Odds And Ends

• So I didn't get to watch the Patriots game the other night. I had to listen to it on the radio. Just like they did in olden times. The nice part was, that the local radio station was giving away a tin of popcorn during the game. So that was pretty sweet...
• Ahhh the power of a four year old...
• A buddy sent me this article. It's 100 things every man should be able to do. So far, I can do or have used 64 of the items. I still have a ways to go before I become a man huh..
• The nice man is coming in a half hour to install my new satellite dish. Very exciting stuff. More channels for less money and I never have to deal with the meat heads over at Time Warner again...
• Three days left until my wife becomes old....

I Hate Maine

Well, no, I really don't, but I totally could if I wanted to. Tomorrow nights Patriots game... yeah it won't be on local tv up here which means I won't be able to watch it unless I go to a bar. Can you believe that? Stupid NFL Network... they're called the NEW ENGLAND Patriots, not the Boston Patriots! Even though I'm almost in Canada, I'm still in New England, therefore I should get the game...

So Boston.com had this picture gallery today of people trying to break world records. This here, is one I could totally shatter if I put my mind to it. They watched 57 movies in 123 hours and 10 minutes. If there was a world record out there for me to break, this is it...

Can you believe it, it actually snowed yesterday. Ok, not really. But there was white stuff falling from the sky briefly. Get those snowmobiles ready!

I thought this was a pretty cool story on ESPN.com. It's about his little league field being torn down and made into an apartment building. Every time I drive to my parents house and drive past my little league field it brings back great memories. I think that was about the time I peaked athletically too...

So the New Jersey Nets are running a pretty cool promotion. If you send in your resume, they'll look it over to see if you fit what they're looking for, they'll pass it along to their business partners and they'll give you four tickets to a specific game. Pretty nice huh.

And finally... I did it, yep I finally did it. I got a satellite dish. Starting Saturday (after they install everything of course), I'll be a former cable customer. I'm actually pretty excited about it. I'm getting three times as many HD channels, pretty much the same amount of standard definition channels I get now with cable, and a drv for four tv's all for $20 less a month than I pay for cable and no money up front. So no more dealing with Time Warner Cable. I'm a happy happy man...

Quick Update And Then Some..

So we had the social worker by the house today. She showed us the rough draft of our home visit and everything seems to be in order. In the next couple of days, she'll send it to her boss for approval and we'll officially get the MAPS stamp of approval. So not only do we think we're fit to be parents, this agency does too, which is a nice feeling.

Next we'll present the agency with our profile, they'll make some or should I say, suggest some changes. Once that's done, we're in circulation. Its like the light at the end of the first tunnel is sooooo close now. All the research we did in deciding to adopt, all the work we put into picking the right agency, all the paperwork that it took to get this far... it'll all be done soon, and then the real waiting begins... finally...

A big happy birthday to the Maine Corps! On this day in 1775 a resolution was drafted in a tavern in Philadelphia signifying the beginning of the few and the proud. Remember, there are no ex marines, only former marines...

I heard a great joke the other day. How many Alanon members does it take to screw in a light bulb? None...they just lovingly let it go and watch it screw itself...hahaha.. c'mon, that's funny. And if you know me it's even funnier!

Great win by the Celtics tonight. They played like crap most of the night, settling for way too many jump shots, but the defense and Paul Pierce ended up carrying them into and thru the fourth quarter against a very good Toronto team. They're offense has yet to really click this year, which worries me some, but it's still really early. Did you know that by the end of November the Celtics will have already played 20% of their schedule. How insane is that??

So we've been using the crock pot some lately. Easy to use, fill it with the ingredients and walk away for four or so hours.. nice right. The wife made (yes, apparently she can cook) a yummy beef stew the other day (somewhere my mother is rolling her eyes. i never ate that as a kid, and i have no idea why. all the ingredients are so tasty), so we tried a pork roast today. The roast came out fine, it was just the weirdo sauce we made with it that wasn't so good. Let's just say it involved french dressing, cranberry sauce and onions. Not things that you would normally put together...

I've hit a rut of boringness lately, so I apologize to my few loyal readers out there. I'm sure something interesting and hopefully funny will happen to me sooner or later...

Quick Update and Links

• So I just thought I'd give everyone an update on the adoption front. We're a week away (according to our social worker) from being officially approved. The wife and I figured we'd get a jump on things and start the profile, but it's not as easy as one might think. I can write/talk with the best of them, but when it comes to writing about myself, I suddenly clam up. Weird huh? Especially since I'm such an amazingly talented, funny, compassionate, athletic guy. You'd think with all that in my corner, I'd be able to hammer out a couple paragraphs, but apparently not. Thankfully, the wife and I decided to work in conjunction on this one, so she'll write some, then I'll write some, we'll throw a couple of pictures in there and we'll be good to go. So it's looking like in the next two or three weeks we'll be "in circulation" as they say. Then the real waiting begins...
• So this made the front page of the local newspaper the other day. Lots and lots of big events to cover up here obviously...
• Homer Simpson would be proud. And yes, I need this...
• Could this be one of the best catches ever? And it took place in a high school game!
• I'm sooo thankful that 30 Rock is back...

Done!

So we just got back from voting and it went very smoothly. No lines along with multiple check in lines to speed things up made it quite easy. The voting was done via scan tron forms (you know, fill in the blank spot with the black marker). The only thing I didn't like was the guy staring at my ballot as I put it into the machine.

So now the waiting begins. Thankfully Discovery is showing a couple Dirty Jobs episodes we haven't seen yet so we'll have something to flick to during all that election coverage...

Vote!

• So tomorrow is the big day. I know a lot of people up here have already cast their vote, but for the rest of us, tomorrow is the day where we get to go stand in line, read confusing referendum questions and cast a vote for the next president of the United States. Most of you already know my politics, so I don't really need to rehash them, but I will say this. I'm an Obama guy, but I don't think he'll be as liberal as he's made out to be. Although at the same time, I don't think McCain will be as conservative. If McCain wins, I won't be moving to Canada, but that's mostly cuz I want to move south of where I am now, not north, somewhere warmer. There's a Senate race up that's going to be pretty close. The incumbent is a Republican (very middle of the road i guess though) and the challenger is a former state rep. Problem is, the sound of her voice is like nails on a chalkboard, and he reminds me of the creepy guy down the end of the block who stares at you a little too long when he says hi. What really bothers me though, is people who always vote republican or always vote democrat just because they think they're supposed to be one or the other. What, you can't look at both candidates and make an educated decision? You have to vote one way or the other just to keep the party line? No good I say. My parents gave me the half a brain I have and I intend to use it once every couple of years or so and tomorrow is the big day!
• Saw a couple of great license plates the other day. Ivbnbd & FRZN4. Maine is the king state of personalized plates. Seriously, they're everywhere. Next time you come up, just pay attention on the drive...
• Watched Die Hard With A Vengance on TBS the other. I'm a big big fan of those movies. Anyway, when the movie is on basic cable, they obviously have to edit out the bad words right. My favorite one... m*therf***er became melon farmer. How hysterical is that? If that's not an insult, I don't know what is...
• I love Oreo's. There I said it, it's out in the open. Problem is, I'm lactose intolerant, therefore I can't eat them with involving a mad dash to the little boys room. Thank god for Paul Newman though. His Newman-O's have no dairy in them! They're not as good as Oreo's, but they'll do the trick. A couple of those bad boys and some lactaid.. mm mm goood...
• Another show recommendation. Life On Mars. Harvey Keitel's character has become one of my favorite on all of tv. It's a BBC show that was recently redid for tv over here and it's about a cop who gets hit by a car and ends up in 1973. The idea is that he's in a coma or something and living all this in his subconscious (from time to time you can hear the respirator he's hooked up to, or someone talking to him at his bedside). If you're looking for a new show, I highly recommend it. Although I don't see how they can extend the premise for 2-3-4-5 years, but hey, it's still an entertaining cop show. And the best part? The fantastic/horrible 70's wardrobes...

Halloween And Then Some

Halloween... a great holiday, isn't it? As a matter of fact, I think there should be MORE costume parties! Everyone loves getting dressed up, so why not...

Last year, the wife and I got 4 groups of trick or treaters.. very disappointing. This year? Way too many to count! Lots and lots of kids in some great costumes (like six different kids dressed as Spider Man, innumerable princesses and a bunch of animals, i.e. alligator, cow etc). We got our first group around 5:30 and ended up turning out the light around 8:30 or so. We didn't feel like dealing with the older kids who don't bother to get dressed up but still expect candy. I don't care how old you are, if you put in the effort of getting dressed, you'll get candy, simple as that. Not costume = no candy. The funniest is watching the expressions on the real little kids.. who are like.. "whoa whoa whoa.. hold on a second, I come to your house, ring the doorbell, and you give me candy? This is the best thing ever!"

And of course, the wife and I got into the act and decided to get dressed up ourselves.. why not right...

I went with the pirate costume, a classic really (and a great excuse to say aaarrrrrrrr alot). And the wife went all undead bride.. very nice huh.

This is interpretation of the classic pirate/bride of Frankenstein prom picture...

And because I love him oh so much, but not enough to go out of my to not embarrass him, I present you with a picture of my brother.. aka Jackie Moon..

Ahhh the wonders of a camera phone....

On to the rest of the weekend... Saturday was a get stuff done around the house day followed by a couple of drinks with my aunt and uncle at our local water hole... Bugaboo Creek (as you can tell there's a very limited selection up here, but their Moose Juice is to die for, and yes I just used the phrase to die for and I'm not a 15 year old girl in 1986)

Sunday, raked leaves for a couple of hours, put away all the patio furniture, organized the shed, got a hair cut and went grocery shopping all before 1pm. Whenever I rake/shovel, I like to put on my iPod, it just helps pass the time... yet every time I wear it, the wife feels the need to start multiple conversations with me. I guess it's payback for all the times I've interrupted her while she's reading. The rest of the afternoon involved football, napping and blogging... the way a Sunday should be.