Blog Number 124

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Back around Thanksgiving (while we were "vacationing" in Kokomo) we went to the dollar theatre there and saw Man Of The Year.  It was an OK movie but before the movie we saw the preview for The Prestige and thought that we would like to see it.  While my mother is here in Texas, the wife and I had a chance to watch a movie (since we had a babysitter).  Remembering that we had seen a movie that we wanted to watch, we promptly bought tickets for The Illusionist instead.  Both are about magicians and so we did not feel too bad about being confused.

The Illusionist was great!  It was the best mistake we have made in a while.  We quickly told my mother and her boyfriend about it.  Today they were called us as they were driving around looking for something to do.  They decided to go to the movie and called us to see when The Illusionist started.  Unfortunately they would have to wait about 90 minutes before is started so they decided to watch The Prestige instead.  Once they arrived at our apartment, they were convinced we saw that movie instead.  Either way, they recommended it as well.

Life would be great if it always worked out this way.  When you were mistaken, you still had a good time or when you were not at a place at the right time everything still worked out.  So 2006 is ending on a good note at least.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 123

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Well I am up at 5 AM on my day off.  I tend not to sleep in on any day off that I have.  First of all, the cat won't let me.  But even without the cat and his persistence that I awaken the same time each day, I would probably get up this early anyway.  Also, I fell asleep last night rather early.  I only had to work 2 days this week (Wednesday and Thursday) but they were exhausting.  Everything was an expedite and my whole team was struggling to get everything thing ordered before our last work day of 2006.  I ended up leaving around 5 PM and left all my 2006 procurement worries at the corner of Hedgecoxe and Preston on the commute home.  I am taking a different route to work next Tuesday just in case they are still there waiting for me.

I don't really but a lot of significance in the calendar changing years.  It in only important to me in that most everyone else gets enthusiastic about it (and I get a few days off that I would normally have to work).  In my mathematical mind, we are all a little screwed up since all those days were skipped on the Gregorian Calendar back in the 1500's.  So who really knows what exact day the year starts and stops?  I have a feeling that we are way off anyway.

Well it is time to make the coffee.  Maybe that will wake the wife up.  Surely she does not plan to sleep in on my day off!

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 122

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Ah, Christmas Eve!  The kids are pumped of course.  Since we are 900+ miles from our Indiana family it will be a different kind of Christmas for sure.  My cousin and her boyfriend are coming over though for Christmas breakfast.  I hope they are hungry since we are used to cooking for about 18 or so people.  Last year I personally fried 6 pounds of bacon.  This year that would be one pound for each of us (not counting the cat).  My daughter who is a big fan of bacon sees no problems with that.

Our church was having several services today.  In the morning they were having communion and this evening is a simple candlelight service.  We decided yesterday that we would opt for the 6 PM candlelight service so we have just been hanging around the house today.  Looking outside however everything looks rather blah and we are leaning toward just staying in (shhh, don't tell the baby Jesus).  We will probably read one of the accounts of the Christmas story from the Bible and then let the kids open their stockings.  Every year since we have been married, we have opened all our presents on Christmas Eve since Christmas Day was so hectic.  This year it will seem weird not to open all the presents on the Christmas Eve.

As we were drinking our coffee this morning (after reading yesterday's blog, the wife let ME have the extra cup) the kids were watching cartoons.  A commercial came on for Nick Jr magazine and upon the completion of the commercial the daughter came right over and told us that we need only "pick up the phone and call" and we could get her this magazine.  Folks, this is proof positive that advertising works.  The best an ad can hope for is that the kid get up immediately, seek out a parent, and not only ask for the gift but give them detailed instructions on how to obtain it.

I think that might be the end of the Nick Jr channel for us.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 121

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Well since today was Saturday, there was a battle.  There is a battle each Saturday.  This battle does not take place on any other day of the week except Saturday.  This battle is referred to as "The Battle for the Last Cup of Coffee."

Our coffee maker "supposedly" makes 10 cups of coffee.  If you read the fine print, their "cup" is really 5 ounces.  So when we pour what I call a "cup" of coffee, we end up with about 10 ounces (or about 2 "cups" of coffee).  This means that after we each have had 2 cups of coffee (or 4 if you go by the coffee maker's definition of cup) there is only enough for 1 more cup.  Monday through Friday this is not an issue.  I willingly surrender this final cup to the wife since there is free coffee all day long at my workplace.  Sunday is not really an issue either since the church we are now attending has coffee as well.

Saturday however is another matter altogether.  We have our arguments as to why each of us is more deserving of the final cup on Saturdays.

**The wife's points**

1. I get the last cup every other day of the week, so to remain consistent I should get it
2. I need it to make through a day with the kids AND YOU
3. Hey look over there (then she sneaks in the kitchen and pours the last cup into her mug)

**My points**

1. My body needs more coffee than yours since I drink it all day long at work.  Limiting me to 2 cups when I am used to 6 is cruel and unusual punishment
2. Saturday is my day off and I deserve to relax with a 3rd cup of coffee
3. If you think about this objectively, you will see...HEY YOU TOOK THE 3RD CUP!

Since I have not won this battle in about 10 weeks, it might not (by definition) actually be a battle.  I think if it were really a battle, I would at least have a shot at winning every once in a while.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 120

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Well once again my wife has attempted to seriously injure me.  You may recall the LAST TIME that she tried.  This time she was a little more sneaky.

The son had $5 burning in his pocket last night and decided he would spend it on ice cream for the whole family.  He convinced the wife to drive him to the grocery store where he bought some Blue Bunny brand vanilla and a 2 liter of Coke.  Since he is still pumped about having programmed the button in the Buick to open the gate, he convinced the wife to take that car to the store.  Here is where her plan to hurt me started.

She moved the driver's seat forward.  This is understandable as I have much longer legs than her.  However, she neglected to put the seat BACK to its original position.  So when I attempted to get into my car this morning, I nearly killed myself since my knees collided with the steering wheel.  She used to do this all the time in my Cavalier.  So much so that I got used to moving the seat back before I got into the car.  However, she seldom drives the Buick so I was not prepared.

I survived of course.  But what is it about people that makes them forget to put things back the way they were when the got them?  Who knows?  From now on though, she can drive her van and leave my seat alone!

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 119

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

The son is pumped.  He has waiting for the weekend all week.  We were going to do a very exciting thing this weekend.  You will never guess this in 1,000 years.  But first, a little background.

My beloved Buick has 3 programmable buttons that allow you to program them to open your garage doors.  This was nice back in Indiana as we actually had 3 garage doors.  The son (for some reason) really found this fascinating.  He programmed all 3 buttons in both vehicles (our Montana also has 3 buttons).  However, since we have moved to an apartment and are not paying the extra $90 / month that a garage would cost us, the buttons are all but useless except when the son looks at them, sighs, and remembers how they used to be useful.

We do have a little key fob like device that opens the gate to the apartment complex and a few weeks ago the son had an idea.  He hypothesized that we could program the Buick and Montana buttons to open the gate.  I arrived home one day a few weeks ago to a boy with a smile that covered his whole face.  He announced that he had successfully programmed one of the buttons in the Montana to open the gate.  He then started bugging me as to when we might be able to program the Buick in the same manner.  And by bugging, I mean pestering.  And by pestering I mean annoying (harassing, tormenting, hounding, etc. - you get the point).  Well today was the day.

He now has this satisfying smile on his face as if he has conquered a goal in life.  He has also instructed me that I am to use that button from this point forward.  He even offered to hold on to the key fob for me to ensure I follow his instructions.

Ah, to be 8 again and have this be your only care in the world.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 118

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Today is my wife's birthday.  I am sure she won't mind me telling you that she is now 32.  Her birthday has been great.  It started at 2:30 AM with our daughter complaining of an ear ache.  For a five year old, she has a pretty high pain tolerance so the fact that she was crying means it really hurt.  I went out in search of Children's Tylenol and the wife stayed home celebrating her birthday early.  The pain medicine worked for a few hours and then we needed to give her another dose.  My wife's next fun birthday task was to take the daughter to the walk in clinic to see a doctor that we had never met before.  Then, with the daughter almost in hysterics, she got to go to a pharmacy and wait for a prescription.  She then got to spend the day nursing a sick child.  When I got home, dinner was not started.  We decided on pasta but did not have any sauce (today was grocery day, this was SUPPOSED to be her birthday chore).  I ran to the store and when I got back the wife was already in her pajamas (or, as I call it, "frumpwear" - but that is another blog altogether).  I ended up with bath duty (it was my turn) and then we all crashed on the couch.  By 7 PM, the wife was asleep.  All in all, a real sucky birthday.

My day was a different kind of sucky.  More insanity in procurement in the month of December.  Right before bath time, I was reading the Dr. Seuss book, "Hop on Pop!"  There is a line in it that goes...

SAD
DAD
BAD
HAD

Dad is sad.
Very, very sad.
He had a bad day.
What a day Dad had!

I paused on that page and reflected on how well it applied not just for my day, but for the entire family's (especially the wife's and daughter's).  Well, the kids are now asleep (the daughter fell asleep on me on the couch).  I hope she makes it through the night and we can start tomorrow off on a better note.  We do have a Christmas party to go to.  The guy's house we are going to has like a 100 inch projection TV and the Cowboys are playing tomorrow night the same time as the party.  Here's to hoping tomorrow is better.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon