Wish You Were Here

#319

2008-11-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

The pallet on the right is Cool Whip. Every freezer has multiple pallets of just whipped topping right now, getting ready for the holiday.

Taking my photo blog on the road, people!

#318

2008-11-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

This is why I love Target stores. They are as anal about cleanliness as me. Look at this freezer! Every other store has shelves with boxes and pallets everywhere. Not Target.

#317

2008-11-17T13:15:00.001-08:00

Made my first pie today.

And by made, I mean I took the frozen pumpkin pie out of the Sara Lee box and baked it.

Still good though.

#316

2008-11-17T13:10:00.001-08:00

Sunday our baby boy decided to take a nap during dinner.

#315

2008-11-17T13:04:00.001-08:00

Saturday I bought this little toy ninja out of a vending machine at the store for a quarter. Just a little treat for my son because he always wants to put money into the machine.

It's amazing how something this small, that probably costs a dime to make at most, can bring so much happiness to a young boy.

#314

2008-11-17T12:59:00.001-08:00

The boy brought this project home from daycare Friday.

A cute turkey. Cute on my plate in a few weeks.

#313

2008-11-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Thursday I taught the boy how to play "War" on this very deck of cards.

#312

2008-11-12T11:53:00.001-08:00

Wednesday's photo has been censored by my executive committee (the wife).

She felt it was too crude, too crass, too vulgar for public viewing.

So this is the picture instead.

#311

2008-11-12T11:47:00.001-08:00

This pile of things is Kimberly's Mt. Everest.

But she'll climb it in due time.

#310

2008-11-12T11:34:00.001-08:00

The right side of the house on Monday, before the Operation gets to it. Note that beautiful full bush, that turned a vibrant blazing red, is now bare.

#309

2008-11-12T11:28:00.001-08:00

A good start to the Operation on Sunday. These are from the left side and the front of the house. First year I'm trying the curbside pickup. Usually just mulch and bag them.

#308

2008-11-12T11:22:00.001-08:00

Saturday I noticed our tree was bare. Time to begin "Operation Get These Damn Leaves Of My Lawn".

(photo not taken Saturday)

#307

2008-11-12T10:52:00.001-08:00

Friday the boy made this awesome Thanksgiving project at daycare.

#306

2008-11-12T10:45:00.001-08:00

Thursday morning my wife found our oldest boy in the crib reading.

#305

2008-11-05T14:17:00.001-08:00

This is where we keep our keys.

(keeping Buildings on Wednesdays going!)

#304

2008-11-05T14:11:00.001-08:00

Election day was very fuzzy here in the Midwest.

Obama!

#303

2008-11-05T14:07:00.001-08:00

Autumn sunset.

#302

2008-11-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

Took the boys trick-or-treating at my Mom's house Sunday, since she didn't get to see them on Halloween. You can almost see Sully behind Jude's big head.

#301

2008-11-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

Last night's haul.

#300

2008-11-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! An absolutely gorgeous day.

We found this adorable stray puppy on the road. Think we'll keep him.

We're off to see the Wizard, and he better have some candy for me!

#299

2008-11-01T20:19:00.001-07:00

This is why I'll never grow a mustache. If you ever see me out in public like this, please put a bullet into my head as I've already lost my sanity.

I couldn't even take this picture with the wife being home. That's how much she hates this look (and rightfully so).

This is the absolute happiest I could ever look with a mustache.

#298

2008-11-01T20:13:00.001-07:00

Continuing our "Buildings on Wednesdays" theme here, this is the main branch of our library in downtown.

I really wanted to get a wide shot of downtown, to show the big city here, but there was too much traffic for anything but this.

#297

2008-11-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Our oldest boy made this cool (I mean, scary) bat at daycare for the house Tuesday.

#296

2008-10-27T20:02:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's snow. It'll melt by morning, but October 27th is still way too early to have snow on the ground in my book.

#295

2008-10-27T19:45:00.001-07:00

Sunday the pumpkins were unveiled. Mine is the hard one not cut.

#294

2008-10-27T19:33:00.001-07:00

Saturday we went to pick our pumpkins for a carving party that night.

#293

2008-10-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Medicine for an ear infection for our baby boy.

#292

2008-10-24T13:27:00.001-07:00

Thursday I got my new issue.

I find it funny, because two issues ago they gave me a "end of subscription" notice, and I never renewed it.

Oh well. The magazine is good, so I'll take it.

#291

2008-10-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

This is the front of the house where my wife works. The law firm is set up in a gorgeous old house here in town.

Sorry it's a horrible photo, but I had like two seconds to take it, worried I'd get caught and make her look stupid.

#290

2008-10-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we got this at the library. Anybody who has ever dealt with this book knows it's an unwieldy sonofabitch. Stuff starts popping up everwhere and doesn't want to shut.

Avoid it if you can.

#289

2008-10-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

Banana!

#288

2008-10-20T13:38:00.001-07:00

The boys sharing some peanut butter crackers on Sunday.

As Jude told Mommy, he was putting "protein" on the crackers.

#287

2008-10-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday.

This is just a simple photo of a Walgreens. What makes it special to me is that I'm taking the picture from my car in the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy.

That's right, two pharmacies across from each other.

#286

2008-10-20T13:24:00.001-07:00

Olive Garden for dinner Friday night.

Yum.

#285

2008-10-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

My boy got a much needed haircut today.

He looks very handsome.

#284

2008-10-15T06:07:00.001-07:00

The boys made these spooky yard ghost decorations at daycare. Anybody walking past our yard on Wednesday had a good fright!

#283

2008-10-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I took a photo of this bush when it was green. Now, in October, it's burning. A beautiful red.

#282

2008-10-15T05:51:00.001-07:00

Good Grief! Monday already?

#281

2008-10-15T05:45:00.001-07:00

The aftermath of a good first birthday. New toys and new clothes to be washed.

#280

2008-10-15T05:38:00.001-07:00

Saturday our guy turned one.

#279

2008-10-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Friday our little guy had a birthday party at daycare, and garnered mucho toys.

Which leads to this photo. Anybody else have to deal with children's toys in the last four years? They've gone overboard on these damn ties to hold the toys in the box. It takes ten minutes sometimes to get a toy car out of the box nowadays.

Back when I was a kid, you tore the box opened and played. Now you have to wait for daddy to untie it.

#278

2008-10-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

Can't really tell from this photo from Thursday, but the little guy is standing on his own two feet now.

#277

2008-10-08T20:16:00.001-07:00

This hotel in Indianapolis was the sight of our company meeting today. My usual day off turned into a three hour trip there, six hours of meeting, and a three hour trip home.

But hey, our benefits are not going up at all this year, which is some kind of miracle.

#276

2008-10-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I passed this beautiful little cemetary again coming home from work. I pass it every now and then when I have to travel to Plymouth. There's something about old cemetaries that gets to me.

#275

2008-10-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

These are directions for finding a store in Kokomo. Monday I got the call that I was needed to help out by working in Kokomo tomorrow.

Trust me, the Beach Boys song was way off. You don't want to go way down to Kokomo.

#274

2008-10-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday the wife and kids decorated for Halloween.

#273

2008-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday I got a free sleeve of ice cream from work for the baby's upcoming birthday. Hope you like Colts Touchdown Sundae, Grandma.

#272

2008-10-04T05:42:00.000-07:00

Friday morning the little guy barely slept at all. Up from two on. He went off to daycare feeling a bit better, but that didn't last. Had to bring him home early as he still had his fever. This Fever Reader is a blessing for kids. You don't have to stick a thermometer in the ear, under the arm, in the mouth, or in the butt (my mom did all, in that order; I was just happy butt came after mouth because that is just nasty). You just put it right on the hot head.

He's better now, thankfully.

#271

2008-10-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

The little guy wasn't feeling well Thursday. A fever and a stuffy nose.

#270

2008-10-04T04:59:00.000-07:00

A yummy snack on Wednesday. One of the finest cereals out there today.

#269

2008-09-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

Bundled the boys up and went for a walk/ride around the block tonight.

#268

2008-09-29T18:51:00.001-07:00

Monday I had to loot the pirate shit of its weapons to keep them from winding up down the baby's throat.

Above the weapons is the sycamore leaf my son picked for his parents Saturday night.

#267

2008-09-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday somebody called to buy this, but the bastards changed their mind.

Anybody wanna buy a car?

#266

2008-09-29T18:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday night the boys stayed at their grandparents. It was nice to have some Mommy-Daddy time, and we had a great evening with another couple.

But before I went to bed, I snapped this photo. The house seems so empty when our guys are gone. We missed them.

#265

2008-09-29T18:34:00.001-07:00

Friday morning my wife went into the boys' bedroom to find them both standing in the crib.

Brothers just chillin' out.

#264

2008-09-29T18:27:00.001-07:00

Took this one Thursday.

Two people I love just hanging out before bath time. One of my favorite pictures this year.

#263

2008-09-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday the boy channeled Groucho Marx.

Sorry these are so late. I suck.

#262

2008-09-23T18:52:00.001-07:00

I didn't get a new MajorLeagueSoccer magazine for months.

Then in one week they send me two of the same one.

#261

2008-09-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

My wife hates it, but I do have a taste for the pickle juice.

Of course, I can't kiss her for several hours after.

#260

2008-09-23T18:43:00.001-07:00

The boys playing together Sunday. Look at my little genius doing a puzzle at his age.

#259

2008-09-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

My wife got a visitor Saturday. He gave her this.

Guess who we're voting for.

#258

2008-09-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry so late. I'm lazy.

This beauty was taken in front of my mother's house on Friday night.

Sorry. I like sunsets.

#257

2008-09-18T19:13:00.002-07:00

The ring of dirt where the pool once was. But the point of this picture is to showoff the freshly mown yard. Note how my grass is green again.

See, last weekend we had eleven inches of rain from Saturday to Sunday (a new city record!). My once dead grass is back to life!

#256

2008-09-18T19:13:00.001-07:00

Summer must be over, because the pool is coming down, Grandma.

#255

2008-09-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Work continues on the new library.

#254

2008-09-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

My wife sold her little microwave today. We thought it would never go.

#253

2008-09-15T19:33:00.001-07:00

Though you can barely make out the title, this is "Twilight". My wife has joined the rest of the world in reading this popular book.

#252

2008-09-15T19:24:00.001-07:00

A boy's first pair o' pants.

Isn't he adorable?

#251

2008-09-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Friday the boy and I finished "Empire Strikes Back", perhaps the finest of the Star Wars films. One more to go. I may make it out of this with my sanity.

#250

2008-09-13T09:20:00.001-07:00

These are the first two leaves I've seen in my yard this year. Fall is coming.

#249

2008-09-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Our little guy started wearing big boy pj's tonight. He makes them look cool.

Eleven glorious months tomorrow.

#248

2008-09-09T18:47:00.001-07:00

You might remember this beauty from a post around March 30th of this year. Tuesday I had to call for service, as our not quite six-month old water heater's pilot light will not stay lit for more than one hour at a time.

I guess they're right: they don't make 'em like they use to. Our old water heater had problems five years after we moved in. This brand new one has problems in less than six months!

#247

2008-09-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

On Monday, my big boy did his best Jawa impersonation.

#246

2008-09-09T18:33:00.001-07:00

My beautiful wife, Barefoot Adult, took this photo of me Sunday. It's not so bad. Doesn't make me look like George Clooney, but she did good with what she had.

#245

2008-09-09T18:25:00.001-07:00

Saturday the boy tries to help the cat escape. Little does he know that he could hold that door open for a year straight and that kitty wouldn't step one paw outside.

She knows where the good stuff is.

#244

2008-09-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunset Friday night.

#243

2008-09-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

Finally, Thursday, we got rain.

Real rain.

A full day of rain. This was the morning, it's still raining now at night.

I honestly can't remember the last full day of rain we've had here, but a guess would be possibly back in early April. Any rain we got since then has been a drizzle, or ten minutes here or there.

Thursday we got rain.

#242

2008-09-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sully of the Jungle....

#241

2008-09-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the boy and I started the sci-fi classic known as Star Wars.

#240

2008-09-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

Monday, Labor Day 2008, we spent in my wife's hometown.

Her hands show us where it's located on the map of Michigan.

#239

2008-09-01T06:38:00.001-07:00

This chaos is Sunday morning, about 12.4 seconds after the boys woke up.

#238

2008-09-01T06:32:00.001-07:00

For those who love movies as I do, these are the five best of 2007 in my opinion. All are available at your local library, video store, or Netflix.

I recommend any one of them.

#237

2008-09-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

Friday we went to Grandpa's birthday party where my big boy rode the boogety-boogety.

#236

2008-09-01T06:11:00.001-07:00

This house is for sale near our daycare.

They might have a better chance of selling it if the weeds were not as tall as the house.

#235

2008-08-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

This is how big a geek I am.

I get a tingle of excitement whenever my Best Buy Reward Zone card pays off with one of these five buck certificates. Plus, I have until December to use it, so that's cool.

#234

2008-08-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

The boy helps his mommy make the stankiest lunch known to man.

#233

2008-08-26T18:08:00.001-07:00

The boy wishing his grandpa a Happy Birthday.

#232

2008-08-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday night. The writer at work.

#231

2008-08-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is our Saturday.

The bag represents the weekly shopping trip.

Batman holding the movie card represents the wife and I finally seeing The Dark Knight a month after the rest of the world.

The Fabreeze? That was my son spraying his naked butt this morning because "It stinks."

Just another Saturday in our house.

#230

2008-08-23T08:43:00.001-07:00

This shows how little I drink.

A friend got me this for Christmas in 1998. That's right.

1998.

When I moved to my old apartment, I took it with me. When I first moved in with my now-wife, I took it with me. When we got our house, I took it with me.

Friday, while cleaning out the cupboard, she found it. I had forgotten all about it.

Ten years, virtually nothing gone.

So we poured it down the drain. No more carrying it around.

#229

2008-08-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday I mowed the yard for the first time since mid-June. It's not that the grass had grown much, seeing as we haven't had more than ten minutes of rain in months. But the dry grass weeds were starting to pop up.

Nothing like yellow dead grass.

#228

2008-08-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

Not much new here, so I got this.

The boy and I started Episode II today. I kid you not, my son had about a dozen questions asked before the opening word scroll even finished.

#227

2008-08-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Even after six years with us, she's still a kitten at heart.

Well, an evil kitten judging by her eyes.

#226

2008-08-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Now this is dinner.

Steak, grilled to medium perfection. Portabella mushrooms sauteed in butter. Noodles in a fine cheddar sauce.

Yum, part deux.

#225

2008-08-17T18:08:00.001-07:00

My wife's favorite snack of the moment. A bowl of fruity marshmallows.

But they can't be all fresh. She likes them a bit stale (not too much, just a titch) for better flavor.

#224

2008-08-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday the eldest boy and I began watching Star Wars. It's his first time. A rite of passage for any boy.

And it's really not as horrible a film as so many claim it to be.

I figured the best way to answer his questions about "Darth Mader" and "Okey Dokey Kenobi" is to show him the six films.

A geek could be born.

#223

2008-08-16T20:55:00.001-07:00

Our all-time favorite place to eat. Friday we celebrated our anniversary with dinner there. Unbelievable food. We go every year for our anniversary, New Year's dinner, and any excuse we can think of.

In a word: yum.

#222

2008-08-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

The baby boy was crawling, climbing, and smiling up a storm Thursday night. Of course, by the time I snapped the photo, he was sitting still and making this odd face.

#221

2008-08-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

The boy working out. Strong, this one.

Like his daddy :)

#220

2008-08-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Pretty clouds for my Tuesday pic.