Moving On Up!

So like most things in our life, the wife and I made a big decision today on a whim. About 6:30 tonight, we decided to move our bedroom from the room it was in, which is designed to be the master, to the third floor. Don't really know why we decided to do that, but we did, and I gotta say I really like the setup, it feels like a much bigger space now.
For those of you that have seen the house, you know that the stairway from the 2nd to the 3rd floor is tight. I have no idea how we got our mattress up those stairs, but we did. Thankfully, we don't have a box spring, as there's no way in hell it was getting up there.

As you can see, the doorway is pretty tight. Getting the mattress up there was no easy task, but after 15 minutes of pushing and pulling and bending and stretching we finally got it up there.
We need a new light up there, so its not the brightest of pictures, but it looks pretty darn good, doesn't it?
Notice the thermometer behind the cat. Without the heat on, it was 65 degrees up there, which is even a little too warm for us. (both the misses and I like it chilly when we sleep)

So we've moved most of the furniture, and we'll finish the rest tomorrow. Now this allows us to really focus on and finish the former master bedroom. With nothing in the room and no real plans for it now, its basically a tabula rasa, a clean slate if you will. We can paint it however we'd like.

Ok, get the jokes ready... Claudia, you asked for it, so here it is, a picture of the new boots..

Pretty snazzy huh? Keep in mind you can't see the top part under the pant leg, so they basically look like shoes. They're comfortable, they're nice, and I like them so I don't care what you say hahaha...

Randomness

• You know what I can't wait for? This weekend. You want to know why? Because we have friends coming to visit. Sure it'll be nice to see them and hang out, but you know what the best part is? We'll actually turn the heat on!!! Normally, the temperature is between 58 and 62 in our house. The only time we turn it up any higher is when we have guests. So on behalf of my frozen fingers (they get really cold from all the typing I do) I beg of you, if you're thinking of coming up to visit, please do. Its tough constantly fighting off frostbite..
• Anyone else see this story? About the girl in the Clinton phone commercial. How she was 8 when the footage was shot, but she's 17 now and has actually been volunteering for the Obama camp for the past couple months. How great is that? Seriously, what are the chances on something like that happening. Clinton's gotta be saying, "you've gotta be effing kidding me" on this one..
• So my mother, in all her infinite kindness, got the great idea to get Celtics tickets for my father, my two brothers and myself. Great idea, seriously can't wait to go to the game in 3 weeks, I've been dying to go to one this year. They're playing the Miami Heat that game too. Although today, the Heat's announced that their star player, Dwayne Ward, will be missing the rest of the season due to injury. Now the Celtics would have rolled over the Heat anyway, but now its going to be like they're playing the freshmen, never mind the jv..
• One of my residents sat outside my office all day today making bird noises. I don't know if he was whistling or what, but it was like 3 hours of chirping. Seriously, I think I need a thicker door or some sort of tranquilizer dart gun...
• This is one of those stories that really rubs me the wrong way. This lady, a lawyer, is suing 6 casino's because she gambled away over a million dollars. She lost a cool million, and is suing for twenty million, makes sense right? She's saying that they should have stopped her and its their fault. Ummm person passing the buck and not taking responsibility for their own actions says what? Are you kidding me? So if you win a million at a casino, can they then sue you for taking their money? What if I go by 50 chain saws at home depot, can I then sue them for not stopping me? If this doesn't get tossed out of court immediately, I'll be very disappointed...
• Its good to be back in Maine. Way too many people down in Boston. For every one idiot up here, there's 20 down there. Too many people on the roads. Too many people in the stores. Speaking of stores, why is it that people feel the need to bring all six of their kids grocery shopping with them? Why not leave the kids home with dad while you go shopping or visa verse? They're yelling, they're screaming, they're running all over the place. Leave the kids at home lady!!! I never understood that, why do both parents need to go shopping together? Doesn't it make more sense for one parent to run out while the other stays home with junior? The wife and I don't even have kids and we NEVER go grocery shopping together. We're setting a precedent early! Planning ahead! But I digress...
• Good win by the Celtics tonight. They played like they were sleepwalking, but that's ok. At this point its about defining roles and getting the bench lots of playing time in order to rest the starters...
• So have you seen the show How I Met Your Mother? Funny sitcom on Monday nights on CBS. Anyway, apparently Britney Spears is taping an episode as a guest star. Why? Why would the producers/writers whomever, want her anywhere near the show. Its a funny, smart, entertaining show, why bring on this train wreck? Good job by her agents/handlers getting her on a legit show though. Might actually help restore some credibility to her wounded name.
• And finally... if you're having a bad day and really feel like punching someone in the head might make you feel better, then might I recommend you make a visit to this lady. Seriously, it's 2008 right? How does someone this incredibly stupid get elected to Congress? It's like her district gathered up their local village idiot and made her their rep. This really doesn't help the good people of Oklahoma much. Mom always said, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all...

Oh What A Wonderful Weekend

So lets see, Friday after finishing up at work, we headed down to Boston. After a quick stop at the Burlington Mall (the wife needed to go. she misses malls with two floors and more than 15 stores. its almost like she craves malls from time to time) we arrived at the in-laws house around 930 or so. Needless to say, nothing much fun and exciting was done the rest of the night.
Saturday was a big big day for us. Woke up, hit Brueggers for some breakfast (mmm bagels. we have yet to find a good bagel place up here) and hit the road to Ikea, another place the wife craves. Didn't buy much, thankfully, just a duvet cover. Now here's where the action starts. On the way from Ikea to Framingham (where we were meeting some friends) we almost died! Not to be overly dramatic or anything. So we're diving up 128 in the left hand lane going 70-75 mph. The car in front of us is 4 or so car lengths in front of us, and there's a car another 3-4 car lengths in front of them. The first car had a mattress and box spring tied to the roof. Well at least they were tied until they came flying off flipping through the air at us! Both pieces went right over the car in front of us, with the mattress landing in our lane and the box spring landing two lanes over. I slammed on the brakes, but couldn't swerve right as there was an suv in the next lane, which I would have hit, and a guard rail to my left. So without hitting the brakes too hard (thus keeping the car behind us from ramming into us) I swerved to the left slightly and the right side of the car ran right over the mattress, ripping it to shreds. It was awesome. Not a peep or the tiniest of screams came from the wife, just a "holy shi*t, look out!", but that's to be expected. Another car hit the box spring and it(the box spring) basically exploded. We kept on driving, but no one was hurt so it was ok.
After hanging out in Framingham for a bit, Mike, Rob and I headed down to Mohegan Sun to test our luck. Apparently I used up all my luck not dieing earlier though. Every penny I brought with me stayed with our native american friends at the casino. We started out watching Rob clean up at the blackjack table, then moved over to craps for a bit where Mike and I got put through the wringer. After a couple more drinks to boost the optimism, I decided to give blackjack a go, and did pretty well for myself, but then lost it all again at the craps table. I learned an important lesson yesterday,which was never gamble without Phil. Every time I hit a casino with my buddy Phil, I do really well. He couldn't make this trip and I came back penniless. I gotta say though, it was tons of fun just hanging out with Rob and Mike. Since we don't get to see each other all that often (what with the 250 miles seperating me and my friends) it was a blast, even the car ride to and from the casino was fun.
I also wore my new cowboy boots to the casino and received very little ridicule from Mike and Rob. I was honestly expecting to be made fun of a lot more, and frankly a little disappointed that they didn't. They're really really comfortable, look just like regular shoes and make me an inch taller, pretty much a win win win for me.
Today was spent hanging out with Liz and Rick, a quick pit stop at Trader Joe's for various food and alcoholic beverages and then over to Gramma's to celebrate her birthday. We would have liked to have spent more time there, but we had to hit the road to drive on back home.
All in all, a fantastic weekend, that went by way too fast. The worst part was though, as always, I forgot my camera so I have no new pics to post. I'll try to be more on the ball in the future, I promise. A big thanks to Breezy for feeding our cats while we were gone. Can't wait for next weekend as our friends Mike and Kim and their baby Maya are coming up. It'll be great to be able to show off the house and our little city to some more friends. This does however, put more pressure on the rest of our Boston friends to come visit now!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!

So its the weekend, finally. Got some big plans, get to see some friends I haven't had the chance to hang out with in a while. I really can't wait.
And before I forget, a biggest of big HAPPY BIRTHDAY's to my Gramma. I'm not going to say how old she's going to be, cuz that's just not right. But I will say that the woman is a saint and someone I've always looked up to. The most telling thing about her is how she welcomed my lovely wife right into our family and now the wife considers my Gramma her Gramma too. Happy Birthday Gramma :) Good luck down in Foxwoods and when you hit it big, don't forget who your favorite oldest grandson is...
So I made a new purchase, which I know I'm going to be ridiculed for, but that's ok. Anyone want to guess what I bought? Well you'll never guess, so I'll just tell you.... cowboy boots. Yep, I've wanted a pair for forever, but never had the testicular fortitude to buy a pair. Its really not socially acceptable in MA to wear them. But we've moved, we moved to a more tolerant state where it is ok to be who you are. They came Thursday, so I've only had them for a couple of days, but I gotta say, they're very comfortable and they look just like regular shoes. If I didn't tell you they were boots, you wouldn't have a clue.
Just a little public service message for everyone.. don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour Saturday night/Sunday morning. Stupid daylight savings making me lose an hour of sleep. Its great cuz we get that "extra" hour of sun in the afternoon, but it makes it dark in the morning again, at least for a little while...
Anyway... looking forward to this weekend.. see some of you soon!

Better?

Ok, I had a couple complaints that the screen was too bright. Are these colors better?
So I've started going to the gym again. Haven't been in months, like 4 months to be precise. Presently, I'm at 165 lbs, so I'm only looking to lose 10 or so pounds. I don't necessarily want to lose that many, but lose the fat and turn some into muscle. I'm getting old though, don't know how easy that's gonna be. I told my buddy Rick that I started going again, and his response, "I didn't know there was a Curves up by you." Of course I had no comeback, cuz I never do.
Besides work and the Maine Morrissey's, my phone hasn't wrung since last Wednesday. So I guess since we moved out of MA everyone down there forgot about us huh. The sad part is, I really enjoy my ringtone, but I never get to hear it! (Retraction: Once again, I'm proven to be an idiot. My great friend Phil called me at 6:15pm yesterday and I forgot. So my statement should read that there was a weeks time between phone ringing occurances. Phil, my deepest and sincerest of apologies)
If you're not watching this Celtics game tonight, you're missing out. GREAT game. Back and forth, great defense, good ball movement, just a fantastic game to watch. If you didn't notice, Bill Russell is sitting in the seats right next to the Pistons bench. Nice job by the C's brass putting him there, I love it. (ok, Celtics game is over now) What a game! Perkins with 20 rebounds, Rondo playing an amazing game, knowing Cassell signed earlier in the day. Huge win with both Pierce and Ray Allen having quiet games. I gotta say though, Tommy Heinson is right, take it to the hole, stop settling for jump shots. That's the key for this team. And with tonight's win, the Celtics have officially clinched a playoff spot.
So we went to Lowes tonight, yes we love that place, and bought a plant. In the four or so years the wife and I have lived together we've never had real vegetation in the house. Hopefully we won't kill it.
Although Au Bon Pain is taking credit for it, the wife has been saying this for years, so its really her idea. And its a fantastic idea. She needs smaller portions, and so does my wallet. She NEVER finishes her meal. Well, ok that's an exaggeration. She has finished four meals since we've been together and three of those were lobster, so that doesn't really count because that's her most favoritest food in the whole wide world.

Pancakes Again!

• Yep, thats right, for the second night in a row, we had pancakes for dinner and they sooo hit the spot. Hopefully tomorrow we'll actually make some dinner for dinner.
• You HAVE to check out this video (scroll down to the first video). Its perhaps the best catch I've ever seen.
• So what do you think of the new blog format? Its not too tough on the eyes is it?
• For the firs time since we moved, the wife did a load of laundry for me. We've always done our own laundry, as she has too many things that can't go in the dryer, and if I wash her stuff, I'll forget and shrink everything. Then she'll have to go shopping, and that can get expensive for me quick, so its just easier this way. Anyway, so she does the laundry for me, but did she do it to be nice? Of course not. She did it for one reason, and one reason only... to hold it over my head. That's very wife like of her, don't you think?
• Interesting fact, before the war, oil was $36 a barrel... now its $102. Nice job guys. We took out a very bad guy yes (who ended up not being as bad as he made himself out to be, and which a single round from 500 yards away would have had the same effect though), but we've also lost way too much life and you've sent my gas prices through the roof. Thanks again.
• Good to see the Pats sign Randy Moss. With all the players they've lost so far, they really need to sign him to keep the offense potent and the fans at bay.
• Celtics just signed Sam Cassell too. If he doesn't mind coming off the bench and playing second fiddle to Rondo, then I love this signing. If he starts complaining at all about playing time, things could get very bad very quickly. Although for comedy sake alone its a great signing. A couple of weeks ago when the Celtics and Clippers played (his former team), my lovely wife pointed at the screen and yelled, "that guy looks like an alien". Which he totally does...
• I will be a happy happy man when tv technology has caught up with my needs. All tv should be broadcast in HD. For those of you who don't have HD tv's, catch up, live in the now!

Ok, time to go, one of my favorite shows is on, Cities of the Underworld, on the History Channel. Great great show, where they show the cities beneath the cities (mostly in Europe where cities have been built on top of themselves after war, etc.)

The Weekend

So lets see. Friday night we did our now usual night of a movie and some apps. Tonight it was my turn to pick the movie (we rotate to ensure fairness), which means I got to drag the wife to see Semi-Pro, the new Will Ferrell movie. Really funny movie, but not nearly as funny as I thought it would be. Will Ferrell plus the 1970's plus basketball should equal hilarity, but they missed the mark. Lots of funny one liners, but it felt like they were just inserted, there wasn't a whole lot of flow to it. The theater was like 75% full and we were the second oldest people there, by far. (there was a couple my parents age sitting next to us) We got all the jokes, the other old couple got all the jokes, but most of the kids didn't. Apparently the 70's references and subsequent jokes went right over their collective heads. A Jackson Five joke, a Pong reference, stuff like that, the kids didn't have a clue that it was supposed to be funny.
After the movie, we hit Chili's for some food and drinks. They have two happy hours (neither of which is actually an hour), one running from 4-6 and the other from 9 to close, so a lot of the apps were half price and my beer was only $2 which made it that much better. A couple drinks, mini burgers, spinach & artichoke dip and some sesame chicken later, we went home full and content.
Saturday was spent working on the bedroom again (sometimes I feel like we're never going to finish that room) and we helped my uncle pick up his new tv. He got a new 46 inch lcd and its a thing of beauty. Since it was snowing so much, we took our car to pick it up (he has a pick up truck, but there's no way I'm going to risk that tv getting wet!) Afterwards we went to lunch at a local Mexican place. The wife and I hadn't been there before, but my uncle had. It was actually really tasty, which was a nice surprise considering the the last Mexican place we tried was completely void of taste. And they do take out, which was a very nice surprise. That night was watched the Bourne Ultimatum on OnDemand, which I will never use again because the movie wasn't shown in widescreen. I have a nice big tv, and there's no point in watching a movie if I'm not going to take advantage of it. The movie itself was really good though, but then again I liked the previous two too, so my opinion may be slightly biased.

Today was a good day. We didn't leave the house until 5:30 or so. Some of the day was spent blasting my music singing away, some spent working on the bedroom (not me, just the wife), some spent napping in front of the tv. Good times, great way to spend a Sunday. We did however, decide to go grocery shopping this evening. Now usually, I go alone and buy enough to get us through the week, buying minimal snack food and mostly stuff for lunches and dinners. Tonight, the wife came with me and lets just say it was a different kind of shopping. Pro: I didn't have to carry all the groceries into the house myself. Con: we shopped like we were stoned. Part of the problem was we didn't have dinner before we went, so we shopped hungry. That's a definite no-no. We bought the most random stuff, topped off by making pancakes for dinner. Growing up, this was a regular occurrence in my family, but the wife always had formal meals, so its still a treat for her to have something like this for dinner. (my buddy mike used to love coming over for dinner when we were little, cuz his mom would always make a real legit meal for dinner(usually some sort of casserole, remember him eating lots of casseroles for some reason), whereas whenever my mom would work late we'd have either pancakes or goulash for dinner. I loved it when mom worked haha)
As I type this, we're watching America's Funniest Home Video's. Tonight's show is using all animal clips, which of course is right up our alley. The only thing funnier than watching the stupid things animals do, is watching someone get hit in the groin. Getting hit in the groin is ALWAYS funny, unless of course its me being hit in the groin, then its not so funny. I'm also drinking a Bacardi Mojito drink. Go ahead, judge me, but I gotta tell you, its really good.
Randomness:

• After every Celtics game, I pour over the box score. Am I the only one that still does this?I do the same thing with Red Sox games..
• Went to the ATM the other day and it charged me $3 to take out money. $3!?!? Are you kidding me, how about I just give you my first born instead!
• Busted out the Pancake Puff the other day. The wife made cake batter and used it to make cake puffs. Sooo good. The only problem is, I ate like 50 of them, which equaled 1/2 a cake. Straight to my thighs...
• Went to Starbucks Saturday morning to get coffee. Why is it that my coffee is never hot, its always luke warm. I stand there and watch them make it in front of me, so I know its fresh, but its never hot. I don't get it.
• We got about a foot of snow Saturday. Makes me happy cuz this will enable us to extend the snowmobiling season. Doesn't make me happy cuz I had to shovel.. three times. I find shoveling multiple times is easier than shoveling all at once at the end. There's not as much snow, obviously, so its not as heavy, which reduces the wear and tear on the back. I think one of these days I'm going to have to fake throw out my back to convince the wife to buy a snow blower. Just don't tell her I said that :)
• This article was interesting. Its all about how sex is becoming more and more popular in China, that people don't have to hide the fact that they're doing it anymore. Umm, there's like eleventy billion people in the country, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that there's a couple people doing the hibidy dibidy over there.
• Good win by the Celtics tonight. They seemed a little lackadaisical, but they always have trouble with the young athletic teams. It was just one of those games you have to fight through to get the win. They did a good job rebounding the ball which is crucial for this team to win. You can't afford to give hungry teams 2nd and 3rd chances off missed shots.
• I think I'm becoming obsessed with ring tones. I haven't purchased anything new lately, but I'm constantly searching through my phone for something new and hopefully amusing. I think I'm part 14 year old or something.