Orioles Rain...

Last night my dad and I hit up Camden yards again. It was Oriole magic night and they had the entire 83 team there to celebrate the last world series win. What a great night me my dad and the O's. I think when I look back on the summer that is gonna be what I remember most all of the time we got to spend at the ballpark. It's actually really cool in that I think somewhere over one of these games me and my dad have gone from close father/ son to really really good friends. What can I say I enjoy hanging out with the dude.





So anyway half way through the game it started raining. OK not normal raining but literally buckets and buckets of rain and lightning and thunder. Like rain for 40 days and 40 nights kinda rain. So into the tunnel we go. Well eventually we end up down under the upperdeck just sitting there drinking beers and BSing while watching the storm envelop The ballpark. It was a great night. I found out alot about my dad that I never knew. I also found out that my Grandpa worked 6 days a week and my dad really didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with his dad. I am very thankful for the time I get to spend with my family anymore. I guess I don't always realize how lucky I am for that opportunity. I miss Pittsburgh with every ounce of my being... but I have gotten alot closer with all of the members of my family this year and I am very thankful for that. I wonder if I can get all of them to move. :)



Time for the Drama.

Ok so we have recently gotten pretty close with a few of the people in our neighborhood. Well this dude Mark who is from Pittsburgh and an all around good guy is a teacher. With his summer off he has decided that he needs to get into great shape then spend as much time be it at the pool or running with his shirt off that he can. Needless to say he currently gets every chick in our communities juices flowin (if ya know what I mean) Well my wife has become friends with this one girl Shannon. Turns out Mark asked Shannon out. But they can't go out for like 3 weeks. Due to people being out of town and whatnot. In the meantime Mark has apparently spent the last two days spending time with Shannon's best friend who does have a name but for the life of me I cannot remember it. We shall henceforth call her girl B. Now this morning Shannon starts texting and calling my wife to vent about this development. Two things you need to know here. Shannon is pretty hot. Girl B is not so much. The other is that they both have kids and were supposed to get a house in Arnold together. Ohh and keep in mind Shannon has a great personality Girl B does not talk to me or the wife really so I am not confident assessing her personality. Ok well anyway The point of all this is that I keep getting asked for a guy's point of view. It has made me realize that it is a VERY good thing that I am happily married. In my eyes Mark had a situation in the future set up and girl B wanted to chill. So he was like yeah whatever I have the summer off and am not doing anything yeah lets have so lets have some beers or whatever. It turns out that I don't think the Girls see it that way. The thing kinda is is that there is NO way Mark could possibly be jeopardizing the thing with Shannon. She is a really good package. I have to believe that this was innocent just "hanging out with girl B"

Anyway that is the current Wysteria(Smithy Square) Drama. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. If Mark blows the Shannon thing he is an idiot. But what I am getting at is that being single would suck. I would hate it. I think that there is a romantic/sexy idea of hooking up with different people and dating and all ... I think that would suck. All the awkward moments and drama that come along with it, No thank you. I also would not want to come home to an empty house. I don't think being alone would suit me. I think it is like when My wife leaves town. I absolutely love it for like 2 days. Then I am done, I want my wife to get home. I hate being in my house alone. My friend Justin has a saying that he says all the time to justify his activities. Women are like dog poop the older they are the easier they are to pick up. His other one is "I do real good for a fat bald guy." Gotta give it up to the kid he does do good for bald fat kid. But even in our last conversation he was like ... The bar scene is getting old and people are annoying him in record time anymore. I Don't see how he has done it this long and now I kinda feel a bit bad for him. Having meaningless relationship after meaningless relationship has him at 30 and coming home to an empty house. He is a better person than me as I could have never done that. I love my wife and just having her around seems to make everything better. I don't know if anything would be any fun if I didn't have her to share it with. I guess people are moving away from the marriage thing and especially people my age. When I really sit down and think about it it seems like alot of people are skipping out on the marriage thing. Ohhh well different strokes for different folks I guess...
Dad

Why so Serious?......

Wow.. I don't think I have ever seen a movie like the one that we saw last night. Batman was amazing. Simply jaw dropping. It was the best performance I have ever seen on film. I mean literally there were like 5 points in the movie where I was just like OMG. The best though was Heath Ledgers the Joker. He just redefined one of the oldest and most iconic characters in comic book and movie history. He took the character to a place that will never be reached again (as he is no longer with us). But it will also influence a character that has been a part of Batman lore in comics, movies, and television and completely taken it to a dark side that it can never be taken back from.. Again Wow. I have never been in a movie before and was so excited to just see a character on the screen again just to see what he would do next. He was so menacing and unpredictable. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job with a role ever. If you have seen the movie you know I am not exaggerating if you haven't you are missing out on a truly iconic movie. This is a movie that will be with us for a long long time. It's actually pretty weird I have to admit when I heard how the role completely messed up Ledger I didn't get it. I thought what the heck you go to work put on makeup have fun act crazy then at 5:00 or whatever wash off the makeup and go party with Hollywood chicks. Yeah...after seeing how dark (and awesome) the character is and how much he put into it I can totally see how it could mess you up being in whatever place he had to reach inside to get that performance out... Again if you have seen this movie you are nodding in agreement if you have not you are missing out on a film that will be looked back on as a classic forever. I know it's A) a batman film and B) pretty high praise for a movie... trust me if you see it you will know I am speaking Gospel. I am actually considering going again next Tuesday when I am off it was that good. Ok I am making myself stop here because I could literally babble on about how much I enjoyed this movie for like 10 pages. Since I don't want to actually give the plot away it will just sound like I have a man crush on an insane psychopath killer so I am gonna stop now after saying this. GO SEE THE MOVIE yes you .. slowly put down the screen on your laptop get up grab a buddy, or go alone,or take the dog but get your ass to theater and see it.









Now It's time for a new feature I am gonna try to introduce to give my self material so that my blog is not the housing market sucks, go see this movie, I went to game, and I suck at NCAA 09 (but my wife is very busy this week and gone all weekend so I expect to make some progress).




I call it. what else I totally am stealing it from Sportscenter ..the Sunday Six Pack. 6 Things I think I think. It could be stuff that annoys me(which will probably be most of it)or just thoughts I have for the week but any way it will come in groups of 6 so without further ado.....



The six pack..... "Pish" (that is the sound of a cap coming of a bottle)

1. People who go to sporting events with clothing for both teams. Like the retard that had on the Detroit hat and Baltimore shirt at the O's/Tigers game I went to this week. Ok so anyone who knows me knows that I have one and really only one Pet peeve. People who do this. I don't know where this comes from but it drives me nuts. Pick a damn team and go with it. I even get for fashion sake or gang colors or whatever you may be wearing a team that you don't root for. Hey what can I say Pirate hats are awesome. But please don't wear one with a Braves jersey. It is the most annoying thing on the planet. Could you not decide could you not commit... as a general public service I will tell you what anyone who actually follows and cares about sports is thinking as we walk past.. "what a tool" But if you are a scary gangsta looking dude we will probably not say anything as we are kinda partial to not having holes in our chests. It gets magnified when you do it at an actual game. You may think well I am gonna support both teams no... No no no.. You are not you can't if you are looking for universal love go to church. This is a game pick one team and root for it. At the stadium do you not notice the people recoiling in horror and babies crying as you walk past. God forbid my child's first word is "Douche" as someone dressed like this walks by us at Camden yards. Although I would totally buy my son ice cream if that happened.. and probably not tell the wife. The baby book would look kinda silly and that would give me more reason to be upset about this trend. I had this come up recently with the Bucs and O's. I went O's even though I do care about the Pirates in a totally Masochistic way. I cheered the O's went with the O's jersey and hat and for that series pushed my love of the Bucs away. You can do this too.... Although it is only acceptable to have 2 favorite teams in the sport of baseball... and one has to be AL and one has to be NL and NO you cannot pick the SOX and the CUBS.

2.) Pish... While we are on the subject of Games I will throw this in ( this is a twofer)... People with their names on jerseys and well that other girl who is at the Steelers/ Gayvens game in her Patriots Jersey. First what is the point of your name on the Jersey.. were you the starting catcher in years past... Because now you look like a backstop. You are not hitting a fastball and you are not running the 90 feet to first without having a heart attack... So please visit the team store and pick a player you like and get that one. The person on the other hand who wears something to a game that is totally out of place is even worse. If you are going to say a Twins/Red Sox game.. Why on earth would you wear say a Pittsburgh Penguins Jersey. IT MAKES NO SENSE STOP DOING IT.. If you don't have appropriate paraphernalia just wear street clothes. Everyone around you is thinking the same thing when you walk past. What the hell is he or she thinking... are they lost do they not realize that they are not in (whatever city you chose to wear that has nothing to do with the game you are at). You look like a moron. Stop it.



For the Record I love Jerseys I have like 5 and I want more.. but there are rules man, rules.. If you are still not clear on any Sports related clothing rules leave a comment and I will get back to you. I am here to help.



3).(Pish) How is it when ever I get in a food line either drive through lane or sit down line inside I am behind the person who has never been there before. This happens to me constantly I am pretty sure it is Gods way of telling me to slow down and enjoy life but it grates on my nerves like all get out. Like Last night at the Movie the guy in front of me actually asked the girl.. is the popcorn good? The look on her face said it all uhhh yes. What the hell did he think she was gonna say. "No it's horrible in fact we spit in it every time we walk by" Like really you have never had movie popcorn before. Or the lady at McDonald's. So we are standing in line for like 20 freaking minutes because there are 3 people in front of me. She gets to the girl looks at the menu like it is written in Russian and says Ummmmmmmmmmmm. Like Really? You have been standing here for 20 minutes you haven't' figured out what you wanted. Have you never been here before? Do you not have anywhere you need to be? Hey it's the same menu they have had for 20 years. Get your quarter pounder meal and move along. Or even better when they get there and ask the girl "Do I want nuggets or a Big mac?" The Girl doesn't know. She actually does not want to be here she has other stuff to do. She is just working to make some weekend spending cash she is not your health guru if she was you would not be here in McDonald's. She is just trying to save some cash to buy a pink Mariners jersey to wear to the O's/Tigers game when she gets off work tonight.



4.(Pish) People who are not shopping for homes yet come to my model to waste time. I know everyone has something they hate about their jobs. I also get that I am not a Zoo Vet catching elephant poop in a bag or something. But my favorite is when I say" Hey guys welcome to the model, Let me guess you are thinking of maybe buying a new home" and they are like "No" then stare at me. What I want to say is "Ok so what the hell did you spend your 4 dollar a gallon gas to come here for" What I have to say is ok so what can I do for you. Now I have actually had people tell me "Nothing" This is the part that I hate Like uhhh ok so what are you doing here again. I really still haven't found out what to say from here. I have no problem with people just checking out the finishes Models are pretty I get that. They are fun to walk through. People sometimes just want to see what they could have if they sold their house. These are all great things I have no problem with. But It really throws me when you say "Nope I am not hear for a new home or to look at finishes or anything else" If you are hear to kill time before a doctors appt. Sure come on in could you just not be rude to me about it. Let me know up front. Sometimes I never do get whey they come to see me.



Again I feel Like I should clarify.. I love my job. I love my company. I love the people I work for and with. I love 99% of the people who walk through my door. I love selling homes and working with people not to sell them houses but homes. It is a job that has some great rewards even in years when economically its not the best like this year. But every once in a while I just get some people and am like WoW what exactly is it that I can do for you. Not a big deal just funny and awkward for both parties.



5. (pish) hmm this is harder than I thought but lets go with the Biggest story out there... Brett Favre... Annoying... just plain annoying. He totally screwed up his retirement now that is all I am hearing about on Sportscenter. See Brett totally messed this up. What he should have done if he felt pressure was say Yeah I am coming back. He has a roster spot he is a Starter Blah Blah Blah. If it gets to July and you don't want to come back you can say "My body is just not up to it". They can't make him play but they can keep him from doing so as we have seen. So yes he messed up but come on how could Green Bay not let him back? I can sum this whole argument up in one question. If I told you if the Packers win the Superbowl this year all of your Kids college will be paid for. If they don't you have to pay double. Who do you want as your Starting QB Favre or Rodgers. The Debate is now over. Unless you are a complete idiot you are saying the living legend. This is a situation where pride from the Pack is keeping them from going to the Superbowl and in the end will cost them their jobs. Remember they were one overtime away from the Superbowl. They are close in wide open NFC. It's a crazy conference with no favorite you could probably take 10 teams from it put them in a hat pull one out and no one would be stunned if that team made it to the Superbowl.



6(pish..) hmmm my last thing I am thinking about today... A week from today the Pittsburgh Steelers Report to Training camp.. Really what in the world is more important than that...I am starting to smell fall in the air and although Baseball has been a blast the summer is about to be washed away like footprints in the sand... HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!!

The Dawg Days of summer. (boring but informative)

Wow it's been another full week since I updated this. I keep waiting for something good to happen so that I can have something interesting and funny to write about. Unfortunately this does not seem to be a good time for interesting things. Since last week I have pretty much played NCAA 09 on Xbox 360 and worked. The thing about NCAA is that for the first time ever it is not fun at all as apparently I suck. I don't know if now that I am over 30 there is an issue or what but I can't seem to do anything right in that game and it is not going well. I will Improve it is like an obsession for me but as it currently stands after week one I have no Offense.

On Thursday I did go and O's game with Mike. It was a good time and I had alot of fun. Anytime I can get to Camden it's a good time. The O's lost the game by a run but it was fun to hang out with Mike have some beers and watch the game. Then we went home I pulled up NCAA 09 football and guess what Mike crushed me.. So you see now that while it is not fun I am very competitive and just have to get better. This is currently not working I have to win. So like I said I am on a mission.

On Sunday night we had a party with some of our neighbors at this girl Shannon's house. It was a blast. We had some beverages and played trivial pursuit and some game that was kinda like pictionary we had to pass the little electronic game thing around and try to get our teammates to guess the word it gave us. All in all I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Our minions got a little drunk (on 4 beers) and provided entertainment for the evening. Rob answer to everything after a while was Toshiba or TRUMP!!!!!! even though they had nothing at all to do with the question. I also found out my wife pays more attention to things I am doing than she lets on. She's busting out answers in Trivial Pursuit like Bob Costas. I was just floored.

Finally last night we just hung out and watched Hopkins .. a reality show about the Hospital here in Baltimore. The next big thing is trying to secure our new place next week. Hopefully it's there through the weekend. If it is it's ours on Monday.

So like I said there is not a whole lot that happened and this post is boring but really it was just a boring dog days of summer week. Hopefully something good will happen this week that will provide me with some material.

Dad

Everybody Poops!! (and yes you have to wipe it)

Well it is that time again for another weekly update. It was actually a pretty quiet week so this may not be all that long. But I wanted to keep the updates coming so when I am all alone after Nicole goes back to school I can look back on the great summer and remind myself that It's only temporary and for one more year. Lets see on Saturday night we went and saw Get Smart the new Steve Carrell Movie. It was a pretty funny movie. It was exactly what I had hoped that it would be a movie that didn't take itself to seriously and was a good 2 hrs of light fun. If you have a few hours to kill and want to laugh a bit I would tell you go see it.

Sunday was the big potty training day. My Nicole went to the other Nicole's to Potty train Edawg. From what I gather it was this one day potty training thing that my wife told my sister about. It involves getting a doll that pees and throwing a party so that the child then becomes very excited about Pooping. Or something like that. Well apparently there were mixed results in the beginning as Ethan was much more interested in playing with Nicole than pooping in the potty. Well at some point someone in Nsquared as I like to call them as of now decided that he should call mickey to tell him that he pooped (in the potty). The problem was is that Mickey, like Santa is very busy and you can't just call Mickey. I guess you could write him a letter but that would kinda defeat the purpose and take way to long. So anyway someone in the braintrust over there decided that I need to be called and that I will be Mickey at work. The issue here is that I was not made aware of this plan. So here I am sitting at work and my wife calls me. I am all busy and stuff(No I was not I am never busy this damn economy sees to that) and I see the phone ringing.
So I pick it up and my wife says "Mickey?" Now this has me quite startled as It was the last thing I was expecting to hear. Was she dating some Irish dude behind my back? Was she thinking she called a liquor store? What exactly was going on here? Then I hear "Micky Mouse?" Thank God I think as I use my quick goat thinking (Adam Sandler Reference) and put it all together. So I immediately go into Mickey mode. The problem here is that my Mickey voice sounds like his would sound if he has been smoking crack for the last 10 years alla Amy Wienhouse. But fortunately Ethan didn't know this and he accepted me as Mickey Mouse. The whole thing seemed to work very well and he seemed very excited about it. I doubt he was less excited than I was. It was really cool to be a part of something like that. I miss so much with my retarded schedule so getting all of those phone calls meant alot to me. If you guys read this Thanks so much for letting me share in the moment.

But that was not the funniest part of the day..This story is brought to you second hand. In an effort to maintain my documentary integrity for the summer I must protect my source and cannot name names. But apparently after the first poop in the potty there was a life altering life changing moment for my sister. Standing there basking in her glory as her firstborn was using the potty preparing to call Mickey it dawned on her that she still had to wipe him. I could see how this would be somewhat of a buzzkill. But apparently we were also potty training my sister that day as this would prove to be a little more difficult task than we may have first thought. It seems that upon Ethans completion of calling Mickey and in the middle of the joy and excitement that comes along with such a moment he proudly exclaimed "Theres something in my butt!!" With this he reaches into his Hindle region and pulls out a used piece of toilet paper that was left from the wiping. Now again I was not there (although I would have killed to have seen the look on everyones faces!!!) But this story had me in tears when I heard it. Yes Nikki you not only have to wipe but you also must remove the evidence :) -- Love ya sis :) These are the stories that make this blog worth doing. I am so glad one day I will be able to look back on that story and have a laugh.

Ok on to Monday... Not a whole lot happened at all same with Monday. But Tuesday was a whole nother rash of crazy stuff. So I set out to start my day with but one goal in mind I need an oil change. Simple right... wrong... See God has been really hooking me up lately and apparently Tuesday was a day that he wanted to have some fun with me in return. So I am sitting in my car at the oil place all pulled in and ready to go. I hear the familiar "pop the hood please" So I go to pop the hood. Only nothing happens. I can't pull the lever the hood won't pop this is not good at all. So of course we had to get everyone involved there are like 8 dudes hitting my hood as I pull on the lever to see if it will pop. Well it won't so me and my trusty sidekick (Ben) are off to the dealership to see what the hell is going on with it. On the way there my phone won't stop ringing and look at that my check engine light comes on. FANTASTIC!!! Now this happened last summer on a supper hot day and I paid $148.oo to have them turn it off and tell me... we don't know what the issue is tell us if it comes back on... So I am totally in a panic and get to the dealership thinking OMG something is now wrong with Shirley(my car). We get to the dealership at about 12:40 how do I know this? Well apparently the service guys ALL take lunch from 12:00-1:00. So we now have 2o minutes to kill that me and Ben spent looking at new cars and me giving him some water I had in a Wendy's cup. Well anyway these Bozo's look at it and bang on it for like 25minutes and then tell me "yeah we are sorry it doesn't seem to want to open" WELL NO FRICKIN Kidding. They also tell me that they can't check my check engine light with out getting under the hood. ( Patrick told me that was not the case but I don't know a thing about cars so who knows maybe it is like that on my model) At this point I am a bit uhh Upset. So I try one last place Vasick Brothers in Glen Burnie. These are the guys who I have taken my car to in the past and have always had great results with. Well what do you know they have my hood popped in like 5 minutes. He got some metal thing and a little skateboard thing he laid on and went in from the bottom. It popped he cleaned it out problem solved. Thanks Mitsubishi guys for being absolute tards. Well then I tell my guy about the check engine light.... He gets in the car turns the key.. No light... LOL. He is like "Uhhh dude your check engine light is not on" So anyway The light is off I went and got my oil change and went home and took the dog for a walk. But still it was about 2:30ish and I was beyond frustrated and embarrassed.

So what did I do to waylay my frustration... Well as nice as the thought of an Ice cold Miller sounded that was not the play today. Today I needed to totally lose the rest of my manhood.
So I did what any man who wants to do that would do I went to see a kids movie... alone.





Wall E was a movie I had been wanting to see. What can I say I like Disney/Pixar movies. I have liked all of them in fact Finding Nemo is my Favorite movie. So Naturally I had to see this. I had tried many things with many people to avoid going alone but alas I was not successful on any front. So I get there buy my ticket and get in line for a soda and small popcorn. I'm retarded when I go to the movies I have to get popcorn. I roll up on the counter and there is no one behind me (keep in mind it's Tuesday afternoon) so the Large Black Gangsta chick behind the counter starts talking to me. "you need a drink for anyone else?" I respond no it's just me.


"Ahhh ok what movie are you here to see?" Wall E. Now imagine if you will a look of total disbelief on Queen Latefia's face. (She looks a little like her but I wanted to pick a large woman that everyone who is reading this would know). "Really" She asks Yeah I reply I for the life of me couldn't get anyone to come see this with me and I don't have kids. She then just starts laughing at me. I try to laugh it off, yeah it didn't work.





So I slink away and butter my popcorn which I get on my shirt (THANKS GRANDMA DOAN!! great genes there :) and head off to the theatre. I get in and I am a little early like 25 minutes so I sit in the middle of the theater and start messing around on my phone. Well as the time passes the theatre fills up. Apparently lots of parents taking kids now that summer is here. About 5 minutes before the movie starts the theater looks like this....

Yeah that's me in the middle. surrounded by moms and dads and kids all saying and thinking I am trying to steal their kid or something. It was funny that I am not even exaggerating this. Like did the lady at the snack counter start alerting people that I was going to this movie alone? I felt a little like a leper but I totally understand. If It were me with my kid I wouldn't sit by the weird guy all alone on a Tuesday afternoon at a kids movie either. If I had been any creepier they may have just issued an amber alert lol.

Well finally the movie started and what can I say without giving away the movie.... It was a Disney Pixar movie. It made me laugh, it tugged at the heartstrings, it was cute. It was everything I was hoping I would get. It also had an interesting environmental warning/message that I really didn't see coming. It goes right up there with The Rest 4 stars go see it. The interesting thing is there is very little Dialogue .. lots of sounds and I mean there are words but the way that the artists have learned how to show emotion in animation you really don't realize that there is very little dialogue. It was Really cool. You just kinda filled in the words in your head while it was happening subconsciously.

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the movie. So I get home walk the dog and then me and wife head to Cheesburger in Paradise. This is a restaurant in Pasedna that Nicole says has the best mixed drinks Eva!!!!-(Like a valley girl). We had a waiter named Shek.. which of course sounds like Shrek so we had some laughs about that and called it an evening.

Wed was pretty much me and the wife just relaxing.... that is about it... Ok see you soon...

Dad

Happy 4th.

Well Holy Poop I know Right??!!! You are getting an on time update with only one day of events for me to talk about....... The 4th of July... A day of family, friends, BBQs and Fireworks.. (and if your not careful dismemberment and Hospital visits) The day started off innocently enough with me finally agreeing to go to the gym with Wizzle.... Which I had successfully put off for about 2 solid weeks...After that we had breakfast and we went over Grandma and Grandpa's.



We got there about 1pm which was nice. The four of us got to hang out and talk for a few hours which is something that we don't get to do all that often. We did the usual played with the dog by the pool and conversed. I am glad we got to spend the better part of 2 of the last three days with my mom and dad. It's always fun to catch up. Well about 4:15ish the Haslups showed up and the real (crazy) fun began..




Mike cooked some awesome wings but the real fun was Edawg. He is just so cool right now... I mean literally He is the coolest guy in any room he is in. I half expect him to put on a black leather jacket give us the double thumbs up and an "Ehhhhhhhayyyy" He was all over the place in the pool on his rocking horse and one time he his grandma and my wife were pushing an invisible rock. Which I had no idea about until I walked in and they were pushing it into me. What is funny is that apparently pushing an invisible rock and being a Zombie require you to walk the exact same way. So upon me and Ben opening the door to come we were met by these three moaning and pushing... well for a second lets just say I was a little concerned.



The rest of the afternoon had the guys watching baseball and Patrick and Tina who made a suprise guest appearance today's episode. I was told to not expect them but low and behold they came .. well Patrick did, I didn't really see Tina at all although the rumors persist that she was there. They stayed for about 45 minutes ate dinner and left to go to a movie. Why? I dunno we had quite the night of seeing fireworks planned but apparently Hancock couldn't wait. Those two right now are just a piece of work. I do pride myself on being able to remember that age and how I felt at that time and all but these two are on another planet. It's not a bad planet so much as it's like I am watching a car wreck but I can't help because I have no room to talk kinda planet. I should point out here I did a very similar thing in distancing myself from the family by staying in Pittsburgh so much even after they came down to MD. The thing is, is that there is a real cool dynamic with the Haslups, me and the wife and the 'rents. They are missing all of it. It's also a resource I wish I had at the time but didn't. They could get so much insight and help with things we care about them alot but right now they have this weird us against the world thing going that frankly everyone is growing a bit tired of. (In all honesty his whole plan for football season has me not looking forward to it nearly as much as I normally do. I think we have a great family tradition going on, yeah it has it's glaring flaws I admit. But this battle he is gonna start can only end badly. It's gonna leave alot of people in the middle and in the end there are gonna be alot of hurt feelings on everyones part. As much as I hate to say it..I am a little happy this year I have a job that will allow me to stay out of this fray for the most part. Kiddo when you get here and get to know me you will realize what a huge thing that was that I just said. I used to live for those 18 Sundays a year and it has killed me to miss them the last two years.. now I am kinda happy I work.. that sucks. Hopefully this will be resolved prior to you getting here midway through the 2009 season)



I think with me if I had older siblings I would have been more involved in the family thing even at the time. It just sucks because again I did it as well it's just that at about 28 I realized how dumb it was. Now I am watching Pacman do it and I really can't say a word because he is gonna remind me that I did it. Watching someone make the same mistakes you made is painful when you care about them. At least I didn't have the benefit of watching someone do something dumb.. I got to do all the dumb things without really knowing the consequences. I thought I did, Hell I was 23 I knew everything !!! yeah ... it's a sobering day when you realize you don't. I just wish he could kinda rediscover some of the feelings and conversations I am sure he had when he heard the news of my stupid exploits. In all Honesty I painted a really good road map for how to screw up. He just needs to think back a bit I really think it would help him out. In the end we'll all be here for him when he figures it out but in the meantime it sucks.



Wow this post has taken a weird turn OK enough Patrick .. when he figures it out I'll be here-back to the fourth. OK so the day at Grandmas ended and the Race began. We had about 52 and a half minutes to get from grandmas to drop of Ben, get mom changed, put stuff in fridge, Poop the dog and get to The Haslups.. The problem it takes about an hour to do all of that. Needless to say we got it done with a whole minute to spare. So once we get to Nicole and Mike's it starts pouring. So I was thinking no fireworks and I have to admit the gym and the swimming and the running around had me worn out so I had a grouchy half hour. I was being a total Poohead wishing that we could get out of the fireworks. In the end we got a last second call from Nicole's friend Michelle and we raced off in the rain to see them.. Fortunately I got out of my tired/grouchy mood while running to the car.



Well we didn't get on base to see them. They started while we were still on our way and it was still raining a tiny bit. But all in all the mad dash there, the parking in some peoples guest parking spots we didn't know and running Edawg to the fireworks was fun.. It was really memorable much more so I think than if we had gone to fair and it had gone according to plan. I think in 15 years we will all be able to mention the fireworks we watched form the street in the rain while looking through a traffic light and have one hell of a laugh. Especially at my dad telling us (incorrectly I might add) 4 times they were over and Edawg noticing halfway through we were next to a dunkin donuts. It turned out to be an awesome day one that I am glad I was apart of as it made me want to have you around so much more. I have to admit I am not one to get jealous of alot as lately I am beginning to realize how blessed I am. But last night running too the fireworks seeing E dawg on Mikes shoulders and Nicole carrying Jax in his little travel seat, grandparents and aunt and uncle in tow... well I have never been more jealous of any two people in my life. I really can't wait to be dragging you into our wild and crazy family adventures. It's an awesome family that in today's world we are so Blessed to have. You are gonna so love it...



Dad

Rainbows shooting out of our Faces!!!!!!

Again I am sorry I have not updated much the last few days I have just been busy. But in order to keep up with what is going on in our lives I have a new update. As you can see from the picture on the left (Of me your mother and Ben) things around here are very different than they have been. Apparently we have Rainbows shooting out of our faces while running through fields and making pottery like in Ghost. This is an observation from Katie who I mentioned in previous blogs. Apparently the wife and I have been doing alot together and since your mom talks about it at work we have become quite the annoyingly in love couple. Which is funny because after 11 years together you think we would be over it. Apparently we are not which I think is a good thing. I Actually take alot of pride in the fact I have such a great marriage... lord knows I am totally out of my league with your mother but apparently the nightly doses of rohipnol are keeping her dazed enough to keep me around :)

Actually I really just think the last 4 weeks we have really reconnected. We have always felt we had something special going on as far as relationships go. But every couple thinks that. But deep down just in being around people day to day and seeing our Friends and families relationships we knew that there was something really special about what was going on. I do however think that the last year with your mother working and going to school and me struggling with the housing market in the toilet we might have slipped into a more run of the mill situation. When Nicole asked me in April if she should take a summer class I am very glad the Lord had us decide against it. It has been an absolute blessing to hang with my wife as much as I have the last month or so. That is another reason I am updating this blog as much as I can ..... I know I have another difficult year ahead of me starting at the end of August when she goes back. I am really gonna miss her and the time that we spent together. It's pretty weird as right now work is a total mess and I am so stressed out but when I get home and see her I just feel better. Its hard to explain. I can be so miserable and disheartened all day then come home and see the wife and just feel better.

Anyway that is kinda the wrap up on the overall. For a more detailed look at what is going on here is the run down. First off the weekend........ We had this big marketing campaign with newspapers TV the whole 9. This was for our big grand opening. And let me tell you for two solid days I was on my feet in sell mode. I love being in sell mode. The problem was with so many people around I really could not focus one long enough to really accomplish my goal. Needless to say I thought for the second time last week I had sold the spec house....... But alas on Sunday I got the email that it was "all happening so fast" and that they would not be buying. I was crushed to say the least.. I mean I really took it harder than I should have but it was what it was and I was really upset. So with the whole grand opening nothing really came of it but people showed up ate our sandwiches and drank our sodas then took our doorprize wine and left. I have never in my life worked so hard for so little.

But in classic Wizzle to the rescue fashion I got a text on Saturday night asking me if I could get beer and would I be willing to grill for a little BBQ with the minions. Well if you ever know anything about me know that the answer to "would you mind picking up beer?" is always a uhhhh yeah I will be happy to get beer. So we BBQed with the minions and played Wii. In classic fashion we wiped the floor with them but this time Wizzle was the one who carried the team she drove her little wii kart like it was on fire.

Then she wanted to blow up our Neighbors.... so we had these little wal mart fireworks that the minions had gotten for our little party.. A few little light up things nothing too good. Well anyway we have some neighbors who are either pedophiles or just very die hard soccer people. It was about 10pm and out they come in their little jerseys to go play soccer. Well the wife looks at us and says... "Wouldn't it be funny if they drove over our fire works and their car blew up" Yeah thats how she rolls.....So little one if we are visiting mommy in prison one day because she blew something up we will look back at this as a cry for help that I totally ignored. Don't worry I will teach you how to bake a cake around a file so she can break out.

Finally on Tuesday night we went to the Green turtle in Columbia. Turns out after 3 years of living here we still have no idea where the hell we are going. Yeah ... it's pretty embarrassing but it took us like a half hour to get there. It was pretty much the blind leading the blind. While there we watched the O's game and I realized that your mom pretty much knows the lineup.. Magic Magic .. Magic.. Magic...... It was pretty impressive.





To cap off our week of updates we hit the Orioles game last night...... Ohhh what a night... So we decided that we would take the Metro down..... This was pretty much so that we could not have to worry so much about driving long distances after uhhhhh drinking chocolate milk... by chocolate milk I mean beer. This seemed like a good idea. Well we did get some stories ..we get to the station and there is the train but only one ticket machine is working... not too too bad but the problem is there are 2 couples in front of us again... you might think not so bad.... well apparently they could not figure out how to use the machine. First they put in a 20 and their change came back in these new one dollar coins... yeah no one knew what the hell they were but these people felt obligated to block the machine while they tried to figure it out.. they were looking at these things like friggin Korean money came out of the machine babbling on about tokens... I admit prior to this evening I had no idea that ole Sacajawea was gone but one look at the coin with George Washington and a $1 on it and I pretty much was able to figure out it was not a train token (which don't exist) The machine gives you a card.. yet these friggin yahoos kept trying to tell us they were tokens then counted them out and separated them from the quarters.... It was literally like Sesame street for senile old people. Meanwhile I am watching the train pull away..Bye Bye train... inside I am ready to punch these idiots in the face like WTF if you can't figure it out move..... Just as the rage is building the one guy looks at me and says we should move this guy here (he means me) is being so patient. Yeah thanks buddy .....





So we finally get our tickets and notice a guy across the track talking away on his bluetooth... he is talking and laughing then getting all serious...... the wife even said... "people look so funny talking on their bluetooths." The problem was that then he turned around to walk the other way and well there was no bluetooth...The only thing this guy was talking too were the voices in his head...... Scary



But not as scary as the three guys who then got on the train..... on sat behind us one in front of us and one beside us... so we were pretty much boxed in. Redlights going off like hey awesome I missed the first train so I could get mugged on this one... SCORE!!! I was beginning to think we might be ok because they were all playing with this one kids phone when *ClicK* and a dude pulls out a knife.... that no lie looked like this

Needless to say I nearly pooped myself.. that was really the first time in my life I thought I might die... I was just hoping that while I was bleeding out that the wife would get away.. In the end all my fears were for naught as apparently you can use a huge knife to fix a cell phone... He either stabbed it or just intimidated it but either way he put the knife away stopped messing with the phone and got of the train. Let's just say we caught a ride home with my parents who also happened to be at the game.. No more public transportation for us.

The game was great it was the shortest of the season so your mom liked that. We sat with my parents and watched Cabrera pitch a 105 pitch complete game and lead the O's to a 5-2 win.. That was pretty much the week kiddo. Tomorrow is the family BBQ for the 4th of July. I already smell drama in the day ... hmmmmmmm could it be coming from the Haslups. I dunno tune in next time.....

Dad