A new life; same as the old life?

into this, then this, this, and finally this, This is what the side of the hot tub looked like before,

We went on this trip as an alternative to standing on a baking hot beach to watch the air and water show. I was hoping to get some great pictures, as i hadn't been to the show for years and was excited by their claim on the web site "will give you one of the best seats for the Annual Chicago Air & Water Show." After getting over the sticker shock, the $49.90 base price actually comes out at $65 including taxes and "fees" and the additional $49 to guarantee a window table, we were excited. We arrived and got on board easy enough, only to notice that it was pretty empty and we would have had a window table anyway, and secondly, even the non window tables were pretty friggin close! Ripoff number 1! The food was limited and average at best. We were amongst the first to board and it was already mostly cold. A selection of chicken something, beef something and some sides, and that was about it. Brunch at the Hancock is about $50 without the rip "fees" a...

This video was sent to me from a buddy. It is done by a group called Church On The Move, but this particular video is not religious. Check it out, all of you dads will think it is excellent I am sure. DAD LIFE VIDEO

When I lived in the UK, many's a day Charlie and I would find ourselves rumminating over a DIY problem, often with a beer in hand and some Tiger Woods golf on the Playstation or Xbox in obeyance until we were done. Everything from building summer houses for my then MIL, to erecting fences in his garden to simple painting and decorating, although we tended to do the simple stuff in our separate ways. As I have been working on this house, I have often wished for his assistance or support, if nothing else, a fresh pair of eyes. I miss the spare hand, the common sense approach but most of all I miss the camaraderie. So when I was working on these new doors, replacing the horrible old, brown stained, flat, hollow cores, with some nice 6 panel, foam core versions, with brushed nickel hardware, I thought of Charlie. Particularly when I left the door standing in the opening for a minute to get a tool, and it fell through into the room, landing on Addison's new fan, and her toy chest, a...

May was a pretty quiet month for us generally, the weather was unseasonably cold, I went to a few Cubs games, and generally we did homely stuff. We did go to Sarbina & Bob's twins first birthday and had a garage sale at the end of the month, where we made some decent cash. Also we went to that iconic American insituttion, the drive in movie, but that's a post for a different day. For anyone interested, here are some general pictures of the kids from May.

I remember as a child living in South Africa, going to the drive in movies with our parents in an old beat up Volkswagen Beetle. They would lay down the back seat and we would curl up under a blanket "asleep" to be able to into 18/R rated movies, so they could see them without having to hire a babysitter. I guess I must have been around 9 or 10 because the movies I remember came out in the late 70s. We saw a terrible B movie, The Car and what I thought at the time as hilarious, although now who knows, The Last Remake Of Beau Geste , but I remember it as a very cool experience. Care all around, windows rolled down a bit, speaker on a cable, hung on the side window. At the time, of course, I didn't know it was really an American institution. It was much later through the magic of television and my exposure to American TV shows, that I learned just how much of an icon the drive in was. Of course with the advent of modern cinema, surround sound, air conditioning, etc, they ...

The debate will never be resolved of course, but it is an interesting thought process. Theoretically we have done nothing different with Cooper than we did with Addison, yet the differences in his behaviour are marked from Addison's. I say theoretically because, of course things are different. Our values have not changed, but likely our approach has. He is child number two, so of course lessons have been learned, attitudes are different, and Addison is here being very involved in everything going on. He is way more grizzly than Addison ever was, doesn't sleep as well, and seems to need to burp every minute of EVERY DAY. Appearancewise, he could be her twin at that age. There are often time when I look at pictures, on the computer or the digital frame, with some hand me down outfit from Addison, and I cannot tell for sure which one of them it is. All of this to say that he has been a nightmare to feed, to the point where I don't even try any more and Lorraine spends hours w...

In this ever increasing world of convenience, things in my mind have gone too far. I guess it started out in the service industry all these years ago, when instead of fixing you own car, doing your own plumbing, etc, you hired someone. Now that same mind set is applied to pretty much everything across the board, especially here in the US. A friend of mine who shall remain nameless, for fear he might feel I am picking on him, grated cheese by hand for the FIRST TIME EVER at the ripe old age of 36. His response was that "why wouldn't you just buy pre-grated cheese?" It set me thinking. I would never even have thought to buy pre-grated cheese, the price not withstanding at 3-4 times the price of a brick, it just seems alien; but like I mentioned earlier, it is everywhere, pre-sliced burger buns, gogurt , ready meals, although I have purchased those. I guess as we go through life, this trend will continue, but I will certainly try my best to remain as inconvenient as I can.

the water is lovely

So I have been working on improving my photography, reading the manual, taking on line courses, checking out local photo safaris that I might want to try and thinking about joining a camera club. I went to one before I left for the UK, which was pretty local, just the next town over. When I arrived, at the old people's home, sorry assisted care living facility, (I didn't know before I left home) I walked into the big man's waiting room! Now I have no problem with old, I will be one myself one of these days, and certainly in the MG club we had our share, but I was the youngest in the entire room by about 20-25 years. When I thought of joining a club, it was with the hope of meeting some people, reasonably close to me in age and interest, to attend meetings, maybe some excursions and have fun. So with the age of this group, it really wasn't for me. Last night I tried the only other local group that I could find, still 30 minutes away, but relatively local. This club seeme...

Like many of you I suffer from junk mail. Everything from "pre-approved" credit cards to catalogs and magazine offers. Whilst I am sure some of this is my fault for not ticking the right boxes on forms or websites, or inviting one company to mail me, who then sell it to others, they sure don't make it easy. Hiding the text in small print, or intentially badly wording opt out questions to catch you unawares. Of course we all know the dangers of simply throwing this stuff away, so we end up opening it, shredding parts, recycling others, etc. The good thing is that there are some ways, unfortunately some of them tedious, but we shall see if any of them are effective as I just used a bunch of them. Have a go if this is a problem for you. These links are for the US only, although I am sure similar sites exist in the UK too. Telemarketers - www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222 "Preapproved" - www.optoutprescreen.com or call 888-567-8688 (you will need SSN) Catalo...

We just got back from good old blighty. Lorraine had been there for 3 weeks before I got there, and I joined her for the last 10 days; but let me go back a little, because I can't believe it is March already. Jan (Lorraine's mum) came over in December, with the plan of arriving a couple of days before the new arrival. She was to stay two months, then travel to the UK with Lorraine, and then five weeks later I would bring them back. As it turned out, Lorraine went into labour the day of Jan's arrival and so the wonderful and talented Amy stepped up, picked her up from the airport and whisked her directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200! The two months flew by, and Jan was very helpful around the house, baby wrangling, etc In fact Lorraine had to tell her off several times for making Cooper too comfortable and not being able to wake him for feeding time. From my perspective, I discovered clothing that I had forgotten, and my wardrobes and drawers became s...

I cannot remember the last time when I had a seriously bad lower back. My upper back and shoulders are always bad and I get regular massage and chiropractory to keep them loose and mobile. However this past Friday, and I still have no idea how, I threw out my lower back to the point where I could not walk, sit or stand. I went to the local massage place and after 90 minutes of therapy I still had to crawl out of the room. They put on something call Kinesio tape which enabled me to at least get upright again, long enough to walk (ish) to the truck. I have spent most of the last 48 hours in bed and I can just about walk again, but not without pain. According to the massage lady something inocuous, which I cannot remember caused my muscles to go into protective mode and lock up in the general area of my lower left back/butt. I really hope this is a temporary thing as I have a lot planned this spring. Installing a kitchen, knee surgery the week after next and of course most importantly Cu...

As most of you all know, baseball is my sport, but I have a friend who works for the Bears who is, on occasion, able to get me some good tickets. He and some other friends are trying to convince me how good American Football is, without, I add, much success. My MIL and SIL are in town right now, and we had the opportunity to go, all four of us, to the game last night. I went to my third of the season, expecting to see the Bears get their butts kicked by Favre and Vikings who had won 12 out of 14 games this season. However, much to my surprise, and I am sure the Vikings and their fans, the Bears won the game in overtime! They started out the first half with a 16-zip lead which we all knew couldn't last. Cutler was playing well and no interceptions (yet!), and the DEEFENSE (as our American brothers call it) wasn't leaking like a sieve and letting the Vikings run all over them....that is until the third quarter. Having given up a touch down but charged down the extra point, which ...

I tell you, Addy is growing up faster than you would ever think possible. She is smart as they come. She is toilet training and talking 10 to the dozen! Some of the stuff she comes out with, makes you wonder..today she says "I'm going to call Cooper James Coops!" This month of course, Cooper was born, see below for more links to pictures, Lorraine's mother came into town for a couple of months, and we got the Christmas tree, put it up with the decorations, etc. Just a busy month! Addison loves to help with everything, she helped to bring the tree back, helped Lorraine with some baking for pies with the Thanksgiving leftovers, and even helped decide exactly where all of the ornaments would go on the tree. Click here for pictures of the tree cutting, decorating, etc. Click here for pictures of Coops in the hospital & his first few days home

Well here he is folks..in all his glory!

is here, weighing in at 9lb 12oz, and 22in long, a big lad! Born at 6:46pm today December 8th by C-section..more to follow

We are now homeowners in the US! Yay!

My postings seem to be getting less and less regular as life itself takes over! The holiday season is fast approaching with Thanksgiving tomorrow, and the sales, although again this year, despite the economy, I am not overly impressed with the deals. The weather has been exceptionally mild here with temps still in the 50s and last weekend I was out putting up the Christmas lights in a t-shirt, and in the same breath I was preparing my snow blower for the inevitable. Jan and Mads are coming for Christmas, with Jan actually coming for two months. We figured with the two kids now, it is going to be difficult for Lorraine to travel on her own. The plan is that Jan comes here, baby arrives, we wait until the two month check up, then she and Lorraine fly with both kids, and then I join them for a bit and fly back with Lorraine. So Charlie, I will be bringing my clubs and looking for some spring time golf! Speaking of the baby, Cooper James will be coming along very soon....December 10th is t...

Q. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why? A. 21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary. Q. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why? A. 21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1. Q. Why are his gloves wet? A. His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle. Q. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time; and if not, why not? A. He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder. Q. How often are the guards changed? A. Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. Q. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to? A. For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and hi...