Trapped!! Trapped? Trapped...

It's not supposed to snow like this, not here. Our drafty old house can't handle this. The furnace has been running non-stop since last Sunday and we still need space heaters to get the chill out. With the furnace on all night and no space heaters on the downstairs drops to 60 degrees. I'm not looking forward to the gas and electric bills, yikes! I'd like to know how many plows this city has, I'd guess five.

I'm here with three of the four. The CEO went out to the store. The CEO is back! Thank God.

X-mas photo complete!

We just completed the Christmas photo. When you have a perfectionist for a wife it ain't easy, however, it does always come out looking great. Hopefully we'll get the cards in the mail in time to make it before Christmas day, this is not likely.

The Missing Pickle Incident

Yesterday I took the girls to the park on their bikes. They had a great time riding around and working up a good appetite. We headed on over to a local diner-ish establishment for some grilled cheese sandwiches with fries. When the plates arrived each one came with an nice long 1/4 slice of a pickle. The Kid made it very clear that she was happy to have a nice pickle and she dove into taking a couple big bites. Lunch continued on with the regular Dad and Daughter conversation until The Kid noticed something.

The Kid: "Hey, where's my pickle? Dad, did you eat it?"
Me: "No Honey, I didn't eat your pickle, I saw you starting to devour it right away you probably finished it already."
The Kid: "No I didn't! I took two bites and put it right back on my plate"
Me: "Nobody here ate your Pickle. Z have you seen The Kid's pickle"
Z: "It's not in my tummy. Maybe it's on the floor."

We all looked on the floor but to no avail. I was convinced that The Kid had so swiftly eaten her own pickle that she just forgot. Lunch continued on without another incident and we occasionally joked that this lunch would always be remembered for the missing pickle incident. As lunch came to an end I made mention of the pickle one last time and thats when Z felt the need to share.

Z: "I ate the pickle, it's in my tummy. I reached over and I sneaked it away!"
Me: "Really Z, you ate the pickle."
Z: "No."
Me: "Oh, so you didn't eat it"
Z: "I wanted it, it's in my tummy."
Me: "So you did eat the pickle."
Z: "I ate-ed it."

Mystery solved. Later the next day when retelling the story with Z present she added that she "sneaked it away and ate-ed it under the table." It's kind of funny that her presence under the table is such a regular occurrence that I didn't even think twice about it.

Pie again.

Made another apple pie, I did not put it in the oven because I finished it so late (10:45 pm). Now it is 12:06 am and my pie could have been done and getting to bed is still probably about 30 min. away. There are just too many hours to the day which I'm not utilizing for sleep.

Apple Pie and freedom.

I'm making up some crusts right now for my Thanksgiving apple pies. At the moment I'm waiting for the butter to chill. Really cold butter definitely makes it easier to get to the "grainy" consistency Martha is calling for.

Actually the big news is that I'm posting this from my re-configured PC running on Ubuntu. Not that anyone really cares. But I find it interesting. Anyhow, after a couple hours of fiddling around I've finally got the wireless connection working. What I really find cool is that there are a bunch of people out there who in their free time have developed a operating system that has all the basics: word processing, spread sheets, photo editor etc...and it is all freeware. I'm Microsoft free, for free.

Ubuntu

My new pet project (like I have time for something like this).  I'm trying to install Ubuntu (a Linux operating system) on my old laptop.  Why?  Just another attempt to ditch Bill Gates.  So far the install went well but I can't get online!

Juggling.

The CEO is in the shower and I've got the little guy in my arms, he doesn't like to sleep alone so putting him down is not easy. The Z is still up, it's 10:15pm and she's hungry. I'm trying to negotiate with her quietly so as not to wake the guy in my arms or the one sleeping in the room across the hall from her. We finally agree that she can have some cheese. I manage to open the fridge, the drawer containing the cheese, the zip lock bag with the block o' cheese and cut three wedges of cheese for her, all with a baby dangling happily from my other arm. I get her the cheese and she's happy. Now the big guy is starting to stir, at this point I have to alert the CEO who has just come out of the shower. I manage to put the little guy down (big victory) and I go in and comfort his brother. The CEO arrives with the precious milk and all is well. Now I just have to fold my laundry, take the dog out and get ready for bed. It's shaping up to be a typical night and looking like another 11:30+ bedtime.

PS: Don't forget to vote (upper right--->)

When one of us gets sick we all suffer.

The CEO is deathly ill with strep throat (OUCH!) and I'm taking time off from work to manage the gang. This is hard work. I knew it was hard being home with the kids but this was a good reminder. It is no wonder that by the time the late after noon rolls around she has no interest in making dinner. The only thing I felt like doing by then is either sleeping or shooting myself in the head.

Broken record.

I feel that I have to write about the lack of sleep we are getting in this house. However, it seems that is what I write about most and I may be starting to sound like a broken record. The problem is when you're not getting enough sleep that is all you can think about.

My time

It used to be that when I got up early and the house was still, I'd post a blog then read some news and have a cuppa joe. I've given up on a lot of that. Now I just read the news. Without even knowing it I've modified my routine so as to accomplish what is of the most importance first.

Today I have The Big Guy sitting with me while I blog. I've already read a little new in peace.

Does anyone still check out my blog? Have my posts become too few and far between? I wonder if the first person to discover cheese found it in the folds of an infants neck?

Time?

You would think with the CEO and crew out of town I'd have plenty of time to blog and do all my house projects. Aucontrair my friends. I was foolish enough to think I could fit 6 year of back logged projects into two weeks. Well, I can't. Another reason why a lot of things don't get done around here is because it takes a lot of time and projects are often disruptive to the living arrangements. The countdown is on, I now have less than one week to start and finish many things. I must re-prioritize!

Twitter

OK so maybe this twitter thing is kind of cool but only because I can post to Twitter using Jott. It's a must. All you do is setup your free Jott account and activate the Twitter tool. Then you call the toll free number from your cell phone and leave a voice mail which is then converted to text and posted to your Twitter account within 5min. Now that's kind of cool. I've gotta agree w/SL Facebook is over you gotta Twitter. Man do I sound like a nerd.

My web spots....

We were at a friends house on Sunday, the CEO and I basically slept with our eyes open the whole time. The company was great and I do apologize but we were just both so tired, I can't wait 'till these little ones sleep 6 hours or more per night consistently. Anyhow our friend said we need to be on Twitter and that Facebook is over and this got me thinking of where my web hot spots are (minus the obvios ones). Before I list them I have to say that I agree that Facebook is over I was done with it pretty quick, I just don't get it. Also check over on the right side of my blog for my Twitter posts and link, I don't think I get Twitter either. Here's my list:

For internet radio:
www.radioio.com
www.kcrw.org

For MP3 online music players:
www.deezer.com
www.pandora.com
www.hypem.com

For weather:
www.simpleweather.com

Online Tools:
www.jott.com

My old favorite

The Boston Celtics were my team growing up. I had an affinity for all of the local teams but none as much as the Boston Celtics. I was sure that someday I'd grow up to play for the Celtics and as my mother recently reminded me my father told me I could play for them. I don't remember the day I finally realized that I wasn't that good of a ball player but apparently I was slightly disappointed in my Dad's support. Anyhow, the real point is that the Celtics are on the verge of winning an NBA title and I'm just as excited as if I was 12. This morning I found myself reading the Boston Globe sports page with a huge smile on my face. Go C's!

Life....................

For some unknown reason it seems that we are expert at keeping sea monkeys alive. Our sea monkey community is rapidly approaching the year and a half mark with no signs of slowing down. It is virtually a self contained ecosystem, I couldn't tell you the last time I fed them maybe 2 months ago. We will often get down to one lone sea monkey and he/she will live for a week or two alone the last surviving member of the clan and then like magic one morning there will be babies swarming all of the water and the community will begin to grow again.

Misc...

Sometimes I have a total sugar meltdown, today I ate about ten Oreo cookies right after dinner. Actually they were the organic version but what's the difference they aren't healthy. And I just finished reading Michael Pollan's latest book "In Defense of Food" where he advocates eating whole foods and avoiding all things processed. It has change my outlook a little but not enough to prevent a sugar meltdown.

I can't get this song out of my head (Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs):

I've always had a soft spot for Girl Rock Vocalists.

7:45PM and everyone is sleeping. The CEO is in bed with "The Little Guy" and "The Big Guy" is sleeping in the much overused swing. The kitchen is a mess and I want to clean it up but I'm sure any clanking sound will wake someone. It has been a wild 7 weeks and I'm pretty....damn it here comes someone...The Kid is restless, I don't think she's going to stay in bed. Anyhow, it has been a wild ride with the brood of kids we now have and I'm thinking that this wild ride is going to continue for perhaps the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to it but I haven't quite adjusted. I spoke with someone in work who had six kids and he said it never gets easy but you just end up letting a lot of stuff slide. Sounds about right.

Hi....

Last time I wrote I was part of a family of four. Now we are a family of six! Yikes. It's been fun, exciting and even scary at times. Right now I'm hoping that we are about 25% through the initial sleepless haze. Four hours that's the big goal, when these boys can sleep for four hours straight then we start to get some of our sanity back.
I'm so tired, I've noticed that my misspelling rate is sky high and that my short term memory is gone and that's pretty amazing considering how bad both of those things were prior to the boys.

Good night......

Come out come out where ever your are...

We seem to be in a holding pattern. We so desperately want these two little boys to arrive on their own terms and at the right time but we so want the right time to be now. The CEO and I spoke earlier about how until she puts something down in writing it often doesn't happen. She busy at her own keyboard right now. Perhaps she's asking the boys to arrive.

We are so very ready for these little guys to come. I can't wait to meet them and find out who they are.

(We've better settle on some names really quick)

Cookie.

Does anyone really like Snickerdoodles? In my opinion they are probably the most overrated cookie.

So Soon.

We are so rapidly closing in on "go time" it's crazy. I know we are going to have two babies in this house very soon yet in someways it still doesn't seem real. We have prepared but not in the manner we did for either kid 1 or 2. We've manage to keep two kids alive for a combined total of 9 years, this gives us some confidence that we will do OK with these new guys.

It seemed like a nice quite morning where I'd be able to write a nice little piece for my blog. But The Kid has decided that she's going to get all up in my space. She's actually behaving very well but is just doing to much space invading. It is all a plot in which she is trying to force me off of the laptop so she can write on hear blog.

Blog Birthday

Just need to make my regular Feb comment noting the anniversary of my blog. It was way back in 2004 when it started and I'm still keeping it alive. Although as of late the blog has been on life support.

Thanks for all the Shel Silverstein comments. That picture is just so disturbing but what is even worse if you ever listen to him reading one of his books, that's way crazy.

It's getting down to the wire here with the pregnancy we are at 33+ weeks. Slowly making our way into safer waters. We are going to do it! Thanks for all the support.

Head Shots

Shel Silverstein wrote what in my youth I thought was a wonderful children's book. Now when I read it to my kids I think what a selfish personthe main character is. Yes the tree is wonderful and giving but it seems the man cannot learn from the generosity he just takes and takes. Anyhow the point of this blog is to mention that on the back of The Giving Tree is the most god awful head shot I've ever seen. I mean how did this man ever sell any of these books? When Z saw the back cover she said "scary" and I wholeheartedly agree. Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think.

We are +30 weeks into the pregnancy and each day I think how could it be possible that she's going to get bigger. I don't think we would have done anything differently had we known more about birthing multiples before implantation but I think someone should have warned us or prepared us better.

We've got a real problem with photo-storage. I think Kodak has a pay service maybe $25 for the whole year and you can have access to downloading and uploading any number of photos onto their service. Maybe it's worth the price. Right now we have three computers all with photos on them. I know I could get an external hard drive but that just seems like another piece of equipment to worry about and for the cost of one of those I could probably buy a couple years of the Kodak service. Any thoughts?

I've got a cold.

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. Since last time we've had one guest leave (sad to see you go Sis) and another set arrive and depart (sad to see you go M&D) and I've contracted a nasty cough that I'm hoping to get rid of real soon. We've also reached the 30 week mark in the pregnancy of the twins. The end is near. I can't imagine what it's going to be like. It almost feels like it's not going to be real until these guys are in the house.

It's too late for me to be doing this and I'm too sick.

Good night.

Super8-----Yikes!!

So we drove down to SF for a family vacation over the holidays. It was 16 hours of driving on the way down, four of them painfully slow as we had to put chains to trudge through 100 miles of snow. As soon as we arrived at the hotel at 1 AM things took a much needed turn for the better. Plus I must mention that The Kid and Z traveled like troopers, I was amazed. Anyhow you've probably heard about the trip details from the CEO or I.

What I really wanted to post was some info about our night spent at The Super8. Wow! That was quite a place. We knew that it was a cheap hotel but it seemed to advertise all the right things, heated pool, internet, microwave, refrigerator etc... What they forgot to advertise was the dirty carpeting, old pillows and moldy shower curtain. As I sit here and write about it and think about it I'm embarrassed to say we didn't get up and leave. It was the heated pool that hooked us in, the two little ones love to swim and so we converted my pajama bottoms to swim trunks and took 'em in. A couple days later I asked The Kid what was her favorite hotel (mind you the one in SF was a four star) and she paused and thought for a good five seconds before confidently answering, "the one with the pool." And in the end I guess that is all that really matters is that they felt safe and loved and had fun swimming. However, you'll never find me at a Super8 again.