The End of '07

So did everyone have a nice xmas? I promised pictures, so hear you go..
Opening up my new wine fridge. Now I just have to find a place to put it. I think I'm going to try to build a wine rack type thingy that'll hold the fridge and additional bottles and glasses. I have to bust out the graph paper and sketch something out first though. I also got a deep fryer (which I've wanted for a while, next comes the crock pot). A wine fridge and a deep fryer, can anyone else hear that banjo playing?
Hanging out with the fam (sans middle brother) post gift opening xmas morning. I gotta say, mom did great this year with gifts, so thanks mom :) Although giving me a winning scratch ticket (instead of all the losers I got) wouldn't have killed you, would it?
The lovely wife playing with her new gloves/scarf/hat from mom. And S, props to Sasha on the watch, the misses loves it.
We haven't taken a family picture in forever. This is the official clan right now, with hopefully two more additions eventually. (no pressure there on the brothers euh)
And finally, a dinner table shot at the in laws to cap off the evening...
So there ya go, my holidays in a nutshell.
Random thoughts:

• It is sooooo good to be home. Not that I don't love being down in MA seeing everyone, but it feels like I spent the entire time in the car. It stinks, cuz we didn't get to see nearly as many people as we would have liked, but that's the way it works sometimes. I really really really love our house now, so every time we head south, about Freeport I just want to turn around and head home haha.
• The brother and sister in law came up yesterday (left today). They seemed to really like the house, which is nice. Of course we took them over to see Uncle D and family and the horses and snowmobiles. Cousin D and I took each one of them out for a ride and they really seemed to have a great time. California people usually aren't that easy to please haha
• Great game last night huh. Lots of yelling at the tv done in this house, that's for sure. Great to see the Pats come out on top though.
• Played Guitar Hero for the first time too. I need it. Fun fun fun game, and I found myself really getting into it. (those of you who have seen me do karaoke would know what I'm talking about). Lots of great songs too. Too bad the brother-in-law left and took it with him..booooo haha
• Have tomorrow off, how fantastic is that? The company was feeling generous and gave us last Monday and this Monday off. Good times.
• So is anyone out there making any new years resolutions? I have a few. 1. To finish projects in a more timely manner; 2. To start going to the gym again (haven't been in like 2 months), which will lead to losing 10 or so lbs hopefully; 3. Stop spending and start saving more. Pretty basic stuff really. Other than that, I don't think there's anything else I really need to change. Although the misses might beg to differ.
• Speaking of new years, heading over to the uncles house for the night tomorrow. Lots of chinese food to be had by all. We'll see who actually makes it to midnight though. I guess this is what happens when you get old huh.
• See everyone in 2008!!! Have a happy and safe new year! Its still not too late if you want to come up to our booming metropolis to celebrate :)

Almost time to go home!

You'll have to forgive me if I'm not as assuming (intentionally or not) as usual, as I'm a little under the weather and all hopped up on tylenol cold and flu right now.
So Christmas, what a great day! Fantastic to see everyone, and have lots of great food. We woke up, and opened presents with the in-laws which was fun. The lil'lady got me the perfect gifts, and she really seemed to like what I got her.
After hanging out for a bit, we headed over to my parents for some more gift opening and some quality family time. We arrived just in time, as my father and brother were making french toast and bacon as we walked in... perfect!
Most of that afternoon was spent laughing, eating and really getting to hang out with my brothers, who I really don't get to see enough. I took lots and lots of pictures, so when I get home I'll be sure to post them.
After a quick stop down to see Mike & Kim and baby Maya (and to see her take those first couple of tentative steps! its really amazing to see), we shot back to the family to take part in the Yankee Swap. LOTS of laughs here, I really need to record a family gathering one of these days. I ended up with a 12 pack of Sam Winter, which is perfect and the lil'lady ended up with this thing that sits on the floor by the door to keep the drafts out... riiiiiight.
After that we shot over to the in-laws for an early dinner, which was very tasty, but we had just eaten 2 hours earlier so we really didn't get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked (meaning I didn't get to eat as much as I usually do). Next we had to go pick up the brother and sister in law, and home for some more conversation and bed, as I wasn't feeling all that well.
Today... work in Salem, don't get me started... then we met some people out for a drink at the Beantown Pub. Originally it was supposed to be just Tom, but that turned into more. A couple of the wife's coworkers came out with us, followed by Sue & Phil, then another of the wife's coworkers, and finally around 730 Tom showed up. Great time had by all, lots and lots of laughs, and its always great to see people before leaving. Thankfully, I was home by 9 as I'm still not feeling 100%. And big props to Phil (or more likely Sue) for finally giving me a picture of me Mike, Phil and Jim from Phil's wedding. Now I have a pic from all the guys weddings I was in. Really my favorite part of the library back home :)
Time for bed now.. more Fri/Sat when I can post some pictures.

Santa's Coming!!!

Good day today. Dropped the misses off at work, and headed to mom's house to hang out for the day. Didn't do much, helped clean up a little (and I mean a little).
The wife's family has a tradition of going to a movie for christmas eve, so that's what we did tonight. We saw "Charlie Wilson's War", the new Tom Hanks flick. On a scale of one to 4, I'd give it a solid 3+. Very entertaining movie. Lots of great one liners, very smart movie. Both Tom Hanks and Philip Seymore Hoffman were fantastic in their roles as Representative Charlie Wilson and his CIA agent buddy. I highly recommend seeing this movie if you get the chance.
Afterwards, we got some take out chinese food and hung around trading stories for the next couple of hours. All in all, it was a really fun night.
Tomorrow will be a really busy day, but we'll get to see lots of people, which will be great.
Couple of random thoughts:

• I've heard more police sirens in the past day, then I've heard in the past five months in Maine.
• People in MA do not know how to drive. Going thru red lights, stopping for no reason, drifting lane to lane without signaling. Seriously people, learn how to drive and the road rage will go way down.
• So what's everyone doing for new years? We'll be home, so anyone who's bored is more than welcome to come join us!
• Tried whiskey tonight. I've never had it straight up, and not sure I ever will again. Buuuurns on the way down. Maybe someday I'll try it again, but it won't be anytime soon, that's for sure haha.
• Have a safe and very merry christmas!!

Christmas Eve, Eve

One more day until Santa comes!!!
Didn't do much today, which was nice. The misses is still getting over her cold, so she was taking it easy. We slept in (8am) then I ran to Brueggers for some breakfast. One of the only bad things about Maine is their total lack of decent bagels, so every time we come back down to MA, we have to go to Brueggers to get our fill.
Anyway, after a morning of shoveling out the driveway and hanging out, we headed over to Gramma's house to see the grandparents. Some of my cousins who I haven't seen in a while were there, so it was great seeing them and their kids. We all grew up together, so its still kinda bizarre to me that they have kids now yaknow. But its always great seeing them, and they have the greatest kids too.
After a couple of hours there, we headed back to the in-laws so I could watch the Patriots game. Great win, fun game to watch, great to see Maroney run like he did today too. Then we went to the 99 for dinner with one of the wife's friends from work and her family. Good food, good conversation, and headed home.
Couple of minor thoughts:

• Snow in MA is much dirtier than snow in ME. I suppose its because there's ten times the car traffic, but still.. yuck
• It was 9 degrees when we left our house Saturday morning. When we got out of the car tonight at 830 it was 51 degrees out, go figure. I'm just hoping that all the snow doesn't melt in ME. I want to go snowmobiling next wknd!!!
• Big big win for the Celtics tonight. Orlando is a tough team, and the C's handled them nicely. With the way the Patriots have been playing though, they're still flying under the radar somewhat.
• There are cats everywhere in this house. The in-laws have two, and we brought our four down for the week. They're everywhere, seriously. A couple of times I swear I came walking around the corner and they all looked at me in that way, ya know, like they had just been plotting against me or something. Creepy.
• Usually, when I think of something I'd like to blog about, I write it down. I keep forgetting my little note paper, so I can't remember what I wanted to write about tonight. Its driving me crazy. I need to remember it the next couple of days...
• Hope everyone has a very merry christmas!

Oh What A Night..

So we made the trek down south for the holiday, and here we are. We left home around 845 Saturday morning, and arrived at the in-laws house around 1215 or so. The cats came with us, as the wife didn't want to leave them alone in the house for the time we're away, so the first 30 minutes or so of the trip was filled with a chorus of meows. After a bit, they settled down and were quiet for pretty much the rest of the trip. When we drive down, we listen to stand up comics on the iPod, and we listened to a hilarious one this trip (a Christopher Titus routine, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much!)
Yesterday, we went over my aunt's house for a family party. We only stayed a couple of hours (we'll be seeing most of the people there on xmas anyway), but it was great seeing everyone. I really love the holidays, getting to see and spend some quality time with all our friends and family is really what its all about. After lots of food and lots of laughs, we headed out to Southie to see some friends.
And what a night it turned out to be. Lots and lots of laughs with Phil & Sue plus some good food and a couple of drinks makes a great night. After a bit, Loren showed up, and had some news to share... she got ENGAGED!!!! So a HUUUUUGE congratulations to Brian and Loren! Lucky for her, we all really like Brian :) The night was a lot of fun, and the misses and I headed out around 9 or so...
After the bar, we had to make a quick stop at Target. We forgot our pillows at home, so we had to pick some up. The pillows on the bed we sleep in at the in-laws really just don't cut it. (this will seriously cut into the tip I leave for the help) Thanks to the wife and her constant sniffling, I got a solid 3 hours of sleep last night. Dontcha just love cold and flu season.
Not much going on today, but we're meeting some friends for dinner tonight, then a busy couple of days ahead of us. All the shopping is done, so we don't have to go anywhere near a mall, which is nice.
To everyone we won't get to see before the holiday, have a Merry Christmas, and hopefully we'll catch up soon :)

Wow..

What a game. The Celtics forgot to bring their 'A' game, and instead brought their 'B-" game. They really didn't play well enough to win tonight, yet they somehow hung in there. I'll say this though, Chauncey Billups is the new Sam Cassell. That guy has balls the size of Volvo's. Totally unafraid to take any shot, always seems to come up big. Why can't we get guys like that? Wait, we can, except we trade them 30 games into their rookie year.
The Pistons kept the C's out of their game the entire night, not allowing them to push the ball and forcing them into a half court offense. It didn't hurt either that Detroit shot lights out from three point land. Gotta love the kahunas on Ray Allen too though, coming up huge in the last minute or so of the game with a couple of big shots. Celtics were settling for jumpers way too often, they need to take it to the rim and get to the line. The referees didn't exactly help their case tonight as it seemed that none of the calls were going our way. For a while there in the third quarter, I thought the game was going to get away from them and a scrum was going to break out.
Overall, they showed that they can hang with the best. Its only December, so I'll be curious to see what happens when these two teams play again come February/March.
Not much else going on really. Lots to do before Saturday though. Clean the house, finish shopping, clean the house, wrap presents and clean the house.

Is it the weekend yet???

Definitely looking forward to coming back to Boston for a couple of days later this week. Can't wait to see all the family, etc. that we haven't seen in forever and a day. Hopefully the brother and sister in law will come visit us up north while they're here too.
Ok, so I mentioned this show the other day, but I really can't stress it enough how great it is. Ninja Warrior is perhaps the best game show ever. Someone needs to explain to me why we don't have shows like this here. All it is is an obstacle course with normal people trying to complete it. I make it sound simple, but only two people have ever completed all 4 courses. Some of the contestants are gymnasts or other athletes, but for the most part its just normal people who want to give it a whirl. (some people have gone so far as to construct a scaled down version of the course in the backyard to practice) Its funny too, cuz a lot of the people who compete really have no business being on the show. Anyone can try it, although not all should. The wife and I have this running joke, that kittens are made of rubber, (seriously, have you seen one? they bounce off everything and just spring right back up and keep going.) well I think that in order to be a contestant on this show you need to be made of kittens! Some of these people fall in such ways that it can't not be painful. And there's really very little padding, mostly just mud pits to land in. Like I said, great show, and we really need to find a way to bring it across the Pacific.
Not much else going on really. Xmas shopping is just about done, just a few more minor things to go pick up. Work's been crazy, we're putting in new windows.. in December... in Maine.. yeah not the best of timing, but that's not my fault. Lots and lots of other stuff going on too. The nice thing is though, that since my building is full of elderly people, its like have 100 grandparents. Which means lots and lots and lots of baked goods during this holiday season. Good times...
I love my wife, I really do, but I think she may have a problem. You see, she's addicted to wrapping gifts. The only gifts I'm allowed to wrap are the ones I buy for her, and even then I think she'd rather wrap them herself. I don't even mind wrapping the gifts I get for other people, its just that she actually enjoys it. As you can see, she's getting started now.

The box in the bottom of the picture is FULL of different types and colors of tissue paper. She really has it down to an art form, its actually quite impressive really. And when you receive a gift from her, (or me, cuz she probably wrapped it) you have to take notice at what a perfect wrap job it is. Perfect creases and folds, minimal tape usage. Like I said, its an art...

So I found a great way to stay warm too. I'm not a layers kind of guy really. Some people wear long johns and all that, but I never have as I don't tend to get too cold. I recently discovered though that soccer socks are great at keeping your legs/feet warm. They're long, so they go all the way to your knee, keeping a lot of your leg warm, and the feets are thicker than a normal sock, keeping your toes warm. I only have two pairs right now, so I think I need to buy a third just in case.

Has anyone tried the new Sam Adam's glasses? I was thinking about picking up a set, partly to see what the deal is, and partly because I like the look of them.