Deodorant Soap

Recently the CEO recommended that I start using a deodorant soap. She would often complain that I smelled like "old guy" or worse "old Italian guy." I never really noticed that I was stinky until she told me so now I can smell nothing but myself and I don't like. I did buy the deodorant soap and it seems to help but sometimes buy the end of a long day not even that works. Also it seems as if I have become more odor absorbent, all I need do is walk by a greasy food joint and the smells stick to me like glue. Is it just a coincidence that I also happen to be exiting my thirties?

Feet

I've been spending a lot of time rubbing the CEO's feet. They are bigger than they used to be. I enjoy it.

Cranberry Sauce

I grew up hating cranberry sauce.

Little did I know that it didn't have to look or taste like the gross jelly that was served every Thanksgiving. When I was older (much older) I had homemade cranberry sauce it was delicious it complemented the turkey wonderfully. Then come to find out it is simple to make. This year I made my own and it was easy and delicious. I think what is so puzzling to me is that my Nana and Papa were in walking distance to multiple cranberry bogs and could probably have bought fresh cranberries at a moments notice. However, this was not to be done! This family only eats cranberry sauce from a can! This is what we have done for generations and damn it we will not try something else! Fresh homemade sauce?! That's ridiculous!

How did we pull it off. The children of the "can" have all stepped outside the boundaries of tradition and moved into the world of fresh made cranberry sauce. We have broken free, the sky is the limit, who knows what may fall next Land-O-Lakes your history, Bon-Ami see you later. This strange Family-based brand loyalty is offically dead.

The Bins

2kool4skool Power Thrifting at The Bins

I've always wanted to be more of a thrift store shopper, it plays to one of my strengths (cheapness). A good friend of ours, 2kool4skool, is an amazing thrift store shopper and she was more than happy to take me to the mother of all thrift stores for a lesson. Locally and perhaps nationally the this experience is known as shopping at "The Bins."

"The Bins are the dumping grounds for goods that don't sell at the other Goodwill stores--goods that Goodwill is desperate to get rid of." - Portland Mercury

We spent an hour at The Bins and I left with about 8 articles of clothing for a grand total of six dollars. Not to bad and the experience wasn't unpleasant either. Once again it all comes down to time, how much time do I really have to spend searching The Bins for kids clothing. I don't believe that the next time I think something like "Z needs a new jacket" that my next thought would be "Let me just go pick one up at The Bins." This does not mean that I'm not a fan of The Bins it just means that I'm not sure of how they fit in to my life. I'm sure they'll find away on occasion.

My three girls.

It is 8:02 PM on Friday and all three of my girls are sleeping, well the smallest of the three is still awake mumbling and rustling about but she's in bed and probably will not be coming out until morning. I wish I had a video camera in her room, I'm pretty sure she gets out of bed and walks around. When we first moved her into her own room we soon realized that locking the door was a necessity. So in typical fashion we jammed clothing between the door and the door frame, this lasted for many many months. However this seemed to have about a 80% success rate (not high enough) of keeping the door locked. Finally the CEO got fed up enough that she put a hook latch on the door. I know none of this sounds like great parenting but it works. Lately we been unlatching the door when we go to bed and she hasn't been getting out and bothering us. All we want is sleep and at this point even six hours of uninterrupted sleep seems like a miracle.

The playing field has been leveled.

This time I'm beating the CEO to the punch.

We are going to be having two boys!!!!

I really thought it was going to be two girls and The CEO was thinking one and one. Both of us were speachless. This whole parenting thing is quite a wild ride.

Rock and Roll

It's now working. Just press the little blue play button.

Can you really deny these great lyrics?

"You know that chick that used to dance a lot

Every night she'd be on the floor shaking what she'd got

Man when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot

I mean she was steaming

And that time over at Johnny's place

Well this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face

Man we just fell about the place

If that chick don't want to know, forget her"

I don't know how old I was when I heard this song but for some reason I connected with it and I became a Rock and Roll fan for life.

Thin Lizzy rules!

Bringing it back to Boston

My beloved Red Sox won tonight!!!
We get to bring it back to Boston for a game six.

I've never been a huge sports fan but I've found that the Red Sox have a way of getting inside of you. I could care less about the other Boston teams but when I watch the Sox play I can feel a physical change to my body. In the past it was generally an unpleasant feeling in my gut as I watched them self destruct at the end of each season. The past few years have been more pleasant but it's not easy to get rid of all of those bad reactions. Like tonight, I couldn't relax until the last out was made even though they were up by six runs with two outs.

Go Sox!

No interest

I really thought my bald spot would generate more comments. Perhaps I'm not in tune with my public.

Bald Spot

This is what I see when by chance the back of my head is in a picture. I don't like it. I need to keep better track of this bald spot because I'm not sure of the rate of growth. I've always maintained that I don't mind going bald and I don't but it's that in between state of not being a bald guy but being a guy with thinning hair. Having thinning hair sounds like something a used car salesman has or someone who is fifty years old and still lives with their mommy.

Dragon Shirt

It's nights like tonight where I feel like there is just so much that I could write about. Yet when I sit down I got nothing. Oh yeah....I was going to write about this I thought about this the other day. I don't know how old I was but I think I was in elementary school maybe around 5th grade. I had a red shirt and and it had a sparkling dragon decal on the front. That was may favorite shirt ever! I think there may be a picture of me in it somewhere. I loved that shirt so much I wish I had it now. There are some objects that just make such an impression that you hate to ever give them up.

Captivating...

Blogger has just posted a very interesting web site it is called Blogger Play. It is a running slide show of images as they are being posted to blogger blogs. If you clik on an image it will bring you to the blog.

http://play.blogger.com/

Two is better than one.

So it is finally out there, so it's official and I can talk about it on the Blog. The CEO is having twins! I mean the CEO and I are having twins. Yikes!!! It's gonna get really crazy around here come mid-March. These two little buggers were a long time in the making and we finally did it. In the process I've become an expert at sticking needles in to the CEO's bottom. This time around the shots were no big deal. Anyhow, I just wanted to get this out there. More to come soon.

Poor Boy.

I just finished measuring all the downstairs windows for screens. The CEO has someone coming on the 19th to install screens. I found that I can order and save more than 1/2 of what she was willing to pay. Anyhow, her mantra is "My guy is coming on the 19th, if you can have screens by then I'll cancel him." I think I'm going to make it.

We went to the coast with my in-laws this past weekend and had a great time. However, there was a dark shadow hanging over us while we were there because the moment we arrived we got a call from our friend that our dog had been hit by a car! Apparently he jumped her fence and tried to make his way back home I guess? He didn't get very far before he was hit by the car. Thankfully the police picked him up and brought him to the emergency animal hospital. Our poor friend felt horrible. The whole thing was a mess our dog had no identification on him our friend called the police and luckily they had picked him up because she was having no luck searching the streets for him. She rushed to the hospital to be with him and even called in her brother and sister to help out. She managed to contact me moments after we arrived at the coast (2 hours away). After speaking to the vet we decided to admit him to the hospital to get him on oxygen and have x-rays taken. They told us to call in the morning and they would have a better prognosis but the vet said his chances were fair to poor. We decided to stay the night at the coast for our own safety because I don't think we could have navigated the dark curving and street lamp-less one lane highway back safely. I don't think the CEO or I slept well at all. Thank goodness by the morning his prognosis had changed and things were looking up. He would need to be monitored for the next 24 to 48 hours but should be able to go home after that. On Sunday evening we finally got to see our boy. The poor guy looked pretty tired and beat up, bandages on his two front legs, breathing heavy but on the bright side he was vigorously wagging his tail when he saw us. We all headed home much relieved to have our best boy with us. He has since been to see our vet and his wounds are looking better and his breath is better and he's not limping like an old man any more. It looks like he should be OK. It would have been devastating to loose a second dog so soon.

Visitors Like Screens.

My In-Laws are in town, they are following a recent visit from my parents, who followed the CEO's cousin, who followed her sister. Every time a new visitor comes the kid has to give up her mattress and sleep on the air mattress. This time she even had to give up her bed frame. She's not happy about this and is complaining that she like to sleep high not low on the floor. The poor kid has probably spent six weeks on an air mattress.

It seems that a consistent complaint from all the visitors is that we have no screens on our windows. It bothers the CEO something awful. Perhaps the screens are suffering from the same fate that my former long hair suffered from. The more my family nagged me about it the more stubborn I was about keeping it long.

Cat Lady revisited.

I've been away for a short while, very busy. Lot's -o- visitors. Anyhow just was reading the recent comments and found a gem. It seems my little sis had been absent from keeping up with the blog and stumbled across one that didn't sit well with her. Ooops, sorry. I had always wondered why the cat lady blog got such little interest. Her post was so wonderful and so funny I thought I needed to put it out here on the front page for all to see:

"Okay, well, I was on a little hiatus from the blog, unfortunately. I love to keep connected. But, then I check in only to find I've been pegged as a potential "cat lady." First of all, being a "cat collector" is a) disgusting b) irresponsible. Animals require a lot care--too many and each one won't get the attention that they need--emotionally and physically. Also, I'm completely aware of the financial limits I have to dedicate to animal care--and I err on the side of "go to the vet." Therefore I would never be a cat collector. I have thought of helping at a shelter or something like that, but quite frankly, I don't think I could take it. Way too sad. Okay, since I was attacked, I would like to point out that I don't think the recent potato is the first potato in such a state to appear on the blog. The my name is apple and the shark stories are so cute. What brilliant, thoughtful and funny kids. Of course. and I've been saying nice things about you all summer,Ka "

Thanks Ka. I love you.

Ice Cream

Today the girls and I had some Gelatto. It's good but it ain't ice cream. Ben and Jerry's is the best we've got in our neighborhood and I like a good 1/2 gallon of Breyer's on occasion. Which got me to wondering why does Breyer's not taste as good as B&J, it is all natural. Well, as we all know it's the fat, B&J has twice as much! Not really deserving of an exclamation point since we all already knew this. The other ice cream I really love is a good soft serve and we have a DQ in the neighborhood also and I've been turned onto the peanut buster parfait. Nice! The summer treat that we can't get on this coast is slush (http://www.richiesslush.com/). I'd pay a fortune just to have a nice lemon slush on a hot opressive summer day. And for those who haven't ever had a slush there is no relation to a slush puppie.

Basketball

Just finished playing full court basketball. I joined a league with some guys from work. I'm dying....I can't walk up and down the stairs without my legs feeling on fire.

Shannon and I are both online with the TV going in the background and this show The Pussycat Dolls is on. What the heck is this. It appears that they are like a Menudo group except for hot stripper girls. Reality TV is unstoppable.

The Shark

The Kid and her friend (blog name: The Gardener) have been talking about a shark that lives in the back yard. Toys will come and go and it will be the sharks doing, holes will be dug in places they shouldn't be because the shark needs them there. Tonight the CEO probed about the existence of such as shark. "Tell me this, how can a shark live in the back yard without water," she asked? "Well, scientists are trying to figure that out," the kid replied.

Excellent.

The CEO just put The Kid to sleep. Moments late I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. The Kid arrives at the bottom of the steps looks at her Mom and says "I'd really like to go to Nebraska." What can you say to that except "OK, now go to bed." So I take her back up to here room and kiss her good night. Then right before I leave she asks me "Da-Da? Which state has the most robbers?" I tell her it's probably California. "Do they have a lot of police cars there," she asks? "Yes, they do, there is nothing to worry about, now go to sleep," I say.

My name Apple.

For the last few days when we ask The Z what her name is she says "My name Apple." It goes something like this:
"Hi I'm Daddy, what's your name?" I say.
"How are you, my name Apple," she says.
The she smiles really big.

This strangely seemed to coincide with The Kid deciding that she wanted to have an apple theme birthday party. She'd like to have bobbing for apples, pin the apple on the branch and apple decorating. Where does she come up with these things? Apples are not even her favorite fruit.

Freedom.

Kites are like magic.

The Kid had been waiting a long time to fly a kite and our trip to the coast last weekend provided the perfect opportunity. Flying a kite is one of those magical things that brings you back to your youth. We were lucky enough to have two kites flying and to be able to tether the strings under rocks and let them soar on their own. Then one of the strings snapped and in a flash a kite was gone seemingly lost forever. But like magic the kite appeared in the air 200 yards away. The CEO went to investigate and found a Father and daughter flying the kite in hopes that it's rightful owners would come and get it.

At the farm.

We went berry picking at the farm today. It was great fun, tons of blueberries and really easy pickings the raspberries were plentiful too but you just needed to work at them a bit more. The Kid was really serious about her picking and The Z was just on a pick and eat binge. I'm sure the first poop of the day tomorrow is going to be very interesting. There is a great little market at the farm where we picked up some of the biggest artichokes I've ever seen in my life. One artichoke is a whole meal.

Crazy cat lady?

I've just been thinking that my youngest sister may have the potential to one day be a crazy cat lady. She's never had more than three cats at once, if you have more than three that's kind of crossing the line. She always seems to get them out of the goodness of her heart. But isn't that how it always starts? At least it seems to start that way on the evening news. If my brother in-law gets this job he's interviewing for then they'll be seperated on weekdays, my sister will be without someone to control her animal rescue impulses. This job could prove to be disasterous.

Digital SLR

I love the website dpreview.com, I'm constantly there checking out the digital SLR's. I was so excited when I got my little digital camera and it has served me well but I've got SLR camera envy! I just love my old Canon AE1, I love the weight of it, how it feels in my hand, the sound of the shutter when I capture a photo. I know it's not the camera that makes the photographer but it just seems that the little point and shoot can't get the job done. It feels foolish in my hands, has too much lag time when I press the button to when it captures a picture and I have too little control over things like f-stop and focus. I guess at some point the tool does impact the outcome. I'm no da Vinci with the camera but I imagin that bad oils and a tattered canvas would have been an inhibitor to a great painting. The real problem, however, is the price, the damn things cost about $1000. I don't have that kind of money to throw around. I told my self I'd set a camera fund jar up on my dresser and dump change and small bills in there. I haven't done this. Today I shall! The people sitting next to me in the cafe are playing with a new Canon Rebel and I can't take it!

Too my fellow bloggers:

I'm experimenting with a new program by Microsoft called windows Live Writer. It's a desktop tool that is is supposed to be a more elegant interface to writing on blogs. It's more like using MS word and then hitting the publish button instead of using the limited text editor provided by blogger. I'll keep you posted on how good or bad it is.

Potato....

You may be thinking "Wow! what an interesting plant what a beautiful color." Or perhaps like me your thinking "How long has that sweet potato been laying unnoticed in the veggie basket." You'd think from this photo that we may not even eat vegetables. We actually love sweet potatoes. I tend to throw them out if they get like this. Can you still eat them?

Thanks Mr.B.

It's been over one week since we put our dog to sleep. I thought I was going to have a nice tribute to him on the blog. The CEO put a nice one up on her blog....

I really do miss him.

Ever since the kids came it really knocked him down a peg and I don't think he ever really recovered from that. When I look back at all the good times most of them came in L.A. That's when he was the king. We lavished so much attention on him back then, birthday parties, walks, hikes we even wrote some great songs about him.

It's still hard to write about him with out getting choked up.

He wagged his tail at me till the very end. I held his paw as he passed then kissed him goodbye.

Pizza?

...and they call this pizza.

This is what we are up against out here, tons of cheese, thick undercooked crust, toppings a mile high and bad service and yet some how these places remain open. It is a complete mystery. I think this picture makes it quite obvious why I spend so much time complaining about not being able to find a good slice west of NY. I shall say no more.

Gray Hair

I know I'm not getting any younger, it's obvious. One of the most visible signs is my gray hair, let's not even get into the thinning and receding. I've got gray hair all in my beard and my sideburns. The Kid says "Just like Papa." Now I have found a gray hair in my nose! It's bad enough having a hairy Italian nose that I need to trim to keep in line, now their growing in gray! I guess it could be worse it could have been a gray hair growing on the outside of my nose. When that happens I'm calling the nursing home.

Languishing.

Languishing. That is what the CEO said about my blog and she is right, it has been languishing, I haven't been giving it enough attention. I think the good thing about that comment is that it shows that she likes to read my blog, I don't want to loose a loyal reader, so I need to have a routine for posting. It seems like I don't post because I don't have time, or this is what I tell myself. This simply is not true. If I analyze my day there are plenty of hours that are just wasted. The problem is, I enjoy the wasting of time during these hours. What I really want is a longer day. Well maybe not really.

Things that just shouldn't be.

You may be asking yourself what is this. Well, it is a diaper (unsoiled) and currently it is our method of choice for keeping the mud room door closed. Although, it did just fall off and hasn't been replaced yet. Perhaps it will find its way back up there. Or perhaps I may someday fix the door and install a proper knob.

These are the CEO's toy horses from her childhood and they are tucked away in the closet. You can see from the cobwebs how often they are cleaned, played with etc...Nice.

This is a fridge magnet cowboy that I've had since I was probably about eight. Once I thought I dropped it out the car window and both I and my little sister started to cry. Hers was more of a sympathy cry for my sake. This little thing is around thirty years old. I just recently found it on top of the clothes dryer. Apparently he just was washed. How and why has this little thing remained with me for thirty something years?

T-Ball the good and the bad.

I don't know.......
I just don't know.....
I'm tired damn it!
I need a walk just as bad as the dogs but I'll probably clean the kitchen and eat some ice cream instead.

So we are coaching T-ball. I don't think we'll do that again, it is just too much work. I'm actually really enjoying my time with the kids but getting involved in the league, not so much. We've got fund raising (candy sales, plant sales) and we have to work the snack shack. Enough already, I can barely manage coaching, why throw all this other crap at us! The Kid is doing great, she's really smacking the ball and she's got a pretty good throw too. The Z of course does her best impression and I think she may be as fast as some of the kids on our team when it comes to running the bases. Although I complain about the coaching I think it has been a good experience. Maybe I'll assistant coach some of her teams in the future. We'll see.

Christmas Tree

I just cut up the Christmas tree and left it out for yard debris pickup. I think this is sooner than the last two years. I'm improving!

(Don't worry, the tree wasn't still standing in the house until today, it was just tucked away outside next to it.)

Sleep driving.

I've always been amazed at how easy it would be to fall asleep while driving. My brain knows that if I fall asleep I very well may die. You'd think that the body would have a natural tendency to up the adrenaline level when your tired at the wheel. However it seems quite the opposite. Today I had to crank up the AC blast it at my face and jiggle my head around to keep awake on the ride home. When I used to commute 50 miles one way in L.A. I did fall asleep, once, just long enough to switch lanes. As my body lilted and woke up it sure delivered a shot of adrenaline then. But why not before? Do I have a subliminal death wish or do we all?

Singapore

Singapore (click to enlarge)

This is a very interesting place. There is such diversity of cultures and they all mingle together to create some of the best food I've ever had. I wish my family could be hear to enjoy this place. Also, it would be a lot more fun than traveling with people from work. Today one in the group said "I don't know if you guys are interested but I could really go for a Hooter's burger tonight." Thank god the rest of the group also wants to experiment with new foods like I do, his proposal was quickly dismissed. Today was our first chance to get out and walk around, we worked about 1/2 a day and we won't be working on Sunday. This is when it feels unfair to my family, I get a little mini vacation in a foreign land with my food and lodging all paid for and my family doesn't get to join in the fun and I so want them to be part of this. I think this time it has been a bit worse being away because there seems to be a lot of families vacationing from Australia and there are quite a few little kids running around the hotel and it make me miss my kid even more.

Cold and Hot

I love a cup of hot tea with my ice cream. I like when the hot teaspoon cuts through my ice cream. I enjoy a nice slow gulp of hot followed by a slow spoonful of cold gently smoothed against the top of my mouth.

Mr. Mom

The CEO had strep throat all week. Ouch. I barely made it in to work as I played Mr. Mom most of the week. From Tue. through Thur. she mostly spoke to me by writing things down on paper. I've collected some of the best of the notes and thought you all may enjoy them:
-You can't miss every day of work in your life.
-I cannot talk. My vocal cords are injured. Must sing by Friday. Why do you keep asking me questions in my face.
-The Capital Grille on Beacon Hill had a turkey and swiss that was to die for...$4.95 So Fresh.
-Plenty of people parent drunk.
-I can eat the carrots and potatoes! Very Soft!
-She doesn't eat cooked carrots. Wasted.
-You either read lips or not.

Tired yet again.

Yes it has happened again....
My laundry has built up to an unconquerable mountain. I've stayed up too late doing work too many nights in a row. I've put off paying the bills 'till the last moment.
Why oh why does this have to keep happening over and over and over? It seems to hard to stick to or perhaps even develop a working system. I don't want to make it like my life is crazy but I think that there are just to many variables and this life when looked at from a engineers viewpoint all these variable have created an unstable system that can not be predicted.

Award Party!!!

Last night the CEO had her moment in the sun thanks to the Oregon Literary Arts Woman's Writers Fellowship that she received. What an incredible night. It's hard to put in to words what it was like for me and I'm sure the CEO was even more overwhelmed, I had never seen her so nervous. There must have been about 100 people there, 13 of them grant recipients. I felt so adult, for lack of a better word. This was a room filled with serious, high caliber writers, people were dressed nice and interested in the work of the writers. It was such a step above the typical coffee shop sort of scene I'm more accustomed to. The CEO was the last person to speak and she did a wonderful job. She gave a the room a small insight in to what her play was about and it sparked interest in may who listened. I know this because after she spoke she spent a good hour talking to people who came up to offer their congratulations, I now call these people her new fan base.

Congratulation CEO! You well deserved the recognition.

Year Three.

I just hit the 3rd year anniversary of my blog!
Close to 250 entries and counting.
Thanks for sticking around. I plan to keep on trucking and I hope my often mundane and boring blog can keep my three readers captivated for another three years at least.

On this joyous occasion let me leave you with a typical Tony-C thought:
Have you ever stood in front of a bag of junk food and told yourself this is the last handful over and over again until the whole bag was gone? I have.

American Idol (Yikes)

So the CEO started watching American Idol this season. I'm not sure why, anyhow, I of course soon joined her. We joined in a little late so we didn't see all of the bad auditions but we saw enough. Anyhow, the point is that we are actually enjoying watching the show. The banter of the three judges is the worst part but it's nice to listen to the songs and root for these young kids. Now there, I've done it, I've admitted to the world (or at least my three readers) that we are watching the show. Why do I feel so bad when I give in to pop-culture?

Mr. B (The Old Timer)

Mr. B is getting old. For those of you who don't know him here's a short little background. Mr. B is an 25lb American Eskimo (dog), he's friendly, anxious, scatter brained and lovable. We have had Mr. B for our entire relationship. The CEO and I picked him up together somewhere west of Boston, I think. He was the cutest little dog I had ever seen. He used to hate riding in the car and threw-up in my car many times, however, he managed to get over this problem in time to be the CEO's companion as she drove across American in her quest to live in Hollywood. He was a very curious little guy and had to run to the apartment window in West Hollywood anytime someone was in the garage below to check out what was going on. He's always had some funny traits: he wont step on metal grates, he hates walking through water and he gets upset at the slightest changes to his environment. For example one time he noticed that the CEO had hung Christmas cards on the wall this of course called for a light quick step to get past the wall then some barking to let them no that he was in charge. Despite these quirks he has successfully made the transition to five different homes with us, the addition of another dog and two kids. Now he's really slowing down, having trouble getting up and down stair and worst of all having trouble waiting to go out to relieve himself. It is quite a sad transition. Mr. B is my first dog and if I give his passing too much thought tears quickly come to my eyes. We don't quite know when he will be leaving us but when it comes, sooner than later, it will certainly leave a great big hole in my heart.

Shady Grove

File this on under sleep deprivation.
The littlest one doesn't want to sleep, it's 2:35 AM and she has been up since 1ish. I think she's finally down for the count. I'm just amazed at how little sleep humans can survive on. I think the only time I get uninterrupted sleep (I hear her talking to herself!) multiple days in a row is when I'm on a business trip. The poor CEO doesn't have such luxuries for her it has probably been over five years since she was undisturbed.

Good Night.

Cute Video

This little video about spiders is well worth watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

It's been a dry blogging spell and I've also noticed my readership has seemed to have dwindled. I hope to get things back on track soon.

My Nano...

The CEO got me a Nano for Christmas and I do love it. I'm currently listening to a Podcast while typing this blog. Here's a list of the POD casts I subscribe to:
WNYC: The Brian Leher Show
KCRW: To The Point with Warren Olney
KPCC: Air Talk with Larry Mantel
WBUR: On Point with Tom Ashbrook
WBEZ: This American Life
WHYY: Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane

I'm addicted to Podcasts. Anyone out there have a favorite radio show I may be able to add to my list?

When I was in Wisconsin I did have the opportunity to have more than just prime rib. My co-worker and I went out on Friday night to a traditional Wisconsin Friday Night Fish Fry. We were basically in the middle of nowhere and we drove 30 minutes to a restaurant still in the middle of nowhere and the place was packed and everyone was chowing down on fried fish and french fries. I think of myself as an east coast fish snob and I always thought white fish just meant "we don't know what type of fish it is but the meat is white," apparently white fish is a type of fish that is plentiful in the great lakes. So I ordered my self a huge plate of fried white fish and fries and it was pretty damn tasty.

Wisconsin don't you know....

Typical Wisconsin Dinner with perhaps a few too many vegetables.
Also notice that there is both wine and beer.

So I'm back in Wisconsin for the third time within a month. What can I say about this place that you all don't already know, it is cold and snowy, no surprise there. However, it was nice to hear the snow plows in the morning it reminded me of being a child and getting excited at the sound because it meant that school may be canceled. On the flight out I got exit row seating right near the bathrooms, yes being near the bathrooms was no good but I had so much leg room I could stretch my legs out completely and still not touch the wall. I was grinning like I had just hit the lottery (it's the simple things). Another simple thing was getting an email from The CEO. That was just great, I've been under so much pressure with this damn work problem that I haven't been sleeping well on any of these trips. I had only been hear for perhaps 16 hours but it felt like days had already passed and the little piece of reality from my family was all I needed to make me feel great again.

And here's a working link that showcases the CEO's name and award:
Look under the heading:
Special Fellowships for Women Writers
http://www.literary-arts.org/fellowships/recipients.php

The CEO Rules

The CEO was just awarded an grant from the Oregon Literary-Arts Fellowship program for her writing. Last spring and fall she worked her ass off to have a piece to submit and all her hard work paid off.

Look for the CEO name to be posted in the 2006 spot of this list and see the company she keeps:
http://www.literary-arts.org/fellowships/past_women_writers.php

A million congratulations to the CEO!!!!
We were all so excited and proud of her.

Borat and the Pistol

Pistol Pete (aka my Dad) is not a fan of Borat or Ali G for that matter. It was up to biG and I to convince him that he was missing out on something. Actually biG tried to do the majority of the convincing. Anyhow, I feel partly vindicate after hearing Sasha Baron Cohen (Borat) on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, she made many comments on how funny and brilliant she thought the comedy was. Sweet Victory. :)

This is interesting, there is a sink hole that swallowed up a truck at the front entrance of my daughter school. I'll get to see it tomorrow.