Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A to Z Challenge - Z

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Zebra

It’s a horse, with stripes.  Not much to say about that but I hear stripes and think of the fruit stripe gum.  Does anybody remember that?  I don’t know if they still make it or not but I loved that stuff.  So juicy.

Trevor’s word – Zack

Zack and Cody?  That’s the only Zack I can think of.  Zack Greinke who I believe plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers right now.  He just broke his collar bone in an on field fight with Carlos Quentin who he plunked at the plate.  Tip #1, when someone bigger than you is charging, don’t drop  your shoulder and then hit him.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Monday, April 29, 2013

A to Z Challenge - Y

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Yoyo

I used them sparingly as a kid, I could do them but none of the tricks so it really wasn’t anything special to me.  I’m just glad Samantha didn’t put Yolo.  I want the people who use that phrase to say it right before they do something really stupid and then end up dead, then I can go to their funerals and say “Well, you called that one didn’t you, dumb ass”.  Not really, but kids and their shortening of everything is annoying.

Trevor’s word – Yak

Yaketty Yak, and don’t talk back.  That’s what I think of when I hear the word Yak, not the animal.  And when I hear that song, I think of the movie “Stand by Me”. When I think that movie, I think of how awesome Stephen King’s books are.  I’m sure some of you didn’t even realize that it’s based on a Stephen King short story.  Just like some of you probably didn’t know the greatest movie of all time “The Shawshank Redemption” was also based on a short story by Stephen King.  But most of you know that “The Green Mile” was.  So for all of those people who say Stephen King books scare them, he writes all kinds of different things.  He is by far my favorite author and I’m looking forward to watching “Under the Dome” this summer on TV.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Sunday Randomness #12

Due to the A to Z Challenge, I’m not posting much this month other than those posts.  But I have Sunday’s off from the Challenge so I’ll throw a Randomness post to cover the week.  I typed this out throughout the week.

Monday

I worked today.  Nothing really going on.  Samantha actually got a practice in tonight so there’s a positive.  She’s had 3 or 4 now.  Trevor is still waiting on his first.

Tuesday

Mark (my foreman) came up to me and pulled out the calibration sheets in my section.  It was about 2 months worth and my name was nowhere to be found.  He asked why I didn’t fill them out every morning.  I told him I didn’t have a pen.  He said he will make sure I have a pen every morning just so I can fill out the sheet.  Then he stuck around and talking and going through my stuff.  He opened the flap of the bag I carry my stuff in and there sat a pen.  Oops.  I told him he wasn’t supposed to look in there.  He said so you were lying to me, maybe I should right you up.  I said go ahead, write me up a couple of times so I can have a 3 day suspension.  My next 3 work days are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I’ll take those days off.

They can’t really threaten to write me up, I tend to tell them to go ahead, I don’t care.

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Samantha had her batting practice canceled so as you can tell, we are still battling the rain.  We’ll see if she gets to practice tomorrow.

Wednesday

Woke up this morning, took the kids to bed, came home and crawled back in to bed with Cheri.  That was probably a mistake.  I ended up sleeping until after noon.  While it felt great to do so, half my day was gone.  I missed at least 4 hours of sitting on my ass on the couch.  I can’t believe it.

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Samantha had her practice today.  They both have their first games on Saturday, which I will miss.  These will be the first games that I missed because of work.  I decided that I just can afford to take the time off to go to their games like I did last year.  Although, last year it was kind of forced because after I started coaching, work announce the change in hours half way through the season.  It pisses me off that work took this away from me.  I won’t be happy throughout the season, I can tell you that now.

Thursday

We went out to Play it Again sports and bought the kids their baseball pants, got home just in time to get him changed and off to his first practice.  While Trevor was at practice, I received a text from Samantha’s coach saying they weren’t providing socks this year so we had to purchase some red ones.  Sure enough, I picked up Trevor who had his uniform, and no socks.  So the $150+ (I don’t remember exactly how much, but it was at least that) that we paid for both kids to play, and they can’t provide socks.  On top of that, they need them by Saturday, so they gave us 2 days notice.  Needless to say, we weren’t happy.

Friday

Back to work today.  Not much going on there.  My mom took the kids shopping tonight and picked up Samantha some cleats as well as picking up the afore mentioned socks for us.  Although Trevor told her black when it was supposed to be gold.  The coach had told the team black but then had text me later and said he made a mistake and to grab gold.  We hadn’t told Trevor so he was adamant to my mom about black so they bought him black.  Can’t really blame him there.  So he’ll wear black tomorrow for his game and we’ll pick him up some gold ones later.

Saturday

Today marked the first time since my kids have started playing little league (5 years) that I am not involved in any way with either of their teams.  I’m rather pissed about it.  I was asked to be Samantha’s head coach but I had to turn it down due to my stupid 12 hour day work schedule.  I also had to miss both of their first games today which I’ve have rarely missed any of their games in their lifetime.  Needless to say, I was pissy all day.  Cheri did a great job texting me updates of what was going on and they both won their games.  Cheri said they both played well.  Tomorrow, I go back to work.  I hate these 12 hour days, they are even worse when I have to work them Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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This is the last Sunday Randomness as the A to Z Challenge will be over on Tuesday.  I still need to write out the last couple.  I’ve stayed up to date for the most part throughout the month.  While it was nice making new friends, I’m kind of looking forward to a more laid back schedule again.  For those newbies here, that’s pretty much I post when I feel like it.

Sunday

Long, slow day at work.  Sunday’s always are between less metal and everyone is wore out from the 3rd straight day of 12 hours.  But the end of the work day means my 2 day work week.  I only work on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

A to Z Challenge - X

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

I’m curious to see what everybody else’s X words are.  The ones doing movies, I hope they like X-men.

Samantha’s word – X-ray

I’ve had a few of these in my day.  I’ve had all kind of ankle and knee injuries from back when I played basketball, pretty much every day of the week.  I grew up playing sports constantly so needless to say, plenty of injuries.  No broken bones diagnosed but I do wonder about my nose.  I took a knee to it playing football and it bleed profusely and I have a lump on my nose now.  I also had to have arthroscopic surgery on my knee back in high school from a basketball injury.  One of many but it was the worst.  So needless to say, I’ve had many X-rays.

Trevor’s word – Xlephone

Can’t blame Trevor for not being able to spell this one, I had to Google it.  Xylophone is an instrument, that starts with X.  That’s about all I know about it by name.  I want to say it has keys, maybe the thing you see at at high school football games where they use the drumsticks like things to play.  Ok. I actually looked at the Google results and I was right in what I was thinking.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

Friday, April 26, 2013

A to Z Challenge - W

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – William

I’m guessing a friend or classmate here.  But I’m going with the greatest William ever.  Faulkner?  No  Shakespeare?  No.  Tell?  Baldwin?  Prince William?  No, no. and hell no.  William Shatner.  Captain James Tiberius Kirk,  I’m all about Star Trek these days.  With the new movie coming out and I’ve been watching the Original Series on Netflix.  I started at the beginning and am now a few episodes into season 2.  I don’t get to watch it much since Cheri doesn’t like it so I only watch it when she’s still in bed or not at home.  When I started watching TOS (the Original Series for you non-Trekkies), I had forgotten how much I loved the show.  I generally can’t watch something that old because the effects are horrible but it doesn’t bother me at all when watching it.  When I get done with TOS, I’ll start the TNG and so on until I’ve watched them all.

Shatner was great in TOS and the movies but I really liked him in Boston Legal too.  I wish it was on Netflix because I would love for my wife to see it.  I know I watched him in TJ Hooker as well but I don’t really remember much about it.  Most people nowadays probably only know him from the Priceline commercials.

Trevor’s word – Web

The World Wide Web?  I know all about it.  I’ve talked about my social media addiction on here before.  I’m pretty good with computers as in the internet.  I don’t know Jack about putting a computer together but I’ve taught myself a little bit of HTML, I’ve created and ran multiple websites, ebay stores, obviously multiple blogs, twitter accounts, facebook pages, ect.  I don’t know everything, but ask me to figure it out and it might happen.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Thursday, April 25, 2013

A to Z Challenge - V

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Van

Well that’s a sore subject when it comes to my divorce but Samantha probably doesn’t remember it.  TheEx was driving a mini-van when we got divorced.  She couldn’t afford payments by herself and I helped for awhile but she just wasn’t putting much effort into helping make payments so I gave her a week to find another vehicle and then turned it in for repossession.  They sold it then I set up payments for the remaining balance.  I would still be paying on it but I had to pay it off in order to get a house so I borrowed enough to completely pay it off.  But she never helped pay a dime of it.  I can say that about multiple bills but I won’t go into that now.

Trevor’s word – Vase

Um, I don’t really have much to say about a vase.  You put flowers in them, they are usually the first thing to grab when an intruder breaks in to break over their head.  That’s about it, exciting stuff here.  I’m amazed you’ve stuck with this challenge as long as you have.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

WWW Wednesday #11

WWW_Wednesdays4

To play along, I’m supposed to answer 3 easy questions.

What are you currently reading?

Something Deadly This Way Comes (Madison Avery, #3)

Something Deadly This Way Comes (Madison Avery #3) by Kim Harrison

This is the 3rd book of the Madison Avery series.  I know there are only 3 in this series so far and I think I heard this series referred to as a trilogy so it may be the last.  It’s a fun series so I’m hoping that’s not the case.  If it is, then I guess a big ending should be in store.  I’m at 68% finished so I’ll let you all know for sure next week.

What did you recently finish reading?

Starlight (Pact Arcanum, #4)

Starlight (Pact Arcanum #4) by Arshad Ahsanuddin

This is the last book of the Pact Arcanum series and it finishes nicely.  If you haven’t read the previous books, then I highly recommend it before you read this one or you may be a little lost.

This book takes place a little further in the future (100 years, maybe) from where the last one left off.  We learn what becomes of Antonio and a lot of this book is based around him and his returning home after being gone for awhile.  His return comes with a price to what Antonio believes is his future.  This is a great finish to a series that spans around 600 years that was all leading to whether or not the great work could be finished.  I can’t believe how great this series has gotten since the first book.  Arshad has really put together a whole universe of characters that come from multiple meta-human races and has really put together a bigger than life story.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads but I would give the series itself a 5 star rating if I could.  I really did enjoy this and reading Arshad’s growth as a writer.  He did a great job wrapping everything up and I don’t remember one story line that didn’t get completed.  I’m not saying there are not some in there, but I don’t remember any.

What do you think you’ll read next?

72 Hours: A Thriller

72 Hours by William Casey Moreton

It’s a thriller and not of the supernatural kind so it’s a little different then what I normally read.

If you want to join on WWW Wednesdays, click the logo on top or go to http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ and leave a comment.

A to Z Challenge - U

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Umbrella

I don’t have one nor do I want one.  The only time I would use one is if I’m standing in the rain for an extremely long time.  Otherwise, as far as I’m concerned, I’ll just get wet.  I’m going from the car to the store, I’ll just get a little wet.  It’ll dry, eventually.  I don’t understand why people have to use them everywhere they go but then again, I don’t have any hair that I have to protect.  I suppose that helps.

Trevor’s word – Unicycle

I don’t have one nor do I want one.  I’m guessing he was struggling with trying to find a word that starts with a U.  I would take a shot at trying to ride one if someone asked.  I’m not sure if I could do it or not.  I don’t have horrible balance (I used to walk steel) but it’s probably not extremely great on account of my gut sticking out.  But I’m up to try anything once.  Well, most anything.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

A to Z Challenge - T

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Trevor

I got this one right after yesterday.  Trevor is an odd boy.  He is currently 8 and loves Lego’s, Angry Brids, Video games and Reading.  Those all seem normal but why do I call him odd?  You ask him questions and he just stares at you.  You have to be very specific with him if you want him to do something and explain it step by step because if you don’t, he won’t be able to figure it out.  He’s a momma’s boy as opposed to my daughter who is a daddy’s girl.  The only time we ever see any real emotion from him is during the Pinewood Car Derby.  While he is a little strange, he is my son.  He has his moments when he hugs and kisses me and times when he is very chatty.  For the most part, he’s quiet and just like to stick to himself, which is a lot like I was.

Trevor’s word – Tina

He had to go there didn’t he.  Tina would be who is referred to on this blog as theEx.  You can find out all about her by clicking that link.  Truth is, I would like to have a better relationship with her, we both still get along fine.  There is only one thing that she does that pisses me off and prevents that relationship from happening.  She lets the JackAss control everything about her.  The fact that she has no spine and can’t tell him to shut up.  If he would just stay out of the picture, everything would be fine.  It sounds like I’m being a petty ex-husband, but take the time to click his link and see why.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Monday, April 22, 2013

A to Z Challenge – S

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Samantha

She would use herself.  Samantha is 10 going on 17.  She has been growing up quite a bit in the last year.  She is starting to look and talk like she’s older but then she goes and does stupid things like taking her fingernail and carving the word evil into her arm.  Luckily it wasn’t deep and was gone in a day or two.  I made her wear long sleeves to school the next day and told her I was emailing her teachers and if any of them see her with her sleeves up, they were to notify me.  I didn’t really because teacher’s have enough crap to worry about without babysitting her but she knows that I email teachers so the threat alone should work.  So while she pushes the boundaries like a 17 year old, she’s still the 10 year old who doesn’t know how to call my bluff yet.  Not looking forward to they day she figures out her old man is full of crap.

I’m guessing tomorrow I’ll be doing a post about Trevor for the T’s.

Trevor’s word – Ski

I went skiing once, ended up in the hospital.  I twisted my ankle pretty bad on a wipe out, on the rope tow.  Yeah, you read that right, the rope tow.  Apparently there was ice frozen to the bottom of my ski and it hooked something on my way up the hill (I live in Indiana, we don’t have mountains).  But it twisted my ankle and they put me on a sled and pulled me to the first aid station where they proceeded to cut up my brand new Christmas socks, iced it up, put on a brace and sent me to the hospital for X-rays.  I didn’t mind skiing and would do it again, it just doesn’t really come up much around here.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Randomness #11

Due to the A to Z Challenge, I’m not posting much this month other than those posts.  But I have Sunday’s off from the Challenge so I’ll throw a Randomness post to cover the week.  I typed this out throughout the week.

Monday

Took Samantha to her 2nd softball practice, first one I was able to attend.  Most of it was throwing and hitting exercises so there wasn’t much to watch so for the most part, I read.  I sat in my car and was glad I did, since it rained through most of it.

Tuesday

Samantha had another practice tonight but it was just a batting cage practice.  So once again, I took my Kindle and read in the car.  And once again, it rained.   I ended up getting a text from my cousins wife who was also out there with him and their kids.  They have 3 kids who play out there at the same diamonds.  Their 4th used to but he made the high school team this year.  I also ran into my niece who lives up the road and was there with her neighbors kids.

This is the first year that I’m not coaching or at least helping out with any team.  This is, of course, because of my stupid ass hours at work.  Last year I was Trevor’s head coach and I helped out a little with Samantha’s team.  I was asked to be Samantha’s head coach this year but I had to turn it down.  On one hand, I’ll miss being a part of the team, I already know Samantha misses it.  But on the other hand, it’ll be nice to just sit and watch and not have to worry about anything else.

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We watched “Psycho” tonight because Cheri had never seen it and we’ve been watching the TV Show “Bates Motel”.  Netflix didn’t have the original so we watched the newer version but it’s not real far off the original so it did the job sufficiently.

Wednesday

I was at work today and grabbed my phone to check the weather and this is what I see.

Screenshot_2013-04-17-14-36-37

Now notice the “Dry Conditions Will Continue”.  Like I said in the last 2 days posts up there, it rained both days.  So I’m not quite sure where they get “Will Continue".  But also notice the little icon underneath that. It’s usually some kind of weather watch or warning so I figured I’d click it and see what’s up.  Here’s what I saw.

Screenshot_2013-04-17-14-36-45

A flood watch?  But I thought it was supposed to be dry.  I’m thinking maybe I should just get the Weatherbug app that my brother suggested.  I liked this one because it has a widget that I can get today and tomorrow’s weather with just a glance.  But after coming home to this

IMG_20130417_194635_115

I may change my mind.  It doesn’t show as well as I had hoped but on the roof next to the siding, where you see the white, is rain water running down and at a pretty good pace.  You can also see the water puddled up on the ground.  Yeah, maybe time for a new weather app.

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The founder of the A to Z Challenge emailed me today and notified me that he noticed my link wasn’t working and he said that he was going to try to get it fixed.  A few minutes later he commented on my Randomness #9 post where I was bitching about them not answering my tweets about it.  You can read about it there, I complained that they didn’t answer but I also admitted that it was all my fault so I wasn’t too bitchy (I don’t think so anyways).  He apologized and said again that he was going to fix it and give me a little love on the A to Z Challenge blog so hopefully in the next few days, my viewership will go up.

Thursday

I noticed they got the link working on the A to Z Challenge page, my numbers haven’t boosted a bunch yet but I have picked up a follower or 2.  Arlee said that he’d plug me on the A to Z blog tomorrow which I greatly appreciate.  That’s pretty awesome of him.  I just hope my Q post is worthy.

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Samantha’s practice was cancelled last night, Trevor’s was cancelled tonight.  Samantha has at least had a couple of them, Trevor is still waiting for his first one.  Every one they’ve scheduled in the last few weeks have gotten either rained out or cancelled because of the cold.  Tomorrow is a practice free day but both have practices on Saturday but they aren’t going to those due to our annual trip to the Maple Syrup Festival.

Friday

Today was a day of driving.  We drove to Cheri’s sisters house (31.4 miles per Google Maps) and spent a couple of hours there, mainly talking and the real reason we went over is Cheri is baking a cake for her niece’s graduation from college.  So we got together so they could make plans on the type and design of the cake.  Little was accomplished there but my phone battery was dragging.  I was charging it all the way there (about 45 minutes) and it was still dying before we left.  So I was playing around with it trying to figure out why.  I use a task manager, whenever my phone starts to run slowly, I click it and close all the apps I’m running which is usually a crap load.  Since the ladies were chatting and I was more or less sitting there, I did a test.  I opened up my task manager and closed all my apps.  I then opened up the timer and set it for 5 minutes then set my phone on the table and did nothing with it, for 5 minutes.  After the timer went off, I opened up the task manager again.  Now the only thing that should have been running is the stopwatch.  I’m also not naïve and I know there are some apps that automatically restart so I figured there’d be a few things running.  This is what I saw

Screenshot_2013-04-19-16-24-21     Screenshot_2013-04-19-16-24-30

I could have screen capped a 3rd one but it only had a few on there so I didn’t bother.  Some of those I don’t care that they are running because I use them.  But the majority of those, I rarely use and some of them, I never use.  The only thing I actually used since I shut everything off 5 minutes ago was the Alarm Clock Xtreme (stopwatch) and at the top, it shows I got a Facebook notification so that should be running, and the task killer.  But no, there are 25+ apps running.  How about instead of trying to invent a battery that lasts longer, you invent something that won’t let apps start unless you click them.

Anyways, from that sister’s house, we drove to her other sister’s house (48.6 miles, (1 hr, 6 min) to pick up Cheri’s wheelchair that she had loaned to her other niece who has just had surgery on her ankle but wanted to be a part of the local Relay for Life walk but Cheri needed her wheelchair for tomorrow’s activities.  We picked it up and hung out for awhile and chit chatted before heading home.

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My stats have definitely gone up the last few days since Arlee helped me out.  I’m up 100 or so more pageviews in a day which is up a little more than double my usual.  My followers are also up 8 more.  But a lot of the people commenting aren’t following via the Google connect so it may be more than that anyways.  I don’t blog for the stats but you can’t help liking a confirmation that someone is reading.

Saturday

Had our annual Maple Syrup Festival today.  Here’s the schedule that we adhere too every year.

  • 8:00 am – Breakfast (All you can eat pancake & real sausage)
  • 10:00 am – Parade
  • Whenever we’re done with the parade we go to Nelson’s and have an all you can eat buffet.

It’s a fun day hanging out with the family, although it was freaking cold today.  The real feel temperature was in the low 20’s mainly because it was windy.  Cheri really froze because she was more or less stuck in the wheelchair where she couldn’t move around a little and try to stay warm.

Afterwards, the kids went with their grandma on theEx’s side because she and the JackAss are out of town this weekend and she wanted to spend some time with them.

Both kids had practices cancelled again today on account of the cold.  So they didn’t miss them because of the festival like I had planned.  Trevor will miss one on Sunday though because he will be at his grandmothers.

Sunday

Has anyone else seen this commercial, it is hilarious.

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I seriously need to to get some blog posts prepared and read.  I’ve gotten way behind on checking in on all the A to Z Challenge blogs.  Not to mention there are over 8000 posts in my Feedly that I’m behind on reading.  I’m in the color section this week at work, which is the slowest so hopefully I’ll be able to put a dent into that.  I’m caught up on all my posts that I had finished in the challenge so I need to write some and get ahead of the game again.  I have submitted a few articles to Yahoo and am waiting to see if those get posted as well.  But today’s plans are, read and write posts.  I should probably pick the kids up from the grandmother as well, but blogs are more important then kids, right?

Saturday, April 20, 2013

A to Z Challenge - R

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Rat

Only my daughter would use rat for an R word.  I realize some people have them as pets but the only thing I think of is the filthy rat kind.  Sewer rats and those sorts.  Although I thought the Rodents of Unusual Size from the Princess Bride looked like huge rats and if you asked me to picture a rat, that’s the image my mind goes to.  I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean RATT, I doubt she knows who they are.  The only song coming to mind right now by them is Round and Round but I assume I probably no more than that.

Trevor’s word – Rack

I could get in trouble with this word.  I don’t use a wine rack or need to replace my rack and pinion.  I don’t hunt so there isn’t a deer head with a huge rack hanging in the living room.  I don’t eat rack of lamb or use a shoe rack, torture rack, coat rack, magazine rack (does anyone still get magazines?) or a spice rack.  None of those come to mind when I say rack anyways.  But I’ll leave that alone and let you guess what kind of rack comes to mind when I hear that word.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Friday, April 19, 2013

A to Z Challenge - Q

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Quinn

Well, the only Quinn I can think of is Brady Quinn , who was supposed to be Notre Dame’s savior for them to “Return to Glory” but he certainly wasn’t that.  He was a decent QB, maybe even a little better than average but he hasn’t done crap since he went pro.  Which seems to be typical with their QB’s lately.  Wait, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman or something like that.  I think my mom used to watch that show.  I don’t remember much about it other than it took place in the old west (I think).  Aiden Quinn, I know the name, don’t really know who he is by face.  I know he’s an actor.  I just googled him and I’m ashamed to admit that he is on one of my favorite current shows.  I suck.  That’s about it I got for Quinn, the paragraph was longer than I expected.

Trevor’s word – Quilt

We just bought a new quilt a couple of months ago.  We don’t use a comforter on our bed, Cheri prefers a quilt.  But she is very picky and rightfully so.  The quilt we were replacing she has had for years and years (I think) but it was nice because it wasn’t heavy.  That’s the main attribute that she looked for because if it’s too heavy for one, it’s too warm, and two, it’s harder to move at night.  Which for her is a big deal because she’s a mover all night long.  I’m a log, for the most part, once I’m out, I am out.  The second attribute for Cheri is of course it’s looks.  She found a pattern she liked online, we went to the local target to check it out and ended up buying it.  I’m pretty sure I can find a picture of it on her Instagram, probably with a cat on it, but you’ll get the idea, I’ll go look, hang here a sec.

   

Told you I could find a few, and they all have Kitty on them.  She has over 200 photos on her Instagram, I bet at least 150 of them have Kitty in them.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

A to Z Challenge – P

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Popcorn

Now this is something I can get on board with.  I do love me some popcorn.  But even better than that, movie theater popcorn.  I have actually, on occasion, walked into a theater, bought some popcorn and walked out with it.  I LOVE movie theater popcorn and I can’t go to a theater without it.  Which is why we don’t see movies much anymore, between the cost of tickets and the huge mark up on popcorn, it’s an expensive trip.  I don’t eat popcorn as much as I’d like, for the most part, I just don’t think about throwing some in the microwave.  I think I should change that.  It’s probably more healthy then the chips or cookies I tend to snack on late at night.

Trevor’s word – Pear

I also like pears.  But again, I don’t hardly ever eat any.  Although I do have a cup of fruit every morning on the days that I work.  Mainly fruit cocktail, sometimes peaches, depends on my mood.  I actually take fruit and orange juice in sippy cups to work for breakfast.  It’s great, because the containers don’t leak in my lunch box.  So people may giggle behind my back, but if I cared what they thought, I wouldn’t use them.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

WWW Wednesday’s #10

WWW_Wednesdays4

To play along, I’m supposed to answer 3 easy questions.

What are you currently reading?

Starlight (Pact Arcanum, #4)

Starlight (Pact Arcanum #4) by Arshad Ahsanuddin

I’m about 3/4 through this at the moment.  Will probably finish it tomorrow.

What did you recently finish reading?

Moonlight (Pact Arcanum, #3)

Moonlight (Pact Arcanum #3) by Arshad Ahsanuddin

This book wasn’t the action packed book that the last one was but I still really enjoyed it.  This one is more about the relationships between all the members as well as a few new ones.  All of the issues between the President and the Sentinel’s comes to a head in this issue.  But there is a new race coming into it’s own that threatens all humans of the world.  Can they all work together and bring peace, or will this become an all about war?

With twists and turns and with this book being fronted by new lead characters, it was a little different but still right in line with the other books.  I did really enjoy it and am continually amazed at the world that Arshad has created.  He really does paint a picture of everything going on really well.  I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  I definitely recommend this series and I look forward to finishing the next book.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Something Deadly This Way Comes (Madison Avery, #3)

Something Deadly This Way Comes (Madison Avery #3) by Kim Harrison

This is the 3rd of the series and I believe the last.  I think this was wrote up as a trilogy.  I love Kim Harrison so I’m looking forward to this book.

If you want to join on WWW Wednesdays, click the logo on top or go to http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ and leave a comment.

A to Z Challenge – O

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Ox

Ox?  Big animal with horns?  Better yet, let’s go with Oxbow.  What’s Oxbow you ask?  It’s the name of a local county park.  I’ve been there many, many times.  Trevor’s scouts day camp was there last year.  It has pretty extensive trails as well as pavilions to rent out.  Lots of nature.  I specifically remember driving through a creek to get to the other side, as well as the tower.   Only the tower was a victim to an arsonist.  Last I heard, they are still trying to raise money to rebuild it.  I found this picture but this was awhile ago.

(3) Tower

I believe this happened 3 years ago.  It was kind of a landmark at the park.  I remember being up on top many of times as it swayed back and forth in the wind.  Yes, it actually does that.

Trevor’s word – Onex

I believe this is someone’s dogs name.  Otherwise, I have no idea what he’s talking about.  Since we’re talking about dogs, let me show you a picture of my brother’s dog, Jake.  Apparently he thinks he’s a small dog.  He just crawled on up there and got comfortable.

2013-03-10_18-15-44_579

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A to Z Challenge - N

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Not

I’m guessing this is supposed to be kNOT NOT NOT.  Did you follow that?  Maybe it was supposed to be NOTe but she forgot the e.  I know it’s NOT NOTre Dame because I’ve taught her well there.  She doesn’t like ND any more than I do.  I do know I’m NOT going anywhere using NOT.

Trevor’s word – Nathen

Ok, definitely next year, a no first names rule.  The only Nathan I can think of is a fellow sports card blogger off my other blog.  Nathaniel Hawthorne maybe.  Nathan Fillian, there’s one I can talk about.  He’s pretty good in Castle, but Firefly was where I liked him the most.  I am a geek and I loved the few episodes that they had for the series, as well as “Serenity”, the movie based off the series.  I hear rumors periodically about bringing that show back, but I doubt we’ll ever see it again.  Then again, they seem to have run out of ideas in Hollywood since all they do is reboot everything now.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

 

National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012

Monday, April 15, 2013

A to Z Challenge - M

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Map

I love maps.  I fell in love with them in school and have loved them since.  Only they’ve gotten even better with technology.  If I see a place off the beaten path that I can’t really see driving by, I Google Map it and check it out that way.  A huge fence surrounding someplace, I’m checking Google Maps.  I could get on Google Maps and spend hours on it, and I have.  I’ve found my home, zoomed in most of the way and scroll from there to my mom’s, or work, or any other place I can think of.  Yes, I follow the roads when I do that.  I’ve even zoomed in some places I frequent and looked for my car (Google Maps Stardom).  Have I mentioned I love maps.

Trevor’s word – Michael

Do I think he meant the arch angel?  Maybe the John Travolta movie?  Maybe his cousin?  Maybe the greatest basketball player ever?  Probably none of the above, probably another kid at school.  I’m thinking if I do this again next year, I’ll have to have a little more rules on what they write.  Trevor has thrown a bunch of people in here that I don’t know.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

Randomness #10

I may decide to keep up with this and post every few days, even after the A to Z Challenge is over.  Since they are random, it’ll fit right in with the post.  Then if I have something I really want to talk about, it will have a post of it’s own.
Sunday
I went through some more blogs today on the A to Z Challenge, I’m now up to 800 checked and around 30, maybe even 35 new blogs added to my reader.  But I’m over halfway and only 7 days in.
If I leave a comment on someone’s blog, I bookmark that blog under a folder called “Check Me” and then once a day, I go through that folder to see if they’ve commented back.  If they haven’t commented after a week, I then delete the bookmark.  I usually only have a few, maybe up to 5 bookmarks to check daily but since I’ve been going through the A to Z Challenge, the list is almost to the bottom of my screen (around 30).  I got into this habit after they took away the “notify me of replies” box but that may be back now but I still use this system.  Do you do something different?
I try to comment on most peoples comments on my blog.  Sometimes, there just really isn’t something to say.  But if there is, I say it.  I don’t know if they ever know that I did or not, but I do.  It actually kind of annoys me when I comment on someone’s blog and they don’t respond.  On my “My Sports Obsession” blog, because it’s a sports cards blog, the majority of the blogs are run by men and the majority of them have their e-mails attached so instead of leaving a comment to their comment, you can e-mail a response.  I actually like this better because I have grown some friendships with people whom I have never met.  That network of blogs just seems to be friendlier.  Also, if you follow somebody else’s blog in that network, they follow back.  That doesn’t happen here hardly at all.
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I have to go back to work tomorrow, the start of my 5 day work week.  Not to thrilled about that.  So don’t be surprised if I don’t blog much this week, it usually wears me out.  Luckily, I already have my A to Z Challenge posts done for the week but not much further after that so sometime, I need to finish some of those up.
Monday
Not too much to say tonight.  I’m sitting down to watch my Michigan Wolverines hopefully bring home a championship.  I’ll probably go through more blogs during time outs and halftime.  I should go through my Feedly feeds because since I started reading the other blogs, I’ve gotten way behind.  Oh well, it’s game time now.  LET’S GO BLUE!!!
Tuesday
Work, blah, blah, blah.  I need to work on a resume for a position at work.  I hate doing resumes, I’m not good at bragging about myself.  It’s one thing to turn in to people who don’t know you, but it’s another to turn one in to people who you have worked with you and have already formed opinions about you.  When I put works well with others, I see them all laughing.
Wednesday.
We desperately need to get a house so my kids don’t have to share a room.  This morning, they were slow moving because they were arguing about who changes clothes in the bedroom and who goes to the bathroom.  All they got for breakfast was a Nutri-Grain bar because they didn’t have time to eat cereal.  The new rule is, when I’m home, Sam gets the room.  When I’m not, Trevor gets it.  I hadn’t realized this was such an issue otherwise we would have made that rule a long time ago.
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There won’t be a WWW Wednesdays this week because I haven’t finished the book I started last week.  I just haven’t had much time to read at work.  Everybody seems to want to talk to me on my breaks.
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Don’t forget, even though the 31 party has ended, you can still donate to the MS Walk that we are doing on May 7th.
National MS Society- Walk MS- Michiana 2012
Thursday
Today, my oldest daughter turned 18 so we picked her up a Dairy Queen cake per her request.  She didn’t get much from us due to us dishing out money for her car insurance (we told her we’d pay it but it was her gift) but she received a package from her grandmother in the mail.  She was more than happy with that, since she is by far her favorite person.  She hung around for a bit before running off with her boyfriend so that was about all we saw her.
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I took Trevor to the library after school.  He’s been blowing through the series “the Magic Treehouse”.  He’s literally reading 2 or 3 a week.  I took him to the library a couple of weeks ago and he picked up 4.  He had read the first one within a day and had the other 3 down in a little over a week.  He also picked up a couple of them at the school library so he read 6 in 3 weeks.  He’s only 8.  But he comes by it naturally, only my obsession was the Hardy Boys.  I read a couple a week too.  Samantha gets in moods where she’ll read, then she won’t read for awhile.  She does say she enjoys reading though, she got a couple of Goosebump books at the library.  I’m happy to be raising a couple of readers.
Friday
Had to go back to work today.  Sherry didn’t show up so I had to run 2 cranes all day.  I’m wore out so I’m out.
Saturday
Went into work to find out we had to do a quick class on chemical spills.  Considering I’m trained to work in both of the lab positions (only person in the plant trained to do both, not that I get any more money for it) I already know how to deal with chemical spills.  Not to mention, on our side of the line all you have to do is hose it down into the trough because it all filters into the Waste Treatment (also trained in that, but no more money).  So I just sat back and made fun of the guy leading it.  Mainly because he’s the guy that goes with me to Michigan games every year so we are friends.  And as my niece told me once “I’m a button pusher.”  I know there is one thing he absolutely hates, so I did it to him.  When I showed him, he actually attacked me.  Want to know what it was.
chemical spill training
I took his picture.  He hates his picture being taken.  It was in the paper once and I saved it on my Kindle and showed it to him all the time and he kept begging me to delete it.  Which was what he did when I showed him this picture, he pinned me against the wall and told me to delete it.  I laughed at him.  As you can tell, I didn’t delete it.  When I see him next week, I’ll be showing him the picture over and over.  Have to keep up my title of a button pusher.






Saturday, April 13, 2013

A to Z Challenge - K

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

First off, I do know the alphabet, I promise.  I have no idea how I posted L before K but I did.  I’m a dumb ass.

Samantha’s word – Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn, that’s funny.  That’s Samantha’s ex-friend who I spoke about in my post “My Kid and Facebook”.  They were friends up until a month or so ago.  Samantha told me that she’s mean and whine’s a lot.  I told her it was because she has no rules at home and is spoiled.  So she probably whine’s at home to get her way.  She's 10 years old and has a phone and a laptop of her own.  Samantha said she would make fun of her other friends as well.  She’s basically your typical kid who has no rules.  She’s being raised by her grandparents as far as I can tell so she probably walks all over them and they just don’t know how to deal with her.  Personally, I’m glad Samantha isn’t friends with her.  I’ve met a couple of Samantha’s friends and their parents (I require to meet a parent before Sam can go to their house) and she has a couple of good friends that come from good families.  Kaitlyn is not one of them.

Trevor’s word – Kalven

I’m guessing that’s supposed to be Calvin, again, another friend of his.  I typed it out like he spelled it and I even Googled his spelling and all I could get was some corporation and a bunch of last names.  So this is all you get for Kalven.

 

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.

Friday, April 12, 2013

A to Z Challenge – L

If your new to this Challenge, every day of April, minus the Sundays you blog about the letter assigned for that day. To find out why I’m blogging about what I’m blogging about, then go here. Today’s letter is

Samantha’s word – Lily

She has a cousin named Lily so I’m guessing that is who this is about.  She is on her mom’s side but it is also part of theEx’s family that I still talk to.  They are the same age so they get along well even though they don’t see each other much.  Lily’s mom and I have been trying to remedy that but we tend to have a difficult time getting our schedules together.  Maybe now that it’s getting warmer out, we’ll be able to schedule some activities.  She would like to see her nieces more often, without having to spend time with the JackAss which is why we try to get them together.  Every time I see Lily she looks so much more grown up.  I think part of that is because she has glasses and they make her look older.

Trevor’s word – Lenardo

Again, I have no idea who or what that is supposed to be.  The only thing I can come up with is Leonardo which would be one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but I’m pretty sure Trevor doesn’t watch it, I’m not sure he even knows what they are.  It could be Da Vinci, but I’m positive he doesn’t know who that is.  When I think of Leonardo the turtle, I think of pizza.  When I think of Da Vinci, I think of the book “the Da Vinci code”.  Awesome book, terrible movie.

Want to know what the A to Z Challenge is all about? Check it out at the A to Z Challenge blog.