do that anywhere else!

In another kind of funny note, I'm going to be heading up to Paisley for the next 3 days for a work retreat. Yep, I'm heading back to where this whole crazy career of mine began: THE CONFERENCE CENTER. I'm sure they'll have lots of silly icebreakers for us to do and things to lecture us about, but I'm really just looking forward to letting the waves of nostalgia wash over me.

Oh, and I have a trunk literally stuffed to the brim with boardgames to play. I've got obscure German games and Apples To Apples and everything in between. If I can spend a majority of my free time playing games with random people and reading my book, I'll be happy. The only piece of electronics I'm taking up is my phone, so this will be almost like a videogame detox clinic!

Glad I'm Not The Only One...

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