Money Pits!

I took my mini-van in to get new brake pads because they started to squeek last week and today was as soon as I could get it in. By the time they got done and replaced the pads, rotors and hit me up about a few other things I ended up spending $245.......talk about a "oh shit" moment. Well I guess we should have good brakes or something.

It was warm today, but living by the lake it was very nice with the breeze but now it is evening and our house just turned into a sauna, so I didn't want to do it but the AC just went on. I may be cool this evening but all I see is money being sucked away.

I have learned something over the last year, and it is a very important lesson. My Dad always said that money is power and he is right, it is but more importantly money lets you handle those "oh shit" moments a little better. Needing rotors is a "oh shit" moment only if there is not a lot of green there. With cash there are not as many "oh shit" moments too deal with. So even though money is power, more importantly it is piece of mind, and I have been scared enough this last year and a half to internalize that lesson. In economic terms, it is simply getting through life as efficently as possible.

You say it's your birthday, well it's my birthday to.....

Yes it is my birthday, and I am now getting into the stage where I listen to talk radio more than music, I get up earlier than the kids, places hurt more than they used to and nobody is saying "oh your still a kid" anymore.

As far as where places hurt more, just the other day I woke up in the morning and my right shoulder hurt, and I mean really hurt. How the hell does someone damage their shoulder by sleeping? I mean really, how dumb is that? So yesterday I went to the Y to work out and after I was all excited because I could go into the hot tub and let the jets massage it out. Only the jets are not placed where your shoulder can reach very well, so instead I am lying down turning my body to get my shoulder low enough. Now for a lack of a better description, and trust me I was trying to figure one out, I looked like a beached whale, all flopping and turning to get my shoulder down..........I gave up.

So what does a guy do on his birthday, well when that guy is a stay at home dad this is what he does. He takes son #1 to park program and gives him $5 to go to dairy queen. Then he takes son #2 to target and pick up bleach and laundry soap. Then he goes back and pick up son #1 and goes grocery shopping. Then he spends the rest of the afternoon, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, laundry, mowed the lawn and made supper before Jenny got home from work. She even bought me a carrot cake (mmmmmmmmmmmm, cake) which there was 2 pieces left and the dog jumped up on the table and promptly ate before we even noticed, oh well for the better I guess.

You know what? I had a good day; I spent time with the kids, got some house work done, and ate supper with my wife. I guess I am pretty lucky.

Weeeiiirrd

Ok I didn't post last night because after going to St. Ann's (mmmmmmmmm steak) we picked up the kids from Jen's parents house. Grandma decided that it was ok to feed the kids candy, soda, sugar cereal, and just about anything else that was made of/or is primarily sugar. Now I understand grandparents spoiling a little bit but this was out of hand. Tommy is still on a sugar high, he didn't know what to do with himself and Dominic’s' stomach hurt so bad that he was just sitting there, oh I am sorry he was sitting there moaning. Now all I have to say is "what the fuck"?

Well, classes started today for me and I am pretty pumped. So I decided that since I needed to read and take some notes there was no better place than the beach. Got some sun, watched all the pretty "birds" go flying by, and the kids played by themselves on the jungle gym. So to celebrate I drank beer tonight. It was a good day.

AAAAGGGHHH!!!!!!!!

You know what sucks?

Well my mom gave me a bunch of books to read and one of them is Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, so I started to read it, well Jenny decides she would like to read it at the same time so, we have this system. Ye who has the book first controls the book until they are done. Now it is like we were 3 again and are fighting over toys, or the seagulls on "finding Nemo" "mine, mine, mine, mine". So here I am at 10:30 at night just watching her read my book like a lion looks at their prey.

so with this I say AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

LifeLine

Ok I am now officially pissed off!

It would seem that just when I get a rhythm going someone or something has to screw it up. Well let me tell you, I just got my class schedule for this summer and it is going to intense (not quite the intensity of Algebra last summer but still pretty tough)and with my new Windows XP installed on my wireless laptop I can now share printing duties and I am happier than a puppy with 2 peeters. Well then it happens, and if you think that God and the Angels don't have a sense of humor check this out. First, my cat steps on the laptop screen and cracks it, but still useable, but every time we pick up the laptop the screen gets worse, I am down to 50% usability. Then, the top row of the keyboard letters stop working...........except that the "T" and the "Y" work all the time and the rest of the letters..."qweruio and p" only work 10% of the time. Now this computer is my life line, it allows me to work outside and watch the kids, it allows me to work with out hiding out in my bedroom, it allows me to work without disappearing from my wife at night (since that is the only time we get to see each other)..........so you can see the importance of this machine and somehow I need to figure out how to buy a new one. Oh and by the way I can see God nudging St. Peter and giggling saying "lets see how he handles this one",

Dickhead (I am going to hell for that)

Andrews Hair

You know what I find ironic? The fact that our boys have the most unusual hair you've ever seen. Dominic's got two major colic’s on his bangs that coincide with his widow's peak (or receding hair line, take your pick). Tommy on the other hand has normal bangs but his hair looks like the evil tweedy bird on bugs bunny, you know the one that turns into a Mr. Hyde like bird. Now for my wonderful hair, not like there is anything wrong with it other than the fact I want it buzzed short, very short, almost bald short. I figure that I am not trying to impress anyone so why not.

Now the ironic part is that my wife is a hairstylist, and a very good one at that and she has a family full of hair freaks. I have to almost laugh to myself when we go out to visit her at work, her three hair freaks come waltzing into the salon for all the world to see............maybe it is not ironic but rather, unfortunate.

So the other day I wrote on trying to put up a ceiling fan for a friend, well today I went back for more punishment. The whole three hours spent there I was trying to figure out why I was doing it in the first place. I wasn't getting paid, he had no beer in the fridge and he was at work so I didn't even have good company (although I did listen to the brewers lose). I finally had enough and gave up trying to get it to work and called him to tell him to hire an electrician. So I left unaccomplished, thirsty and lonely and was I happy!

"E" Electricity

Anyone remember the song on school house rock about electricity? I think the song went "E"lectricity then something about how dangerous it is. Well my friend Sean called last night and asked if I knew how to put up a ceiling fan. My response.............Yea, no problem.

I stopped over at his house this morning and we started to take down the old light and put up the new fan, which by the way has a remote to control the speed and direction, I thought that was pretty cool. Now, his house is about 110 Years old and let’s just say, between the lead paint that fell from the ceiling and the asbestos type material falling from the attic I am pretty sure that we are going to kill ourselves. It may be immediate electrocution or long term health problems but some how, me helping him will kill me. We are the closest thing to tweedle dee and tweedle dum you will ever see.

Oh and one more thing, he give me warning that if I drop the florescent light that was there we may end up with cancer someday, which would have been a fine warning if it wasn't for the cigarette hanging from his mouth at the time.

Bugs a Buzzing!

I love Bob Uecker, and for those of you that don't know Uecker does play by play for the Milwaukee Brewers radio.

Now there is something nostalgic about his voice and his play by play, and his voice allows me to reminisce about being young and playing baseball. More importantly it reminds me of summer, being young when his voice wasn't really listened to but rather back round noise for other events that were going on.

You may ask yourself why did this pop up? Well I was sitting on my deck watching the boys play with the neighbors when in the distance I heard old Uecker. I couldn't make out what he was saying as the radio was turned down just so who ever was listening could hear. It wasn't until I heard his voice did I realize that he makes me happy. he can turn a regular old late afternoon/early evening and make it one that I can appreciate, the soft wind, the boys’ giggles, the buzzing of the bugs, the book being read and baseball in the background. It was a good night, a very good night indeed.

Longest day of the year!

There is something about the summer soltice that is quite romantic..........Don't ask me why, I am just assuming there is.

In the "holy shit" arena check this out!:

One homeowner in Wildwood, Missouri, says the disappearance of Lake Chesterfield is "real creepy." It went down a sinkhole this week. The entire 23-acre lake vanished in a matter of days.

What once was an oasis for waterfowl and sailboats near St. Louis is nothing but a muddy, crackled pit with rotting fish. One man who'd bought a "lakeside" condo a few years ago says,
"One day it's a beautiful lake and now, bingo, it's gone."

A geologist tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the sinkhole was formed when water eroded limestone underground and created pockets in the rock. Because the lake is private property, residents will have to cover the cost of fixing it, if that can be done.

Now I am not sure about you but if I had a place on the lake one day and next day the lake was gone I am pretty sure I would be moving sometime soon.

Fathers Day!

So today is fathers day, and yes I am a father, Dad, Pop, Pa or whatever other name you might want to call us men that happened to be there when our wives decided to have sex. Now don't get me wrong, fathers day is a nice day and our kids really do mean well, but lets face the facts here folks, it is not like mothers day. On mothers day the whole family gets together and has dinner and gifts are given and it is just a joyous day. On fathers day though, dad usually gets up earlier than everyone else so he has some alone time before the rest of the family gets up. Then if he is lucky he gets to leave the family and go golfing and if he is even luckier he gets to take a nap and watch the end of the US Open golf tournment. The idea is to just leave dad alone, not have to deal with screaming kids or the "honeydo" list. They might even get to grill out a big old steak that still moo's when taken off the grill.

My day you ask? Well it was taking a drive with the family to the A&W in Plymouth. Eating a double cheeseburger with some of the greatest fries (oops did I say greatest, I meant greasiest). Then a ride past our old cottege that my parents used to own, then a quick mow of the law, a few beers and now I am sitting watching the end of the golf tourny. the kids have gone with jen to buy some fish for our new fish tank and for supper tonight? Well I think a Peanut Buster Parfay sounds so unhealthy it just made my menu.

To my dad, and on this day my Mom for her b-day (I think she just turned 30)......
HAVE A WONDERFUL FATHERS DAY!

stupid cough!

Well I feel better today, but now I have that stupid cough. You know the one where it's just enough to piss you off cause you can't get rid of it, but not bad enough to make you miss anything. AAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGGG! ahem

In the who woulda knew department

SUNBURN: If you get a really bad sunburn, try putting a little apple cider vinegar on it. There are no funky chemicals in it, it's dirt cheap, you probably already have some, and it works wonders.

Who woulda knew?

Summer Sickness

You know what sucks? Getting a summer cold!

Now it isn't a bad cold and it was kind of my fault that I got it but none the less, I feel terrible. Actually I feel pretty good other than I have a congested chest and every time I cough it feels like my head is going to explode.

I actually started a couple of days ago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<----flashback

it was Tuesday and I was feeling a little under the weather but no big deal and my best friend Justin calls and said to come and celebrate his 32 birthday, I know what you are thinking and I agree 32 is REALLY OLD! I initially said no but was given the guilt trip, so ok only one or two and then go home, because I did have to go play golf the next day. Well the pitchers were free and next thing I new we were doing Yager Bombs (a concoction of red bull and yagermyster). Pile on top of that a bar full of smoke. Wednesday was actually ok and I recovered well, at least I thought I did until Thursday and by then I had another tee time on Friday and I sure as hell am not going to let on that I am sick with a tee time this morning at 6:52, not 6:53 or 6:51. Well I did rather well until the 13 tee, then it all caught up with me and I just wanted to go home to the garage sale that was going on so I could take a shower and have a nap. So now here I am sick, coughing my head off and you have to wonder if it was worth it to play 54 holes of golf this week.

Dam right it’s worth it!

Garage Sale

Some how my wife and her sister figured out that they should have a garage sale, and somehow it is being held at my house. Now normally this wouldn't be such a big deal, but my wife works which means that I am stuck here. And even though she says that I am not needed to help, I am going too suckered in because my kids are going to be here and my sister-in-law is 7 months Prego.

So, in a sign of protest I am going golfing. But I tee off at 6:52 so I can be home before my wife goes to work.

On another front I would like everyone to check out www.pickuphelp.com, because apparently there is a need for every pick up line ever created to be alphabetically organized. Man I needed this when I was single...........because I would still be single.

Today was the day!

there is an interesting thing about dads and their sons and when I mean interesting I mean piss me off interesting. It seems that when the son goes and does something by himself or without dad in sight he does better, but when dad is involved, son goes retarded.

Case in point, my golf game. On my Mondays post I promptly explained that I had a great day golfing with my buddy parry and broke 90 for the first time in my life. Now I am pumped up and can't wait to play my dad, who by the way is 64 and can't hit a driver 200 yards off the tee and who I have never beaten. But for some reason when I play my dad I get stupid, I play just good enough not to embarrass myself but not good enough to beat him. Today we played in Appleton on a really nice course and I lost by 5 or 6 strokes but the real tragedy is that I had 2 or 3 holes where it all collapsed and that was enough for him to over take me. He sinks putts that he shouldn't sink and he hits approach shots that should be short or kick away from the hole, but NO!!!!!. He gets just about every roll and break; it is truly "interesting". What I know now, having 2 sons of my own is that it works in reverse, the son can't beat the dad and the dad won't let the son beat him. If you ask my dad he will be the first to tell you that he normally doesn't shoot any different any other day, just that when he plays me he feels there is more of a challenge and he thrives on challenge. I always said that my Dad had "it", I am not sure what "it" is but he has it. Asshole!

I love ya dad.

to be young and bored

After only two days of vacation both Dominic and Tommy are bored. Dominic just came down the stairs and proclaimed "I'm bored". Now normally I would feel bad for them because unlike when I was young all of Dominics friends are at daycare for the entire day, but it was the days that I was most bored that I remember best. Today is one of those days that as kids we would be so bored we would lay on the ground and watch the clouds and find shapes Or so bored that we would go find the ice cream truck. Or so bored that we came up with our own games to play. It is hard to remember the days that we weren't bored and flew by like sand in your hand but the days that I remember best were the days that we were bored

I think that we should proclaim a national bored day. A day where everyone does nothing but be bored and figure out how to entertain ourselves without tv, computers, or video games.

Now you maybe wondering what my best memory is, or maybe not, but since this is my blog I am going to tell ya. The times that I remember being bored the most are the rainy days spent at the cottage on Crystal Lake and taking a nap in the boat house on the rocker, not such a bad memory.

enough to make you loose your lunch!!!!

So today I had 2 really good things happen to me. First off I went golfing! One of the perks of going to school is the layoff between classes. It is just long enough to get me in trouble and short enough that I don't have to get a job. So Perry and I went golfing this morning and let me tell you, it was wet! And not just like a little wet, but really wet. Now imagine two guys in their 200 lb range in a cart with the grass as wet as it was, needless to say I was pushing the cart out of the mud most of the day. But on a good note I broke 90 for the first time ever, I shot out of my mind. So if I don't golf another day all summer I would be a happy man.

The other good thing that happened was watching my next door neighbor Randy try to get his camper in the driveway. There was once a Miller Lite commercial that explained how excruciating it is to watch a man that cannot control his vehicle, "it's enough to make you loose your lunch". Floyd, as I call him, was yelling at his wife to help better, like it was her fault that he couldn't get it straight, it was beautiful.

First Post

Well my "little" sister has been bugging me about blogging for a while now and by chance I ran across this free set up and thought Oh what the hell! Now, you may be wondering where the name "Silicon Slick P. Large" came from? I would love to take credit for it but unfortunately I cannot. I got it from Player Appreciate (http://www.playerappreciate.com/pimphandle.asp) where you can pimpify your name, very cool.

I expect everyone to pimpify your name and let me know what it is.

Now that basketball season is coming to an end we are headed into the dog days of summer. Now some people may think that dog days mean hot and muggy but this is not true. Dog Days of summer mean that there are no sports to watch on a regular basis and this can be excruciating. The only game in town is the Brewers and even though they are looking better than in the past let’s just face the ugly facts, they suck. Baseball is only exciting once the playoffs start because just like in basketball, the players don’t care until the regular season is over. Now some may say that the Olympics are fun to watch and they could be interesting but they are not until August and let’s face it boys and girls end of August means Packer pre-season and once that starts nothing else matters.