Good Luck In L.A.

So after all these years, and all those big hits, and all those moments in the Green Monster during the game (peeing? making phone calls? who knows?), Manny Ramirez was finally traded today. Off to LA he goes, with Jason Bay coming back to Boston via Pittsburgh. Bay's a good player, decent outfielder, but he's never played October baseball which worries me. He's never really had a meaningful at bat in Pittsburgh because they're never any good. Although, his current stats are comparable to Manny's, and that's with Doug Mientkiewicz hitting behind him. So with the protection of Boston's line up, one might think that his stats would get better.

I'm conflicted because I've always been a huge Manny fan. In fact, my lucky t-shirt is a red red sox Manny shirt. I can deal with all the quirkiness, and the absentmindedness, that's no big deal. Not everyone has to be 100% serious all the time. But when he starts dogging it, going half ass and basically saying that if he wasn't traded he wouldn't play... you gots to go brother.. It's been fun, it's been great. Thanks for all the big hits, a couple World Series trophies, and the thrill of watching one of the best hitters ever to play the game. Good luck in LA, and good luck to LA...

Book Review

Just finished reading the new David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed In Flames. Very entertaining book. If you've never read any of his books, they're basically a collection of thoughts/essays. Basically, if I was funnier, a better writer and had crazy stuff happen to me, this is how I would write a book.

If you liked any of his other books, you'll like this one. There's a bunch of laugh out loud moments, some stories that make you think, "huh, that happened to me once", or "I could totally see myself doing that!", and some childhood stories (his family is odd in its own sort of fun way). It's a quick easy read (I finished it in about 3 days).

Someday, I'm going to write down all those Morrissey stories that are thrown around at family get togethers. You will never laugh harder than you will with the Morrissey's, and that's a fact. There's a book in there somewhere, I know it. Think of it as the lighter side of All Souls..

Thank You Mystery Person!

Ok, I need to thank someone out there, problem is I don't know who. Somebody sent me a fantastic gift.. a hamburger press! My uncle makes the best hamburgers around, and apparently he uses these things, so I've been trying to find them but have so far been unable. But thanks to the kindness of someone, I know have them, so Thanks!!!


The date has been set for our fantasy football draft. I know most of you don't care, but you'll just have to deal. I plan on winning this year, something I say every year, which inevitably won't happen. That's ok though, cuz I'm the commissioner, so I yield the power, and that's a good feeling. We might still need another team if anyone is interested.


So the Oakland A's are running a charity promotion at an upcoming game to benefit juvenile diabetes. That's very good of them right? Well here's the deal.. the promotion is called Root Beer Float Day with the A's. For every root beer float sold, the proceeds will go to the juvenile diabetes foundation. Ummm anyone else see anything wrong with this? Root beer, ice cream.. what do they have in common? SUGAR! So essentially they're using a cause of diabetes to help fight it. It's sorta like having a benefit to fight lung cancer by selling cigarettes. Maybe they should have had a Carrot Sticks with the A's day instead...

So they do these little editorials on the radio during commercial breaks, usually revolving around one of the hot sports topics of the week or whatever. There was one on today that was really talking up the state of soccer in the United States. It basically said that because of a recent "spirited match against Argentina, where the US tied them" showed that soccer was on the rise. First of all, who outside of London uses the term "spirited"? and secondly, when did a tie become a good thing? Since when is it ok to settle for almost winning, but not losing? I must have missed that memo. Soccer will never be top dog here. All the best athletes play football first, basketball second, baseball and hockey third with soccer/lacrosse and all that next. The rest of the world has their best athletes playing soccer, we have our 4th best.. tops...

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

And what time is that? Summer? Sure, its good enough.. but more specifically, SHARK WEEK on the Discovery Channel. Without fail, every year it's good tv. All their regular shows, plus all new specials on all sharks. If you happen to catch a rerun of the MythBusters episode from Sunday night, I highly recommend it. Great tv...

Anyone interested in attending the Maine Beer Festival?

So there's basically two ways for me to get to and from work (I only live a mile from work, so my options are limited). One route is essentially the back way. Less lights, a little quicker trip. Then other way takes me thru downtown and coincidentally, right by our friendly neighborhood strip club. And I'll tell ya, there's nothing more amusing than driving by and seeing a couple of unsightly "ladies" hanging out outside, in trench coats mind you(wouldn't want to show off the naughty bits for free now would we), having a smoke and chatting it up with the bouncer. Really, I could have the worst day ever at work, and just the sight of that as I drive by makes me feel better about my life.

Apparently there was a "small" earthquake in southern California today. Only a 5.8 I guess. Ever experienced an earthquake before? I have. My very first night living in California, I arrived at like midnight, and was sitting on the couch watching tv, trying to unwind before going to bed, when all of a sudden all the pictures on the wall and the tv started swaying back and forth. There was a lot of rattling coming from the kitchen cabinets and as quick as it started, it was gone. Pretty cool stuff really, but it happened so quick that I really didn't have time to think about it. So I did what you would have expected me to do.. nothing, just sat there and continued to watch tv...

So I'm sitting at work today, busy as always, listening to the radio (espn radio) and a peculiar ad comes on. It went something like this; "do you want to be a millionaire? The only reason you're not, is because you choose not to be." (it's for some get rich quick instructional cd) Um excuse me? I'd like to be rich, and for some reason I doubt that this cd is going to show me how. But you just know that there's someone out there listening going, "Get rich! I want to be a millionaire! I'll take two of those cds!!"

Also at every commercial break, there's a local news report. The guy that reads it is sooo monotone. He sounds exactly like Dan "the Man" Levitan, from Good Morning Vietnam.. amazing really..and because nothing new ever happens up here, its the same news report over and over and over again.. all day long..

The guy that does the weather though, this guy likes his job a little too much. He uses that stereotypical wacky radio dj voice and says stuff like... "chance of thunderstorms tonight, some could be strong.. WATCH OUT!!!" It's very odd to say the least...

Just Another Weekend

Not much to report on really. Friday night we hit the movies (see review below). Saturday was spent at the golf course (where my uncle and I both shot personal bests) and hanging out with a quick trip to the casino where we lost our $10 each in about 45 minutes and really the same was done on Sunday (minus the casino and the wife who is down in Boston, so it was just me hanging out all day).

It used to be that when he wife was gone, I would lay around the house all day watching sports/movies and gorging myself on all the fried food I can inhale. Oddly enough, I was actually somewhat productive today (the lack of sports on might have something to do with that) but I did run into one problem. It's my lawnmower. It doesn't want to work anymore. More specifically, it'll turn on, run for like 10 seconds before a gray smoke starts coming out of the exhaust, then die like 30 seconds later. I switched out the fuel, thinking that maybe some oil got in with the gas or something, but that didn't seem to work. So because I'm not exactly mechanically inclined, I have no idea how to fix it. I think I'll just go buy one of those old school push lawnmowers so I don't have to worry about the engine or gas or anything anymore. The thing is though, the lawnmower is only a year old, so I really need to figure it out and fix it.

Thankfully I have nothing else to right about as America's Funniest Home Videos starts in like 5 minutes.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

Two words. Loved. It. Great great movie. If you're a fan of the last Batman movie, then you'll definitely like this one. No real holes in the story (they changed a little of the mythology, but I'm ok with that), amazing special effects and Heath Ledger was spectacular as the Joker. Like the wife and I were saying in the car on the way home... with the other actors you were like, check out Christian Bale playing Batman. But with the Joker, you completely forgot who it was. I thought all the talk about the job Ledger did was trumped up due to his passing, but it really wasn't, the guy did a fantastic job.

I liked it a lot more than the wife did. She tends to like the comic booky super hero movies better than the real life ones. Although my opinion in slightly biased as Batman was always my favorite comic book. No special or super powers, just determination and gadgets. Anyone could be Batman (well if you had the money), but there was only one Superman etc.

On an unrelated note, it was apparently jerkass night at the movies. There were two couples sitting behind us and the two women apparently thought it was a good idea to show up drunk. Blah blah blah the entire movie. And Captain Jerkass sitting beside us, who brought a seven year old, and kept yelling at the kid when he asked questions etc, as seven year olds do. The kid even got yelled at for having to go to the bathroom. This guy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed though, he was one of those people who talks to themselves throughout the entire movie...

So go see it, let me know what you think. Who knows, maybe I'll go see it again!

I Need The Weekend To Get Here Sooner!

What a week, is it over yet? I think I really need a vacation..

So the power went out this morning. Just as I was leaving the house at like 7:30, off it went. I actually had the remote to the tv in my hand and was about turn it off when it shut off all by itself. For a brief second, I was like, wow... I have super powers! I can turn the tv off just thinking about it! Two, two and a half hours later, it unfortunately turned back on, so I actually had to do work. (we have a backup generator at work, but the internet was down too)

When I got to work, you would have thought it was the end of the world. All the residents were in panic mode, and all upset that we (the staff) didn't know why the power was out and when it was going to be turned back on. I'd like to vent more, but I won't on the rare chance my boss finds this site :)

Anyone else out there been watching Nashville Star? I've really gotten into it this season.. Same idea as American Idol, only much better. The people on the show actually have talent (they don't do all the preliminary shows showing the horrible singers), and it's a lot of fun. Most play an instrument, they can all sing, and they even get to play their own songs some weeks, which shows song writing talent. If you're looking for something to watch on Monday nights, I'd check it out (even though there's only like 3 weeks left)

Did anyone out there see this article on cnn.com? Pretty interesting stuff. Its funny cuz sometimes you read how much a particular actor makes, and you really can't figure out how or why because their movies are never that good (Nicole Kidman). But others, like Vince Vaughn, I'll go see him in every movie he's in. Ninety percent of the time, his movies will make you laugh and that's all you can ask for.

No real big plans for the weekend, but that's ok, I could use a schedule free couple of days. The wife is heading to Boston for the George Michael concert (yes, feel free to make fun of her profusely) on Sunday, so I'll have the whole day to myself. I wouldn't say that I'm looking forward to it, but I also wouldn't say that I'm not looking forward to it.

Who Loves Lobster!?!?!

The Maine Lobster Festival is coming up...
Anyone interested in going???
http://www.mainelobsterfestival.com/

The Morrissey's Are Going Green

Those of you who know us, know that my lovely wife is into all things green, after all, she is going to grad school for environmental policy. Not that she's running around wearing Birkenstocks and hugging trees, but more on a day to day level.

Over the years, she's slowly rid me of my lazy ways and got me to switch some products and recycle more. Our only real complaint about living up here is the lack of curbside recylcing, meaning that the weekly garbage/recycling pick up is very limited.

This past winter, we kept the heat down at 62 (unless we had people over, then we'd turn it up to 68 or so), you'd be surprised how quickly you get used to it. We've got a decent sized house, so thankfully there are many heat zones so we can do a pretty good job of controlling which rooms get heat. I'm pretty sure we were the only people in the state to have a credit with the oil company (not just any credit, a $1000 credit). And just like everyone else, we use those energy efficient light bulbs and only buy energy star appliances. Common sense stuff really.

We've also made a couple of other switches. We switched from a clay based kitty litter (clay soaks up liquid and becomes very very heavy and doesn't dissolve in landfills) to a pine litter. This absorbs the smell and liquid much better, is half as expensive and lasts longer. Plus, it's a lot easier to clean up after the cats track it around the house.

Outside, we're(and by we I mean the wife) has the veggie garden going, and we've built up quite the compost pile, which will save us from using store bought fertilizer. The wife has also started using bath water (she takes a lot of baths) to water the plants outside (soap free of course). We're also going to put up a clothes line in the backyard this weekend. Not to dry everything, but just as an alternate option to using the dryer every time. Plus, clothes dried outside always smell really nice. We just have to hope that a bear or Sasquatch or something doesn't steal our stuff..

Inside, we've stopped buying Swiffers (which are great at picking up dust and cat hair) and bought some microfiber cloths which do the same thing. The difference being we don't have to go out and buy new ones when they're dirty, we just have to throw them in the wash. Again, saving us money and giving us one less thing to throw in the garbage. And in on final bit of craziness, we've decided to to use reusable diapers versus the disposable ones. Now these aren't the cloth diapers with the safety pin you're picturing right now. Basically the liner you take out and throw in the wash, reusing the outside diaper itself. At first I was pretty skeptical, but after doing my research I'm convinced they're a good idea. We'll still use disposables for traveling and whatnot, but we won't use nearly as many as the average person. Check out these stats:

• If the average baby is in diapers for 2.5 years, they'll use about 7,000 diapers. With cloth, we'll buy three dozen and just wash them
• In 1955, 100% of babies were in cloth diapers and about 7% experienced diaper rash
• In 1991, 78% of babies were in disposable diapers and 78% experience diaper rash

So which do you think the baby prefers? It might not be fun to clean up, but I think long run it's worth it.

Every little bit helps right...

Thoughts From A Forever Wandering Mind...

• As I sit at my desk singing away to my iTunes, I find myself thinking that.. man, I've got a pretty decent voice. I really should have ran with that at some point. Thankfully for the world, my ever so honest wife is sitting seven feet behind me, reminding that I do indeed sound like a baby seal being clubbed..
• Ever wonder what happens when you die? Do you think you're the age you die at forever? Or do you think that you revert back to your most happy time? Cuz I'm pretty darn happy right now, but if we're going the Islam route, with virgins and the like, I think I'd like to be a little younger so I can keep up..
• My friends and I are doing a fantasy football league again this year. Anyone interested in playing? There are only three requirements: 1. you have to pay attention every week(starting guys who have been hurt for 3 weeks and are out for the season is a big no no); 2. you have to have very thick skin, as there is a lot of trash talking; 3. you have to be willing to lose to Mike, who for some unknown reason seems to win every single year...
• Good article showing the unknown side of Terrell Owens. Apparently he's a pretty nice guy, who would have thunk it...
• It's almost nine o'clock as I write this and the unimaginable has happened. The tv has not gone on since I got home from work. The misses and I had dinner, went for a walk, went to Target and now I've been listening to music while she reads for the past couple of hours. This is like one of those end of times signs isn't it? Me not watching tv is akin to cats and dogs living together, a plague of a thousand thousand locusts or some other biblical catastrophe...
• So officially, all our paperwork is in for the adoption. We have a couple of outstanding items that we're waiting for our doctors to send in (health forms) and things like that, but we're pretty much good to go. Now we have to schedule a parenting class (a one day class, but they're few and far between) and meet with the social worker. So you'll have to excuse me the next couple of months if I'm a little more scatter brained than usual. I'm a very patient man... sometimes.. and this isn't one of those times...
• Good job by the Celtics in resigning Tony Allen and Eddie House. They'll need Allen's defense with Posey now gone, and House will again provide valuable scoring off the bench. With Garnett, R. Allen and Pierce all a year older, hopefully Doc will limit their minutes a little more, resting them for the end of the season/playoffs...
• So the in-laws were up yesterday and they brought us the most addictive thing ever.. a book of baby names. I haven't stopped flipping thru the thing yet. Not because I really want baby name ideas, but because it's just pretty darn interesting. For example, let's do my name: "Jason, popularity #42; style is mythological (as in.. and the Argonauts) or new; classics, 70's-80's; nicknames, jay, jase (there's only one person on the planet that calls me jase); variants, jayson; sisters, jenniffer, amy, michelle, melissa; brothers, brian, jeremy, christopher, chad, eric (my parents obviously didn't read this book, as none of those are my brothers); To your kids generation, jason is going to be the quintessential Dad name(that'll be me someday, although i hope to be better than just quintessential). It was everywhere in the 70's & 80's, part of the sound of its time. Yet that certainly doesn't rule it out for today. In fact, similar new hits like Jaden and Mason are tributes to Jason's continuing appeal. It's settling into comfortable middle age as a familiar and lasting favorite." (is that line about me or my name?) interesting huh?
• Oh and don't forget, if you're looking for a good time to come up, the Blue Hill Fair is a great county fair (last weekend of august, see top right of page)...

The Weekend

So we finally got rain! Never thought I'd be excited for rain, but it's been so dry up here lately that we were pretty desperate. The wife's tomatos are really starting to grow too, so every bit of rain helps there.

Friday, Mom and Dad drove up. Always great to see them. We ended up hanging out all night just catching up some, but they had to leave Saturday, so it was just a quick visit.

Saturday afternoon, the wife and I went over to my uncles house where we proceeded to play Wii all day long. Could have been the greatest afternoon ever haha. Although after playing tennis, baseball, and bowling, we decided to bust out the Wii Fit. Have you seen this? It looks like one of the "steps" from the step aerobic craze back in the early 90's. You can use it for all sorts of games, like skiing and the like, but you can also use it for work out purposes. We tried hula-hooping (which i rock at) with it, step aerobics and yoga. Lots and lots of fun, but the Wii kept insulting me, telling me my balance was horrible and that I need to "stay away from the mid day snacks". Nice huh. Even the Nintendo knows I need to lose a couple of pounds.

That night we hung out at my other uncles house and had a bbq. I don't know what he does to them or what he puts in them, but my uncles makes the best burgers ever. So tasty, perfect every single time.

Today... well it was spent mostly on the couch (although we almost went and bought a Wii) but the in-laws stopped by too. They're driving up the coast to almost Canada, so they stopped to spend the night and hang out.

Overall a decent weekend, with not a whole lot of plans for the rest of the summer. We have one weekend we're going to Boston in August, but besides that there are no scheduled visitors or anything for the rest of the summer, so if anyone is looking for a free vacation, c'mon up...

Why Are These People Taking Pictures Of Our House?

This happens all the time. And I'm not even exaggerating. It happens at least twice a week. Everyone who walks by stops, looks and comments. People who drive by, slow down and look out the window, and at least twice now (including this evening) people have stopped to take pictures of it.

Tonight, the wife and I are sitting out on the back patio enjoying our fine dinner of beer(me), water(her), fried chicken and foccacio bread. After another stressful day at work, it really doesn't get any better. Suddenly the wife pops up, says "Why are those people taking a picture of my house?", and heads down the driveway to ask them. Thankfully the couple that had stopped was very nice, although a little skittish that we caught them, and explained that they are building a new house and really love the shape and colors of our house. So apparently, someone other than me likes the colors of the house, how about that?

I'm watching Last Comic Standing, and flicking back to the History Channel during commercials. Good times, right. So the 8 o'clock show was on bathroom technology, which I found oddly interesting. The 9 o'clock show was on the history of underwear. Did you know that in 2006 men's colored briefs passed white briefs in sales for the first time ever? I was not aware of this fact until now either, but I would have thought this not to be true. For some reason I think this would have happened in the 70's, things just seemed a lot more colorful then. First off all, who wears briefs anymore, and secondly who wears the colored ones? And if you do, I don't want to know. The show also stated that the average American male owns 18 pairs of underwear. Does that count the couple pairs in the back or the drawer, full of holes, barely held together that you only bust out when you're really desperate to do laundry?

For those of you who love NPH, aka Doogie, aka Barney, I highly recommend you watch this! Dr. Horrible might be my new favorite villain.

And finally... I made a horrendous error in judgement yesterday. It was really warm out, I was having another bad day at work, and really wanted a snack. Something good... something that would really hit the spot...so I went to the store in my building and got an.. eclair ice cream bar! Why is this such a bad idea you ask? Because I'm lactose intolerant, that's why! But am I smart enough to remember this? Of course not...but something truly amazing occurred, a miracle if you will. Nothing happened. No sprinting for the bathroom. No hazmat team called in to decontaminate the surrounding three blocks. Nothing. Just a couple of gurgles in my stomach and that's it. Sometime this weekend I'm going to live dangerously and try it again. Maybe I'm suddenly lactose tolerant. Maybe milk will be my friend again. One can only hope....

Is It The Weekend Yet?

• Another night, and more haying. Tonight wasn't so bad though, only like 250 bales. And these ones weren't wet so they were only like 40 pounds a pop, not too bad at all. Two more fields to go, probably another 1000 bales and we're done! It's funny though, for the first time in my life my farmers tan really is a farmers tan. I'm in a field, with a tractor.. that's farm like right?
• Bathroom is finally all done. What a good feeling. Can't wait for those of you who saw the old bathroom to come up and see the new one. What a change, and I gotta say, it makes it sooo much sweater knowing that we did everything ourselves. It may not be perfect, but it's pretty darn close.
• We are having the most beautiful weather up here lately. Warm, humid, but no rain, which is nice cuz we can spend lots of time outside, but not so nice for my lawn. It's supposed to be hot and humid up here with a chance of thunder storms this weekend. Hopefully it won't rain while I'm golfing.
• Anyone else out there see this article? What has happened to parents? When did they become so soft? I just don't get it. Kids go to camp, parents enjoy a nice quiet summer which the occasional letters, right? Apparently not anymore. Parents can't seem to not know exactly what their kids are doing every single second of the day. Not cool. These are the same parents that call to set up their 25 year old's job interviews and still pack him a bag lunch.. sad
• And in case you were wondering... yes I did send my email application to go on Wipeout. It says you have to live in CA in order to be on the show, so I'm hoping they overlook that in my case.
• Did you happen to catch this article in the Globe? Another one of these dumb people who signed up for a mortgage that they couldn't handle and are now claiming its not their fault. Wrong! Because you're dumb and can't pay your mortgage isn't the companies fault, that's a you problem. If you lose your job or something like that, sure I have sympathy for you, but if you're just plain dumb and you get a mortgage at some absurd interest rate, tough noogies to you.
• So once a year, ESPN radio does an all day telethon for the Jimmy V Cancer Fund. They've raised something like $70 million dollars over the years, and 100% of that money goes towards cancer research. I'm not able to donate much, but this year I did what I could cuz it's impossible not to. The stories you hear on the radio, the people that they have on... lets just say it got pretty dusty in my office today... If you get the chance, next year I highly recommend that you listen in.

Miss Me?

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I was down in MA for a training class. We're rolling out a new system for work, we'll see how it ends up working out though. So far I'm not all that thrilled.

Didn't really miss much though, nothing all that exciting to report on. Last night I went over to my uncles to help hay again, followed by the wife bringing by pizzas for everyone. Today, I was back over my uncle's haying yet again. Looks like there might be some more next weekend, but that should be it. I'm finding hay all over the house, in the car, everywhere. Never mind the tiny bits that have embedded themselves in my forearms.

I did watch the Karate Kid for the millionth time this morning though. Love that movie, lots of great lines, great all around 80's flick. Tonight we're going out for a friend of the family's 21st birthday. We're taking him out for a couple of drinks at the SeaDog.

So yesterday, the wife and I are eating lunch, getting ready to go out and do some more yard work when we hear a lawnmower and a chainsaw coming from next door. The elderly lady next door, her daughter and son in law came by and were doing some much needed yard work. So we went out to say hi and the guy asks us if we mind if he cuts down some of the tress/overgrowth. Of course, we say yes so now everything is gone! It makes the yard look soooo much nicer and bigger now. Now we just need to plant some bushes etc. to solidify the property line.

Really looking forward to next weekend too. Mom, Dad and my brother are coming up to visit again. Its always a good time when they're here, so this time should be no different. All you people out there that haven't come up are missing out...

Movie Review: Hancock

So after work this evening, the wife and I decided to get out of the house and relax a bit. We had a pretty busy weekend, so this was our treat, we went and saw the 5:45 showing of Hancock.

First off, the 5:45 show is apparently still considered a matinee, as it was only $11.50 for the two of us to see the movie. Just another one of the many things I love about Maine. That same movie would have cost $10 each in Boston. So anyway, the movie, good stuff. If you're looking for something fun, lots of action, lots of laughs, then I highly recommend Hancock. I read a bunch of reviews over the past couple of days, and the critics weren't all that impressed, which makes sense, because the critics never seem to like any movies. I thought that the acting was good, I'll see pretty much any movie Will Smith is in, and the special effects weren't too CGI'd, which I like. The plot wasn't as predictable as it could have been, which was nice, and of course they left it open for a sequel. Overall, I'd give it a solid three and a quarter out of four stars.

Best Weekend Ever?

We're coming to you live from the front porch of my house, two Bud Lights with lime in, where at 7:30pm it's a gorgeous 72 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Seriously, the entire weekend was just like this. Beautiful weather all around, just a fantastic weekend, lots to talk about, so go top off that cup of coffee and settle in for the next 10-15 minutes.

The weekend started off with a bang. Or maybe it was a smash, I'm not quite sure. As you'll see in the pictures below, we finally had the time to tile the walls around the bathtub. And by we, I mean my lovely wife. I got out of work Thursday around noon, and headed home to start the demo. When I took down the plastic surround that was there, there were two surprises. First off, our yellowed shower was white at one point. Gross huh. And second, mold. Not that much, but enough where we had to take down the drywall (yes, they were dumb enough to put drywall around a bathtub. they should have just sent the mold an invitation.) I've never installed drywall before (or cement board in this case), so I was learning as I was going. It wasn't all that difficult, but the cement board is sooo much heavier than drywall. In order to get it home from Lowes we had to tie it to the roof of the car.

After we took down the drywall.
Me trying to figure out the plumbing and how to cut the new piece to fit. You can tell I'm really thinking hard cuz the hair appears to be falling off the top of my head.
The wonderful wife tiling away. A couple of weeks ago, I went golfing and she tiled the bathroom floor. This time, I golf, she tiles the shower. World's best wife? I think soooo...

The completed shower. No grout yet, that's tomorrow's project. Nice huh! It sure makes life easier having a wife who wants to get in there and do projects. Makes my life easier at least!

Friday was the fourth, and we spent the day working on the bathroom like the industrious people we are. Ok, that's a total lie. I spent the morning on the golf course (where I played quite well) while the wife did stuff around the house. Afterwards, we headed over to my aunt's sisters house to spend the day hanging in and around the pool. (it was in the high 80's, not a cloud in the sky) While there I had the best food ever. Yeah, I said it, the best food ever. Steak tips, grilled, wrapped in bacon. Seriously... amazing. I was popping those bad larrys like candy. Sooo good.

Later that night, we met up with my uncle et. al. to go see the fire works. Pretty decent fire works display, but the highlight/lowlight of the night was the bugs. These things were crawling out of the ground around us, spreading their wings and flying into the trees (they looked like a small beetle). Upon reaching the trees, the (i'm assuming) male bugs would then mount the (i'm assuming) female bugs, sending them both crashing to the ground around us. Or if you were particularly unlucky, on you.

I took a video with my cell phone, but it doesn't want to work. Really riveting stuff. Bug porn...it's like the Discovery Channel in your own back yard..

After the fire works, the wife and I figured that since we were sitting directly across the street from the casino, why not go give it a look. It's actually really nice inside (we did both get carded on the way in though. when does that stop?), lots of slots (penny, two cent, five cent, quarter, fifty cent, dollar, two dollar, five dollar and ten dollar slots), a nice bar area, and two restaurants (one nice, one a buffet). So of course, we had to sit down and give it a go. We picked out some shinny new five cent slots (hey big spender!), put in our five dollars each and went to town. Twenty minutes later, I was done, and fifteen minutes later the wife cashed out with $110. Not a bad return on her investment huh. We each took five from that $110, and promptly lost it, but walking out with $100 after spending $20, I'll take that.

Saturday, the wife started tiling the shower, and I did some stuff around the house. Later that day I played golf again(played horribly) and the unimaginable happened. I lost my wedding ring. Yep, when I play sports, I take it off as it gives me a pretty bad blister. Bad idea. It was in my left pocket, all by itself, and somehow it fell out. I didn't notice though until we were done and packing up to head home. The ring only cost like $90, but that's not really the point. I'm a pretty sentimental guy, so it means a lot to me, plus I'm so used to wearing it that it feels really weird not to have it on. I can say with a good degree of certainty that I was more upset about it than the wife was.

That afternoon, we went to my uncles house for a cookout. My other uncle had family up so it was a pretty big group. Burgers and salmon were on the menu and let me tell you, salmon cooked on the grill, Tast-ey. The night was spent basically hanging out, playing Wii and playing with the heavy machinery currently in his yard (he's trying to remove a ginormous tree stump, so theres a grinder and a small backhoe there. gotta love Maine. you can rent absolutely anything with little or no training)

After we left my uncle's, around nine or so, guess where we went? Yep, back to the casino. This time we took in twenty bucks, ten each. After about thirty minutes, the wife was cleaned out, but I cashed out (again at the same nickel slots we won at the night before) at $50, so we came home up $30, not too shabby huh!

Today... well today was a day to remember to say the least. While I was outside working around the house, the wife tiled the entire surround around the shower, and it looks amazing. Seriously, the woman has a gift.

The completed shower. No grout yet, that's tomorrow's project. Nice huh! It sure makes life easier having a wife who wants to get in there and do projects. Makes my life easier at least!

While she was doing that, I went over to my uncle's house to help hay. What's haying you ask? It's basically going through all the local fields that they pay the owners to hay, and picking up all the bales and tossing them onto a truck towing a trailer. It consisted of a driver, someone on the trailer stacking the hay, and 1-2 guys on each side of the trailer throwing the hay onto the back. After 550 bails, I have very little feeling in my body right now. (after collecting, we then drive back to my aunt's barn and have to restack all the hay) The lifting/throwing isn't the worst part though, its the scratches. It's hot out, so we're all sweating like a mothertrucker, and hay and grass and dirt and bugs are just all over the place, including you.

This is what one of the fields looked like prior to starting. The truck just drives down between the rows and we throw it up on the trailer. (all photos courtesy Breezy International LLC aka, my cousin)
Each bale probably weighs 50 or so pounds, so it's not too too bad. But when you're short like me, throwing it up 10 plus feet isn't the easiest thing in the world.
Here, you can see about how high the trailer gets stacked. Five rows high, at maybe two and a half feet high each, with the trailer three feet off the ground. I'm old, I'm out of shape and I sit behind a desk all day, but I have to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We'll be back out there later this week to finish the job. There's probably another 1500-2000 more bales to go.
See the smile, that's cuz we're on our way back after the last trip.

Great weekend overall, great weather, lots got down, some down time... perfect. I heard it rained some in Boston.. suckers :)

I Fell In Love A Little More Today

Why you ask? Well, the wife has golf clubs now, and she used them for the first time. After work, we headed over to the driving range to give them a whirl. Now, the wife has never been golfing before, hasn't swung a club since high school gym class (apparently that's what taught at her hoity toity school. we got floor hockey), but she did really well. I only gave her minimal instructions, and she seems to have caught on pretty quickly. So we'll see where she takes it from here...

I just have to throw this link in. The subject matter if funny enough as it is, but the local yokels are priceless...

We've been playing a lot of Super Nintendo again. It's really not as easy as I remember it being, does this mean I'm getting old? Or that I'm so used to playing more complicated games that I can't play the simple ones anymore?

One Year Later..

So can you believe it? We've been living in the great state of Maine for a solid year now. Boy, that sure went by fast huh. So far so good too. Let's see, so far we've redone the front of the house, the back of the house, one bathroom, two bedrooms (with a third half done), the dining room and the office. We've also bought a new car, I got a new job, and met new friends. But the best part is that we've really gotten to know our family up here so much better. I have two cousins I hardly knew before moving, who are now two of my closest friends.

Overall, I'd say it was the perfect decision for us. And looking forward to the next year, we have a million and one things going on there too. Finish more work on the outside of the house, redo the kitchen and other bathroom, finish the 3rd bedroom, redo the 4th bedroom into a nursey and the most important thing, adopt a new baby. Wow... talk about some heavy changes in two years time.

In other news...

• The new casino opened up today here in the city. I'd say it's the biggest thing ever to happen up here. All the news stations are there, the radio stations are all broadcasting from the site, it's amazing. The funniest thing I've heard so far? A woman on the radio talking about how amazing the crosswalk was! Yeah, it counted down for you so you know how much time is left before it turns!!! Wow.. .technology, ain't it amazing..
• This would be the coolest summer job...
• And I think I need this...
• July fourth this weekend. The wife and I don't have any plans, so if anyone is looking for something to do, please, c'mon up! We always love the visitors. And seriously people, it's been a year(yes, 52 weekends), your excuses for not visiting are crap. Stop being so lazy and come see the fabulous Morrisseys!
• Application for adoption is hitting the mail this week. Next we need to go to the local police department to get finger printed and all that for the background check. Hopefully that won't take too long (not the actual ink and finger part, but the FBI part). Once the application is in and complete, we then have to take a parenting/adoption class. Apparently its only one day, so it shouldn't be so bad.