Time has flown by

Yesterday was the end of an important period of time for me, and also the main reason I have completely neglected posting much of anything on here for the last two months. December 17th ended the first semester of community college for me at MontCo, as I took the last of my four finals Wednesday morning. I call this an important period of time for me because my last attempt at college courses seventeen years ago ended in dismal failure. (See previous post for more information on this topic.)


Macroeconomics proved to be the most difficult on me, as the semester wore on I fell more and more behind and it showed in my final exam and project. I thought the timing of my taking a macroeconomics class couldn't have been better, as the theories, ideas, and policies of the U.S. we learned were able to be seen in action due to the current recession and failing of our economy over the past few months. It's one thing to learn theory, it's another to learn the theory and see it put into action. Rachel and I took this class together, even with that, the teacher challenged us with every exam. In any case, I'm glad that class is done with. Accounting was more interesting than I thought it was going to be, but that is her forte rather than mine. Rachel and I took this class together as well, and are planning on taking part two together next semester. I decided to take college algebra to shake the cobwebs loose, and it was a prerequisite to move onto other higher math for my degree program. I needed to have 3 credit hours of a P.E. credit, but most of the courses offered were only two hours or weren't offered online. I found a class that would fulfill three credit hours, was offered online, and was a topic that I could get into: Human Sexuality. Everyone who knows me well said that class was perfect for me, or laughed with embarassment at the topic. I was one of two guys in the class, and ended up gaining a few fans of my posts to the message board discussions. Two finals I was able to take online, and two had to be taken on campus - they are all done, and I have tentative grades for three of my classes. Just waiting on the teachers to finalize and post official grades before I celebrate anything. In any case, I've proven to myself that I am smart enough for community college at least, and my confidence is growing a little bit. Thank you to everyone who have voiced your support, and thank you to my wife for encouraging me to take a step into the unknown. I'll be posting some over to the next few weeks to get anyone caught up, but more so for me to be able to journalize my life over the past two months.

Another week

I was talking to Rachel last week, and she had to remind me that I was taking this coming week off. I think I'm going to need this vacation to get caught up, or get ahead again on some of my assignments for different classes. I didn't do so well this past weekend setting aside enough time to get everything done, so it felt like I was behind the eight ball all weekend. Oh, well, it went with my crappy week like stink on a diaper. Time to take a small breather and put the nose to the grindstone again, and stop slacking off because I'm "doing so well".

Ouch

Today sucked.

Just a bad, bad day. That's all I have to say about that.

Peace.

Just a reminder....

Election day is only two weeks away. I am still an undecided voter, however I just want to remind everyone it is your civic duty to get out and vote. If you don't vote, you don't get to complain. Make you voice heard and vote!!

Its about time.....

So I know that it has been a while since I posted to the blog, however in my defense, by the time I sit down to type I am either just finishing schoolwork, housework, or just plain exhausted to type anything fun. So I usually don't. But today I thought I would just do a quick post to do a little catch up.

The girls are doing great. Allie loves kindergarten and can't wait to go back everyday. She really doesn't like Sat and Sun because she does not get to go to school. Oh well. I will encourage it as long as I can. It seems that it will eventually wear off, or so I am told. Ryleigh is well Ryleigh. She is loving having some time in the morning with just mom. She is beginning to really pick up on her letters and numbers and is just as willing and eager to learn as her sister. She wishes she could go to kindergarten too. In fact up until about a week ago, she was convinced on her next birthday she was going to be 5. Even though she fully aware that the number after 2 was 3. When asked she would say she was going to be 5, and when asked why, she would say "because when you turn 5, you get to go to kindergarten." Aww, if only it were that simple. Lindsay is at the age where she is getting into everything. She loves the fact that she can walk and loves to walk everywhere. No more crawling for her. She really is a great baby. She is beginning to try out her voice. Yesterday she tried adding her voice to the ward choirs. As they began to sing, so did she. It was very cute.

Aaron and I are still both in school. It is going well. We almost halfway through the semester and both think we are doing fairly well. I try to study as much as I can during the day, but not always easy with 3 kids. Other than that, I am very excited about fall being here. I love the cooler weather and the smell of fires etc. It is fun. It also means that the Holidays are not very far away. I am excited.

Man, I am sick

Okay ... I know it's late, but I had to post that I am embarrassed that I just sat through watching "Blades of Steel" with Will Ferrell ....

Man, am I sad.

What a Good Day!

Today was a good day for me.

To those that have read this blog over the past year, have heard me talk about people coming in and then leaving our lives. It's always hard when a friend leaves your life, and harder still when contact is lost with them. A few weeks ago, I received a comment on this blog from Scott Eck. Scott left a message, letting me know that he had come across my blog and that they were coming out for a visit in a few weeks, and would like to see us. True to his word, he called one night and left a message to call them back. I called Scott, and we chatted for a while that night. It was really good to hear that he and his family were doing well, and we shared the events of our respective families over the years. Scott let us know when they were going to be in town for a week, and when they would be available to hang out with us.

I was able to secure today off from work, as one of the other techs needed Saturday off, so we swapped. Scott and Arlene called and decided to come down to our house for a visit, since they had a few hours to hang out with us. I was hoping that they would be able to stay with us all day, but I couldn't be greedy, as they were there to visit family. They arrived, and it was like they never left. We breezed right back into our conversations, and it was like the four years between visits to our home never happened. It also made me sad, because I love those two, and want them to be around me again. Trust me, they are some of the best people I've ever known in this life. We ended up making the hour journey to Shady Maple, and whiled away our time there having lunch. Their son, Adam, decided to make a lovely drink after lunch was pretty much done. You'll be able to see how nasty it was by the look on Scott's face when Adam actually drank the concoction. I can't begin to tell you what was in it, but it consisted of soda crackers, root beer, slurpee, ice cream, jello, among other things - and yet for some reason, he needed ice to top it off. We invited them back to our house for a round or two of cards, and possibly dinner, but their plans didn't allow it. So sad, but at least they made the effort to come see us, and I'll be forever grateful to Scott and Arlene for making me feel important enough to make time in their vacation for us. We love you guys forever, and I hope we'll always stay in touch!

Another Season

Well, it seems like the business in the Palmer house wasn't about to abate. Rachel was talked into coaching Allie's soccer team this fall season by the coordinator. Rachel had coached this past spring, but wasn't sure if she was up to doing it again in the fall. We received the roster for Allie, and there was no coach listed. We sent an email to the soccer board, only to find that there weren't enough coaches for the Pee Wee teams. It was looking like there was only going to be 4 teams, unless a few people stepped up. Rachel wanted Allie to play on a team where she had fun (although Allie seems to like soccer for the snacks she gets as much as the game), and not sitting counting the daisies. So, Rachel was talked into being the coach again this year. She was supposed to have an assistant from the local high school, but it didn't work out that way for whatever reason. We had some friends agree to watch the younger two while we were at Allie's game, so it turns out that I am kinda the assistant coach. No, I didn't make the picture, but that's okay. Did you think that was enough for Rachel and I to take on?

Heck, NO! Rachel and I were also talked into sitting as members of the Pottsgrove Soccer Board as assistant Pee Wee Coordinators. There were a number of jobs on the board that went unfilled in the spring, and we just felt that since we're going to be in the area for a little while, that it made sense to give back to the community. Rachel also said it couldn't hurt my resume, be it for a job or if I want to try graduate school. Yeah, that's Rachel for you ---already has me in graduate school. Here's a few pictures for you:

Another Path

It's amazing how our wives can sometimes frustrate we men.

I had talked for over a year about the possibility of going back to school, but it never happed due to the economics of it all. My last experience with higher education left me with zero confidance, and made it hard for me to even consider going back. I was at a point in my life, back then, where I wasn't sure what I wanted to do as a career. I was just going to college to keep my parents placated, and because that was what I was supposed to do. I had a good job, making good money, and there didn't seem to be a need for me to pursue that path. I also had really poor teachers, and I was badly prepared for what college would hold for me. All these added up to my non-chalance towards school, and since I was paying for the whole thing myself, what did it matter if I attended or not?

All these years later, here I am, still with the same company. Thank goodness, it's not in the same job I held back then, but how many people my age can say they've been with one company for almost twenty years? In any case, I have started to feel in the past year that my "glass ceiling" has been reached. Yes, ladies, the glass ceiling applies to men as well. I was pretty much told by my supervisor that I wouldn't be suited for supervisor level and above, due to my impetuous nature and my tendency to call a spade, a spade. Well, that didn't sit well with me and I ended up feeling very depressed. That also started me thinking that I needed to make a change in my life, that I needed to make that change because it sure as heck wasn't going to happen on it's own. (Listen to me talk about change, looks like the political ads are getting to me). But how? Well, we visited Ben and Sarah in July and that's where the serious talk started. Rachel applied for me, and then kicked me down to take the placement tests. So, now I'm a 35 year old college freshman. I'm taking 12 credit hours, all online, and it looks like I can do something more than fix printers. Wish me luck.

Aaron

I Need to Catch Up

Well, I figure that it's going to take me a little while to catch people up on the goings on in our life. I figure that August is as good a time as any, so we'll start with Allie's first day of school. Our local elementary school has always been good to us, as we've dealt with them before from when Zach and Daniel were living with us. The administration was always so nice about the situation, and worked with us through some issues. Well, now it was time to actually send one of our own children to their school. The principal actually remembered Rachel when she went in for the registration forms, and asked how the boys were doing. They held a kindergarten preview, where the kids rode the bus to school and met their teachers without all the "big" kids being in the halls and such. Allie was so proud of her little project, and took great joy in telling me about the rules she learned on how to behave. From the hand signals they were to use if they needed the bathroom, to the stoplight and clothes pins the teacher would use to help in keeping order among the children. Well, inevitably, time went by and it was time the weekend before school started. Rachel told Allie that they would go out together and pick Allie's first day of school outfit at Gymboree (shocker). Well, Rachel had a few outfits already in mind for Allie to choose from (double shocker). When Allie didn't even come close to picking them, Mom was a little annoyed. Well, I told Rachel that she promised Allie could pick out her own from whatever in the store she wanted as long as it was under a certain dollar amount. Well, Allie won out and got what she wanted to wear to school:

Rachel and I were very emotional over this, and I was thankful that work was understanding in letting me start late that day. Rachel waited with Allie at the bus stop, we took more pictures, and then once the bus came, I hightailed it to the school to try and get pictures of Allie getting off the bus. Silly, I know, but it's something we wanted to do for her. I was able to be in position to get a couple of pictures as Allie got off the bus. She was so excited, but also scared at the same time. I could see in her face that she was nervous. Anyhow, Congrats to Allie for making it through her first day in grand style and for continuing to do well up to this point.

Wow, too LONG

As I was talking to a friend yesterday, I couldn't help but realize that it's been well over a month since I last posted anything. Well, tonight, I am kinda pissed about something so I needed to vent. I find this is a good way for me to blow off steam, and I'm able to go forward to put the issue behind me.

EDIT: Okay, I posted what I really wanted to, and had Rachel read it. I feel better now.

Sufficieth to say, I'm tired of people taking advantage of Rachel and my good nature. Time to pull out the shears and prune the "friend tree"

The Olympics

When I thought about the Olympic games this year, I couldn't help but wonder how the world was going to react by the games being in China. There was a lot of outcry about the human rights issues that China is perpetuating, what with Tibet, the memories of Tianamen Square, and how certain nations were talking about boycotting the Opening Ceremonies, and then the sudden war between Russia and Georgia. Just amazing how the world works these days. Rachel was working, but wanted to watch the beginning of the games. I decided to DVR the start, since I had to put the kids to bed anyway.

There was nothing I can say to pay the proper tribute to the spectre of the Opening Ceremonies. Say what you want to about the Communist Government, and the atrocities that are continuous reported against the populus - those fetchers know how to put on a show. I think there were two parts that were the most memorable to me. First, when the dancers were using the suits they were wearing as paintbrushes, and on the floor was a canvas. Just so clever, and so majestic. The second part was similiar, when the parade of nations was going on, they walked through some kind of paint, and then walked across a white canvas on the floor. Their shoes then left footprints of color along the length of the canvas, so by the time all the countries walked through it, the canvas was not blank any longer. They then used the canvas as the lecturn from which the IOC welcomed everyone to the games and all that other administrative crap that goes on. The Chinese sure encorporated their very majestic and beautiful culture into what they presented to open the games of the 29th Olympiad. I was duly impressed, especially since I was able to fast forward through all the friggin' Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Visa, and McDonald's commercials to just watch what Rachel and I wanted to watch.

Much Love to all.

Daytime Talk Shows

Jerry Springer.

Those two words tend to provoke a reaction when it's brought up in a conversation, for good or for ill. It used to be funny when a fight would break out every once in a while, and it was good TV. When the show first started, or when I first started watching it, they actually had topics that mattered. Once the producers of the show realized how much money they could make from advertising, and how the ratings shot up when a fight broke out, the die was cast. Now, every show has to do with people having sex with other people, with different contributing factors, i.e. My cousin's father is my father too, and I'm having his baby, or I'm sleeping with my grandpa, or My dog is looking REALLY good right now - show topics like that. It's so fake at this point, I'm surprised that Vince McMahon or Stone Cold isn't the host. The staged fights, the girls "accidentally" tearing off a breakaway shirt to expose a bra, the audience members flashing their parts for Mardi Gras beads, and the general quality of guests. Springer is just such a joke, yet I'm watching it now as I post this. *Sigh*

Vacation Finale

We left Detroit at 8 AM on Saturday morning, according to plan. Rachel and I worked hard to keep to our plan for the whole two weeks. She's such a trooper! Me Love. We toyed with the idea of just going through Detroit center, and let the GPS do it's job to find our way around the closed I-75 - but to be safe, we decided to take the detour. Doing that added at least a half-hour to our trip and ended up ticking me off. I knew I should have just followed my instinct on that one. Oh, well. We had decided to use one day of our trip to go and see the historical sites in Kirtland, Ohio either on the way out or the way back. Ben and Sarah said they might want to join us, so we decided to go on the way back home. It ended up that they weren't able to go, but we did. We got to town about noon, after stopping for lunch. We dropped into the visitor's center, and saw the 20 minute film they put on for everyone. Then Elder and Sister Caviness, from Spokane, Washington took us on a tour of the complex. Apparently, Main Street Kirtland used to go right through where the complex is located now. It used to be just two buildings: the Newell K. Whitney store, and the Whitney home that served as the old visitor's center. You had to run across the street from the visitor center to see the home. Well, the city had been petitioned like 4 times to move the road for safety's sake by the church - and with help from Steve Young, it finally passed on the 5th time (if you want the whole story, I'll email it to you.) So, the road was moved and Kirtland underwent some restoration. They built a sawmill, ashery, schoolhouse, the Johnson Inn, and restored the Whitney store and home to as close to original as possible. Here's a picture of us outside the Whitney Store:

We took leave of the Caviness' so that we could make the 2:30 PM tour of the Kirtland Temple. The Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized LDS church) have been in possession of the building since the late 1800's, and have restored and kept the building in such beautiful shape. There was a $2.00 fee to tour the temple, but we gladly paid it to be able to walk in the Temple where so many sacred things were started. They didn't allow pictures inside the temple, but those of you who know me, shouldn't be surprise that I took some when the tour guide took the rest of the people downstairs to the first floor. I know that I am sneaky, and I'll repent if needs be.








These were the second floor, where the "teaching" part of the temple was located. There were benches and collapsable desks on the pews, so that depending on which side of the temple was being used, the people could turn and face whoever was officiating. I wasn't able to secure the lower level inner court, where much of the manifestation of spirit occured .. the tour guide didn't leave a chance to. You could, however, purchase pictures in their gift shop .. which I suspect is the real reason they wouldn't let you take pictures from inside the building. Oh, well. It's well worth the two dollars.


We left Kirtland, and headed out to Jim/Jess' house again, as they offered to let us stay with them for the night to help break up our trip back home. I am so glad they did, after our day in Ohio, we were beat and the kids were also tired, cranky, etc. We had a small cookout, spent a few hours in their pool, and mostly got the chance to spend another night with our dear friends. We wish there was more time, or we lived closer to them. Thank you Jim and Jess, we appreciate it.

Love to all.

On a side note, our camera died the death of being drenched in a rainstorm after being on the roof of our mini-van since Ohio and part of Pennsylvania after Aaron left it up there. I was shocked it was still there, but the memory card kept our memories intact ... an answer to prayer.

Time Flew, Part 2

In the interest of trying to keep my postings short, and ensuring that people read them, I decided to break up last week into 3 parts.

Thursday - We took a tour of the Renaissance Center, GM headquarters, which in turn gave us a spendid view of Detroit as well as Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Apparently, Windsor is the only point of Canada that's directly south of the United States, according to our tour guide. Speaking of tour guides, this lady was a piece of work. We took the train into the city, and it got there about 3 minutes past the 2 PM tour. The lady said that we could still catch them, since the next tour wasn't until 2:30 - and the kids were already getting antsy. The woman at customer service downstairs was great, she walked us to where the tour was and said that we were joining them. The tour guide was taken back, as there were 3 adults and 7 kids, and she obviously didn't want us in her group. Well, after being told she was going to take us, she welcomed us and we went on our way. Our tour consisted of seeing the Riverwalk, the setup of the building, and the 72nd floor restaurant atop the Marriott Hotel that was the center tower of the 5 tower complex.

The top picture is the view of Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings play hockey. I zoomed the camera in, so it doesn't really look like this close from the tower. The bottom picture is of the Caeser's Hotel/Casino in Windsor, Ontario. I know it's cliche to rip on the urban part of cities in the U.S. and I grant you that the cliche about Canada being so clean and organized is also at play in my comments, but here goes: Detroit is so freakin' nasty and dirty, yet Windsor looked so clean and pleasant from the top of the building. Both cities had Casinoes (Casino's?), both cities had apartments, roads, cars and such. Just looked so much nicer across the river. Oh, well.

Friday - Rachel and I assisted Sarah in helping get together the cake for Sabrina's birthday party. Sarah had a plan to make a cake from smaller cupcakes and frosting them in a certain design. It was a great success. With Sarah's help, as well, our gift to her was the hit of the party. We got her a baby stroller, pink teddy bear, and Allison picked out a bubble whistle for her. The stroller didn't leave her side all night, and when we packed up and left in the morning, she was up and already pushing that thing around before breakfast. So, thanks to Ben, Sarah and their family for inviting us into your home for the week. I hope we weren't a burden, and that we can see all you again sooner rather than later.

Love to all.

Time Flew

It seemed that a blog was a good way to keep up our family and friends on the goings on in our household, and it has been. Being with Ben and his family in Michigan was a blast, and also very relaxing. We arrived on Friday evening, Ben rented an auger to dig holes for a privacy fence, and was diligently hammering away at the holes while we were en route. I helped him blast through the last 14 or so holes to make the most of the rental fee of the auger, you should see my poor taste in shoes for that job. My Crocs are dirty, dirty, dirty - and wouldn't have stopped the auger, but it was worth helping out Ben after all he's done for me and my family. Saturday was spent relaxing. We didn't do a darn thing, just sat around watching movies and talking, the kids playing in the sandbox and the adults playing "Ticket to Ride - Europe". It was everything I hoped it could be - vacation is for relaxing, after all. Rachel and I spent a long drive on Friday, and Ben was tired from the auger, so we just called it even and hung out the whole weekend. The only bummer was that Ben doesn't allow the TV on Sunday's, so looking for things to keep my short attention span busy was hard, but I made it. Church on Sunday was also good, the Detroit Temple shares the parking lot with the Stake Center where Ben attends, so that was pretty neat. It was also odd, in a way, since the Stake Center looked way bigger than the Temple did. Rachel and I meant to make it back to see the Temple and take pictures, but we never did. Looks like another trip to Michigan will have to be made. Here's a short summary of our week with them:

Monday - Trip the Detroit Zoo. Coolest part? The Kangaroo exhibit, where you actually walked down a path through the exhibit itself, where the kangaroos roam free and across the path sometimes. We also found out that baby Clay (my nephew) thought I was pretty cool, and loved to hang out with me.


Tuesday - We went to the local mall for storytime at Potty Barn Kids. Allison and Ryleigh both love having books read to them, so story time is such a great thing for them. We got there, and Allison decided to push her way to the front like she always does. You should have seen her weaving around strollers, kids, parents, and store displays. Coolest part? We found Ryleigh her own set of Pirate stuff, since she's obsessed with them since our trip to Teach's Hole in North Carolina. We bought her a plate, glass, napkin for the table and then some gold dubloons, with a lamenated treasure map. I am always trying to get her to do her Pirate voice, because I love it, and we're also going to try and make the Pirate weekend at the PA RenFaire.


Wednesday - We were going to try and make this beach on Lake Erie, where there is a row of fountains for the kids to run in and a huge jungle gym. It was supposed to rain all day, and we were running late getting the kids together. Rachel and I told Sarah not to stress, and if we didn't go there, it wouldn't be the end of the world. We were on vacation, after all, and it's not like we needed to go someplace everyday to make the week feel worth it. So, we spent the afternoon keeping the kids busy outside in the sandbox, while swapping stories. Just fun getting to know Sarah better, for me at least.

More on the rest of the week in the next post. Love to all.

Ahhh .... Vacation, Part 2

Well, everything worked out the way we needed it to when we were at home, so Rachel and I packed up the kids and made our way to Detroit to visit with Ben and his family. We left our house at 7 AM and headed out. We looked at both ways we could have gone, either I-76 or I-80, and from a time perspective it was about a 20 minute difference in favor of I-76. To be fair, it also was going to cost us $16 in tolls to take 76 out. So, it was worth us saving that money to take I-80. It ended up working out, just seemed like a long drive. By the time Rachel and I reached the Ohio border, Punchey the Clown showed up and decided to drive the rest of the way to Ben and Sarah's house. Everything was making us laugh, from the Mennonites who couldn't figure out how to put more than $20 in gas at a time into their mini-van, to the almost 7 foot tall guy riding on a motorcycle that was wayyy tooooo smallll for his tall frame. I seriously wanted to ask Punchey if he was part of the same circus as that guy.

We finally got within a half-hour of their house when traffic started. Whoever is in charge of the roads in Michigan needs to have the crap kicked out of them, like now. I'm asking for a volunteer in this, since the negligence in detour signs came within about 50-feet of landing us in Canada! Yep, I-75 just south of the city was CLOSED - - - completely. HUH???!!!?!?? I've never heard of an entire Highway being closed down completely. Thank goodness we received a GPS for a present, so we just made the last left turn short of the toll booths to Canada, and then let that little thing work it's magic to get us to Ben and Sarah's house. Now, get this - the exit to Ben and Sarah's off I-75 is exit 69. Now, that's funny enough - except that the road that exit 69 drops you off of is Big Beaver Road. I am not making this up. Exit 69 - Big Beaver Road. Rachel and I and Punchey LOST it. I mean headache, tears and everything from the laughter. Well, we turned off the exit and the car in front of us was from Missouri. The Show Me State. Yep, Show Me your Big Beaver on 69 crossed my mind immediately. Funny, funny, funny stuff.

We look forward to spending about a week with Ben and Sarah in Michigan, and getting to know them and their family together much better. Off exit 69 - Big Beaver Road. Bwahahahaha

Love to all.

Unexpected news

Tuesday I had a follow-up appointment at the oral surgeon for the two molars that I had to have extracted. I went to the dentist a few weeks back, with pain in my jaw. After xrays showed that my roots were infected, and a consult with an oral surgeon, it was decided that I would have the teeth yanked. The recovery has taken longer than I wanted, but I'm in pretty good shape right now as I write this. Let's just say it's a good thing that I like ramen soup and jell-o. In any case, the removal of teeth wasn't the reason for this post.

I made it into the little chair to wait for the doctor to see me, and after a short time he popped in. Seeing how this was a follow-up, I knew it was going to be an in-and-out deal. So, the doctor pops in and starts me off with, "Well, the pathology reports came back in, and you'll be happy to note that it was negative." Pathology report? WHAT? I was like, "Um .... pathology report?" He says that while doing the extraction, he found a cyst in the walls of my gum that was most likely the cause of the infection. That makes sense, since I put off going to see anyone in the first place. On a side note, I hate dentists. I hate having things stuck in my mouth, I hate gagging, I hate the sight of the dental tools, I hate the burning smell the drill makes (even when it's not being used on you), I hate the taste of the nasty flouride paste that they put in the little mouth piece, I hate the spotlight they invariably end up shining directly into your eyes, I hate the little things they make you bite down on while doing xrays, and probably most of all: I hate the sound of the drill, which you can hear from the waiting area, and it makes me want to run out to the safety of my car every time. Now, with this being my opinion of dental health, you can imagine how much it took for me to go to an oral surgeon in the first place. I even stayed and had the procedure. This was mainly due to my doctor and his wonderful staff. Except for the wench initial receptionist who gave me such a hard time for not filling out her stupid forms for the millionth time. Jackweed. Well, to get back to my point - there was a "growth" found, that they sent out for a biopsy. The doctor said they told me after my procedure, but I really wasn't in a good way what with the taste of blood fresh in my mouth. Well, my focus was on the report from Quest so I didn't really listen to much to the doctor at this point. He checked me out, and saw that my healing was going well. I then looked at the report again, and saw NEGATIVE on the paper. I was about two seconds from wanting a copy to make sure again that there was no cancerous stuff found.

It shook me up for a few hours. Even though the report was negative, I didn't even think that cancer was even a possibility. Just a wakeup call for me, that's for sure.

Ahhh.......back

Well, as with all good things, this weekend did come to an end. To recap, the girls and I spent the holiday weekend with Jim and his family in Pittsburgh. Well, outside of Pittsburgh, but it's easier to call it Pittsburgh as most people could locate it on a map with little problem. It's kind of like telling people that I live in Philadelphia, even though we live like an hour away from there. In any case, we drove back today. A recap of the weekend:

July 4th - had a cookout of hamburgers and hot dogs. We found that Allie just loves to be bossy, and gets mad when other kids don't do exactly what she wants. We also found that Jim and Jess have a large GeoTracks collection that Ryles became obsessed with. Jim bought a box of fireworks, and we lit off about half of them that night.
July 5th - we decided to visit the outlet mall at Grove City as a group. It's always difficult to try and find something that everyone is going to enjoy, so this just seemed like a safe and easy choice. So, we (RACHEL) decided to go "shopping". Just what men love, going to outlet malls with their wives. Now, shopping is what sets men and women apart. I think a comedian said it best, although I can't remember which one to give the credit to, but I loved the way he put it when he said "Men and women approach shopping differently. Rest assured, when a man goes shopping, he's coming home with something. It doesn't matter if it's an air freshener in the shape of the Taj Mahal, or day old rice crispy treats from the bakery. It's the hunter mentality. We shop, we buy. Women, on the other hand, can go shopping all day and return with nothing. How is this shopping, I ask you? As far as I'm concerned, you just wasted the day looking - let's just stop calling it shopping." In any case, we did actually pick up a few things, so it was shopping. Jim/Jess bought dinner for everyone that night at Smokey Bones (my favorite) restaurant ..... BBQ chicken and broccoli for me. The night was capped by the rest of the fireworks to the delight of the kids, and we all went to sleep early that night.
July 6th - What a great relaxing Sunday. Jim opened his pool, and we took Lindser for her first swimming adventure. Ironically, it was in the same "boat" floating toy that Ryles took her first swim in at Jim/Jess'. We were better prepared this time, as Lindser had an actual swimsuit and not just her onesie over a swim diaper. It was also a ton warmer than the other times we've dipped in their pool, so that was a bonus. We relaxed with a lunch outside, and then for dinner Jim grilled steaks, corn, and chicken for everyone. Just a wonderful, lazy day that you yearn for when life starts reminding you how busy you normally are.
July 7th - We packed up, cleaned up the mess the girls made (0kay, and the mess we made) while Jim worked from home in the morning. We decided to have lunch with them before getting on the road for home. We planned to have lunch at the Quaker Stake and Lube and popped in about noon. Well, when we pulled up - a mini-bus from the local retirement community pulled up and unloaded the bulk of their residents. Jessica was waiting at the hostess stand trying to secure a table. It was pretty busy for a Monday afternoon, but it didn't look packed by any means. Well, lovely hostess walks up and the following exchange occurs:

Jim: Table for 8 - four adults and four kids.
Hostess: (puzzled look) how many?
Jim: There's eight of us.
Hostess: (looks at seating chart, grunts) I don't have anything for you.
Jim: Okay, we're going to Primanti's. (To us, with hostess right there) Sorry, apparently they don't have anything, and she's not going to even quote us a wait time.
Hostess: (confused look) Oh, you want to wait? Hmm..... I think we might have something ...... let me see ....
Me: Screw this, let's just leave blondie to her needlepoint and physics books.

So, we went across the street to Pittsburgh's own Primanti Bros. restaurant. Kinda a neat regional restaurant. They put the coleslaw and fries inside the sandwich, you can catch the food network special on the place or check out their website. After lunch, we left for home. It's always a good time with Jim/Jess and family, and we look at them as our second family.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Well, this morning I sending greetings and salutations from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!  When Jim, Jess and Billy came out for the Christmas holiday last year, we were trying to decide when next to get our families together.  We usually came out to visit for the Memorial Day weekend, but this year I decided that I was going to take the Fourth of July off.  After a quick talk to all parties, we decided it was a go and here we are.  

Work was tough to slog through yesterday, seeing how I knew that I was on vacation once the day was up.  I decided early on to start my day at a store that was farther away, and then work back methodically until it was at least 4 PM before I could go home.  Well, I accomplished this goal a little too well.  We didn't end up leaving our house until like 5:30 PM after dropping off movies at Hollywood video, getting gas, and then playing the stop and go game of traffic south of Reading, PA.  Things were good on the trip, except for the construction hold-ups on the turnpike until we decided to stop in Breezewood for dinner, bathroom/diaper breaks, and to stretch our feet.  McDonald's is a parents best friend at times, as most kids will eat the chicken nuggets without complaining.  It can also be a demon, as that's all that the kids will eat, even though the parents might actually want to go somewhere else for dinner, but don't want to hear the bitching once the "Golden Arches" come into view.  Anyhow, that's where I decided to stop and eat.  Big mistake - - and it was all McDonald's fault.  The drive-through lane was packed, and we needed the bathrooms anyway, so we parked and went inside.  I stood in a long, long line while Rachel took the two oldest to the bathroom.  Once Rachel was done with that, I took Lindsay to change the diaper and so I could use the facilities as well.  That was done, and I popped Lindsay into the high chair, sat Allie and Ryleigh down into the booth, while I fed Lindsay some baby food.  Rachel finally was able to order the food, and then we left.  Well, guess what took us so freakin' long at McDonalds?  THERE WAS ONLY ONE REGISTER OPEN FOR EVERYONE!!!  Yep, some pimply-faced kid was taking everyone's order, and then there were a few people in the back filling them at a snail's pace.  So, between the drive-through and the counter business, there were two registers open.  On the day before a major U.S. holiday.  Morons.  I know that everyone on the six o'clock news claims that travel is down from past years due to gas prices, but for the love, there are still going to be people traveling.  

We got back on the road, and then were treated to the cat and mouse game being played out by the crazy truckers zooming in and out of traffic in the rain.  Rachel and I were both getting nervous about passing these guys, and couldn't wait until the rain stopped, or we got to Cranberry (our destination).  Just seemed like there were a lot of impatient drivers last night, wanting to get home at all costs, and things were in the way.  In any case, we're here at Jim and Jess' home, and it feels like a second home to us.  I love these guys and can't wait for the next few days.

More later - but I will say this:  Happy Independence Day to everyone!  

Why do I feel so weird?

Tonight, for some reason or another, I decided to create a myspace page. Rachel was working tonight, so I was playing COD 4 on the Playstation - and quit when she got home.

Why do I feel so weird for making a page? For some reason I can't explain, just feels odd. Like I'm trying too hard to be youthful. Oh, well - - it'll probably sit around collecting dust like my Facebook page, my free Juno account, and the other cool internet stuff that I thought would be fun, but soon were ditched. In any case, if you wanna add me as a friend, I need some more pictures of everyone in my friends section. I may feel weird about making a page, but I don't want to also feel like a loser. Thanks to Jim and Jess for already adding me as a friend, much love sent out to you guys, and we'll see you in a week.

Peace.

It Makes me Wonder

Sometimes, you'll see something during the normal course of your day that makes you stop and think. Monday was one of those days for me. Check out this sign I saw outside the 7-11 that's near my office:

Now, here's my thinking: if someone walks into a 7-11 dressed in the manner they're describing and picturing ... you've got bigger issues than trying to ask them nicely to leave or to remove the offending clothing.

"Sir, you'll have to put down that shotgun and take off that mask... we don't allow people in ski masks to come inside"

"Sir, that fake mustache will need to come off or NO SLURPEE FOR YOU!!"

"What a minute, that's a Bill Clinton mask ..... Get outta here you fooler"

If I was working the register at the local convenience store, and someone in a ski mask comes inside, the first thing I'm doing is pooing myself. Second is opening the cash drawer and throwing all the money at them while cowering behind the counter with the porno mag display as a shield. The sign just struck me funny for some reason, just misguided optimism. What do you think?

RUSH !!!!

Okay ... this posting is a little late in the offing, I admit. Should be a good read in any case.

During Christmas, Jim and Jess came over from Pittsburgh to stay with us for the holiday. We were discussing when next we would be getting together. Rachel and I decided to spend the Fourth of July with them this year. I've only had that holiday off once since we moved up here, and I wanted to take it off. Jim called me back in March to ask if there was any way for us to come out a few days early, since RUSH was coming in concert to Pittsburgh. Since my co-worker was already off that week, there really was no way I could take that extra time off. I felt bad, since RUSH is one of my favorite bands, and it was Jim that introduced me to them. The first RUSH song I remember hearing was "Roll the Bones" although I didn't know it was them when I heard it. They were on the Tonight Show (Leno, BLECHHH) promoting their album and I liked the song. It wasn't until years later, that Katie and Jim informed me that RUSH sang that song. The album "Counterparts" came out, and that started Jim and I going to see them in concert. We saw them on the Counterparts tour, Test for Echo, and I think one other time ... not sure on that one, Jim will have to let me know, but I think it was one other time. Well, I saw from looking at the concert schedule that RUSH was coming to Philly. I told Jim he could always come out here to see them, and he said he would talk to Jess. Well, Lo and Behold, Jim and Jess made a weekend out of it and came out two weeks ago. Jim bought my ticket as a birthday present, and also drove down to the stadium.

Whomever schedules events for the Sports Complex should be drawn and quartered for the fiasco of that Saturday. Either that, or raffle off a chance to take a ballpeen hammer to his "nether" region by five lucky fans. Get this: RUSH was in concert at the Wachovia Center, the Soul (arena football) were playing a home game at the Spectrum, and Jimmy EFFING Buffet was playing at Citizens Bank Park and sold the stadium out. I was shocked, all we needed was Manchester United playing an exhibition at Lincoln Financial Field to complete the total cluster screw that was going on in the shared parking lots of all these sports buildings. We left the house at 5:10 PM and parked at 7 PM - and passed the following sign:

We found out that the Citizens Bank parking lot was a "No Tailgating" zone, these signs were posted and Jim was given a flyer when we paid and went in (20 bucks ... OUCH). I had parked in this same lot earlier this year when I went to a Soul game, and paid 12 bucks. I guess I didn't account for the Jimmy Buffet inflation variable when choosing a lot. So, Jim and I started walking to the venue, passing these people along the way:

I guess these good people didn't get the flyer on the way in. This was nothing compared to the debauchery that was seen in the "tailgating allowed" parking. Let's just say beer pong tables, inverted beer keg hits, tops optional and a moon bounce were all spotted. We got to our seats at 7:20, Jim scored some great seats for us. Thank you so much, Jim. Like you said, RUSH isn't the same without you. The only hiccup? I finally know what weed smells like, thanks to the dipweeds that were sharing the row with us. They lit like 4 doobies during the concert, much to the chagrin of the family of four in front of us, with their two sons. The older of which sang along to every song in both sets of the concert. I leave you with some really bad cell phone pictures from the concert:

Changes at the Palmer House!!

So it has been almost a month since the reunion and we haven't blogged. Well at lot has happened. Allie had her Kindergarten screening (to determine where she will be placed in the fall). She did really well and we await the results. Basically we are planning on half day (in the past the kids that needed extra literacy help and were behind were put into full day), but with the addition of an additional full day class they may put a better mix of kids in full day as well. So we wait to find out. Ryleigh is Ryles. We keep trying to potty train, but she really doesn't want anything to do with it. So we will see how it goes. I may give it another try here next week. We will see. Lindsay probably has the biggest news......she went from basically just rolling to sitting up, crawling, and pulling herself up on anything and anyone that will let her. She even is getting brave and trying to move from one object to another, letting go sometimes and basically just being a busy bee. She will be walking before I know it!!! Wow how time flies. Aaron and I are doing great, getting ready for a busy summer and looking forward to some relaxation, if we can get some! Hope to hear from you all soon.

P.S.

I'm still the only one in the family to have blogged about the family reunion - so again, I rule.

Part VIII

Well, as you can imagine - Saturday morning was very hectic. Ben had to turn in the keys to the realty office by 10 AM, so the scrambling to finish packing and loading cars began early. Rachel let me sleep in a little bit, as I was up and running by 7:30 AM at the latest each day. Everyone got their cars loaded, and then did a quick sweep of the house to make sure we didn't leave anything under a chair, in a couch cushion, or in any of the bureau drawers. It suddenly occured to me that Rachel nor I had taken any pictures from the back deck of the house, or from the view we had from our room. I quickly snapped a few pictures before we left the house. It was funny, about 8:30 AM, there was a pick-up truck sitting in the driveway with people inside. We naturally assumed it was the cleaning crew to get the house ready for the next occupants. Boy, I'm smart. Anyhow, here's the pictures from our room and the view from the third floor deck we had the whole week.

Rachel and I didn't get a chance to see the Bodie Island Lighthouse, except from afar, so we decided to make a side trip. Everyone pretty much went their separate ways at this point, since the agendas of the families were also so different. We went to the lighthouse, checked out Nags Head Hammocks, and basically just wanted to stay as long as we could before heading back. We stopped at a place on the border of North Carolina and Virgina to get gas, and ended up buying a 5 lb. bucket of Carolina BBQ for later. We busted it open on Sunday when we got home, and I was a little disappointed. Just not that great.

We made a stop in the Williamsburg area, not only for bathrooms and to stretch our legs, but because I needed a new pair of pants. Yes, I know it's an odd thing to stop for. Vicky and Ben both had asked for all four brothers to be in the blessing circle for their infants, as both had permission to bless them in Mom's ward. I knew from the Sunday church fiaso that my pants were still way too dirty to wear for a blessing. I was able to secure a new shirt, pants and tie for the occasion. Thad and Brooke graciously opened their home for us to stay with them on Saturday night, and we decided to stay. We arrived at Mom's house in the afternoon to the relief of Lindsay who was screaming bloody murder for the last ten minutes of the trip. All in all, a great trip with minimal problems and blow ups. The next post will be funny and memorable moments that didn't make it into the posts of the week in the OBX. I invite my family to submit their own stories to me, as I probably missed some.

Love to all.

Part VII

As with all good things, our week was surely coming to an end. Rachel and I talked on Thursday night about possible activities for our last day. I told Rachel that I thought we should start packing our bags, so that Friday night and Saturday morning would go much smoother. Yeah, fun - I know, but at least we could get some laundry in and done. I mean real laundry, not Beth's kind of laundry. We found out that some of the family were going to do the aquarium that morning, so less of a chance for us to get behind on packing. Well, best laid plans sometimes go by the wayside on vacation. We did get most of our laundry done, but we ended up taking the girls out and flying our kites on the beach. Rachel got her's started in the front yard really nice, but we reeled it in and went to the beach. Well, the beach SUCKED on Friday - we thought the wind was being blocked by the house and the sand dunes because it was almost impossible to get the kites to stay up in the air for any amount of time. We moved back down the beach to the public walkway, and no more dunes equals KITE in the air.

Allison had to use the bathroom, and there just happened to be a port-a-pottie at the end of the walkway to the beach. Allison told me to wait outside, because she could do it all by herself. Ryleigh was allowed in, for reasons I still don't know. Allison is turning into a little woman more and more each day. I thought that by raising three girls, I may get an inside view of the confusion that women cause men, but I still haven't figured it out. So, I was flying my kite outside the pottie waiting for Allison to finish. Rachel was off with her kite getting it up high in the air, and she yells for me to come over. We walked over, and saw that the crabs on the beach were busy digging their holes into the sand. I thought it was pretty cool, so I snapped off some pictures. Allison and Ryleigh, however, responded with ear-splitting screams of terror. It didn't help that I told them if the crabs came too close, that Daddy would eat them. Gotta love it.

Oh, and about the time the girls were screaming, the wind died down and kite in water. We wrapped it up to take back to the house, and took the girls inside to take a nap, or at least have quiet time. Rachel came back out, and we got her kite up in the air - the whole 200 feet of string even. It was pretty cool, and was fun -- until just about everyone else in the house came out and it just got too crowded in the front yard for 6 people flying kites. I was frustrated, so we went inside to chill out. We started packing backs, and getting dinner ready. We were going to eat early, so that would leave the evening for everyone to pack and scramble to clean, etc.

That was the plan, but again, best laid plans. Allison wanted to go into the kiddie pool, since it was still pretty warm out that day. I threw on my suit, and went with her to hang out. It also had the added bonus of occupying the kids, so Rachel could pack easier. Just for fun, I jumped into the pool - it was so cold, there had to be shrinkage of seismic proportions. Well, it got much warmer in half the pool once Thad and Ben rigged the outside shower's hot water to run into the pool. The downside? Nobody could take showers for about an hour and change after we were chased from the pool by lightening and thunder. In any case, a large portion of the family ended up in the pool for about an hour, playing with water pistols, throwing a football, and such. Allison even came over to the big pool with me, and with assistance from a life-jacket and Daddy, she swam the length of the pool more than 10 times. Rachel and I were so proud, as she's been afraid of water for a long, long time.

We divyed up the leftover food to each family, and then retired to bed. Rachel and I had a relaxing day, ironically, because we didn't leave everything to the last minute. It was a sad night, because we knew it was our last in the house.

Part VI

There was a lot of discussion in the months leading up to the reunion about having a family portrait done. There were some of us who wanted to try and find a professional photographer, and some wanted to have Amy pose everyone, set the timer and then run into the shot. Rachel and I were in the first group. We just figured it made more sense to try and hire someone to take the picture and see if we could make sure everyone was looking at the camera, space evenly and snap when the majority of the kids were looking in the right direction. So, Sarah and Rachel started looking for photographers. It eventually turned into Sarah doing most of the phone work, leg work, and arm twister. The first person we decided on, we later changed our minds on because of the amount of money she wanted to charge as a "sitting fee". It was some insane amount of money - she was screwing us over for having a large group. Rachel and I wanted to have a more relaxed setting for our family, and to take as many pictures as the girls would have patience for. We asked Amy if she would be willing to go to the beach with us and snap photos of us on the dunes, and on the beach. We wanted to make sure that we had as many photos as possible. Amy agreed, mostly because she likes us the bestest, and we set it up. Ben and Sarah also asked Amy to do their family's candid shots, also just in case.

The issue of the family portrait was still up in the air at this point. As far as I was concerned, Rachel and I had Amy for our family shots already lined up, so I wasn't too worried. I floated the idea of hiring someone just for the ENTIRE family portrait, and then hiring Amy to do the individual families one at a time. It was just one idea I had. Well, Sarah ended up spending almost a whole day on the phone with multiple photographers asking them all the same questions. It wasn't looking good from a cost perspective for us. Sarah did eventually find Ocean Edge Photography, and spoke with Mr. Allen Hooper the owner/photographer. What a godsend this guy was to us. I didn't get all the particulars, but the basics were: our session would last an hour, he was bringing an assistant, and they both would be taking a ton of pictures. He also was the only photographer that suggested a setting he normally uses for beach portraits for other clients. Sarah went ahead and booked him for our portrait.

Thursday came, and we got dressed into our outfits to go to the beach with Amy for our pictures. Ben and Sarah asked if we minded if they tagged along that morning, to try and make it easier on Amy. They also wanted to make sure that Amy didn't waste an entire day taking people's pictures and missing her vacation time. So, we all piled into our cars and made the trip to Coquina Beach to take our portraits. Thursday was the hottest day of the week, and also the most beautiful for pictures, thank goodness. We spent about 20 mins taking pictures of the family and the girls, and didn't stop until Lindsay started eating the sand. Ben and Sarah also did their thing with Amy, so all in all, it only took about an hour for both families to get done. Rachel looked at the pictures on Amy's camera, and they looked good apparently. Amy is burning a CD with those pictures for us, and I thank her for her time and for her creativity. Allison has always loved Aunt Amy taking her picture, so this was no different.

We got the kids home, fed, and in bed for naps to make sure they were in their best moods for pictures that evening. I pulled out my book for a read, played some Halo 3, MarioKart and Guitar Hero to end out my afternoon. Dinner was prepared early, and then the whole family changed and piled into cars to meet Allen at the shoot. Ben called earlier in the afternoon to make sure we were still on, and Allen said if people wanted to get there a little early, he would start doing some of the families. We met Allen and Phil and headed off to the dunes to start. Things were very smooth, Allen was the consumate professional throughout. He may not have ever done such a large group in one sitting, but things went well. He stayed long after the hour had expired to get the shots that he wanted, and that we wanted as well. I can't wait to see how they turned out, from Amy and from Allen. If anyone is in the OBX, and wants pictures taken, email me ... I have a photographer for you. I'll also be posting some of the pictures Amy took of our family on the beach later, once I get the CD from her ... until then, you'll just have to imagine me in the Speedo *shudder*

Love to all.

Part V

Wednesday promised to be a gorgeous day, the first sunny day of the week that wasn't accompanied by a cold, brisk gusty wind. On one hand, I kinda liked the wind, due to the fact that it had the potential to blow sun dresses up - but on the other hand, we were on vacation and I was looking forward to a nice day for our trip. I'm a history nut, and love going to visit sites of significance to the building of this country. We were staying 9 miles from where the Wright Brothers made their name in Kill Devil Hills, and gave birth to aviation. We also were only about an hour and a half from Ocracoke Island, where Blackbeard the Pirate had a base while plundering and terrorizing the Eastern Seaboard of the Colonies. I wanted to see Ocracoke while we were so close, and Rachel agreed.

There is a ferry you have to take from Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke, it's free and takes about 40 minutes travel time. The ferry runs every half-hour, so it's usually not a long wait. We left the house at about 9 AM, and were going to try and make the 10 AM ferry. Everyone else was going to stop at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, and take pictures from the top of it. I thought if we could fit that in on the way back, we would, but otherwise, I wanted to concentrate on our day together. We did end up making it to the ferry with about seven minutes to spare, but since they were only running one boat - - no dice, we got in line for the second one. Rachel got out, took Allison to the bathroom, and checked out the tourist trap of a t-shirt shop by the landing. So, 10:30 rolls around and they start to load the next boat. We ended up one car short of making it onto the boat ... if we were driving a compact car, they would have let us on. So, we're first in line to make the 11 AM ferry. I now get out, and take a bathroom break. I grabbed a Queensryche t-shirt to wear for the day, not only because the band is still mind blowing, but because I wanted to look like a bad donkey (edited for content). Black sunglasses, metal band t-shirt, and shaved head equals bad mother. Well, I start peeing, and this jackweed starts talking to me, "So, Queensryche, huh? I saw them once in San Francisco about 16 years ago. My brother bought me the tickets, and ......" Trust me, it kept going the whole time I was peeing. I just wanted to start barking at him or something. I just left and went to the t-shirt tourist trap and found the girls these adorable pink and black tie-dyed t-shirts. They have a skull and crossbones on them, but the skull is wearing a pig-tailed wig. Pirates with a twist.

We made it onto the 11 AM ferry, while everyone else was still at Hatteras. I just waited in the car and snacked on some of the stuff we brought, while Rachel took a few pics of our van from outside the passenger lounge.

We landed on Ocracoke, and it was still about 12 miles to the city. For those of you who care, Ocracoke was voted 2007 winner of "Best Beaches" by Dr. Beach - so they have celebrity endorsements, which I require of all my vacation destinations. We snagged a map of the tourist stuff while waiting for the ferry, and found a few of the places we wanted to see. First stop was Teach's Hole, a pirate museum/Pirate souvenir shop. The museum was pretty small, but I love stuff like that. They actually charged us for the kids to go in, which kinda peeved me, but rules are rules. It was more of a general history of Blackbeard, and pirates in general. I loved it, and read every single placard on the wall, watched every video, and scared the girls by talking like a pirate (call our voicemail and listen to our new outgoing message for an example). Once we were done, we were dumped into the souvenir shop. Ryleigh wanted a pirate hat and hook, and Allison wanted a bag of pirate jewels and coins from the big chest. Oh, and a do-rag makes me look even more menacing - I have 3 now, picked them up down the street in the discount pirate shop.

After we left there, we pulled out the map to navigate our way over to the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Well, let's just say the map of the city makes everything look spreadout, but it's not. Things are very compact, and I whizzed right by the parking for the lighthouse. Granted, there was only space for about 4 cars and one handicapped space, so it's not like I missed a huge lot. We made our way around and parked. Ocracoke Lighthouse is still in use by the US Coast Guard, so it's not accessible to the public. It's also one of the plainer lighthouses we saw.

We went to a few more spots, but it was starting to get late and we were going to head back to see the Hatteras Lighthouse and go to a very funny store we had seen billboards for. We were stopped at a general store, when we saw Ben drive by on Main Street. We chased after him, but by the time we were able to turn onto the road, we missed him. I decided to guess that he was going to go to the Lighthouse, but wrong again. We did find Mom, and the rest of the family who had just pulled up. We hung with them for a few minutes, but they were going into town and we were pretty much done. We made it right onto a ferry heading back, and scooted down the road. We stopped at trymynuts and picked up a few items to try. We then stopped at Dirty Dick's Crabhouse so I could get a t-shirt, and headed home. We did stop at the Hatteras Lighthouse, and then went home to get ready for dinner. Wednesday night it was decided that all of us were going to go out to eat, so we met at this restaurant at 6:30 PM. They had seating for our large group, and I took great pleasure in pissing off some of the other patrons by being very loud and having fun. Good food, not stellar, but I'd go back for the Carolina BBQ if noting else. Wednesday night we also did our Gag Gift exchange, but that's a story for another night.

On a final note, Ryleigh didn't take off her pirate hat or hook except at the dinner table from the moment we left Teach's Hole until bedtime. She started affecting this pirate growl, and I heard her muttering as we got into the house. I listened closer, and I hear, "I'm the meanest Pirate" and "Arrrrr, Matey". I start with "Shiver me Timbers" and "Walk the Plank" and sure enough she's copying me. Very Cute! I tried the rest of the week to recreate that, but all I got was "Daddy, I'm not wearing my costume." Shucks, what a doll.

Love to all.

Part IV

Monday night into Tuesday morning, we had a heck of a storm roll into town. The wind was kicking up pretty hard, almost felt like the house was rocking ... either that, or someone was doing some laundry downstairs. *giggles* The sun did end up coming out on Tuesday, but it was still pretty windy. We had our own walkway down to the beach in the backyard, and we could see that the water was a lot closer to the house than it was in the previous days. Amy decided to walk out to get a closer look, and to her surprise ... part of the steps down to the beach were gone. Yup, they were there the night before and now they're in pieces lying on the beach.

One by one, pretty much everyone had to see this and take pictures, and I'm glad to say we were no exception. I took the girls out as far as Rachel would let me, as the walkway felt kinda rickety in addition to being destroyed. We took some pictures of each other, and Amy took one of all 4 of us, since Lindsay was inside drinking heavily.

I took Allison and Ryleigh out front to play in the sand of the volleyball court, while Ben, Andrew, Thad, Rachie Ann and I threw around a baseball. The wind was still blowing pretty hard, and that was playing havoc with the flight-path of the baseball, but it was still fun. I was getting bored chasing the ball into the overgrowth, so we had a pickup game of basketball. Chris came out, and made the teams an even 3 on 3 match. Rachie Ann, Ben and I took on Thad, Andrew, and Chris - it was a pretty evenly matched game, and I was impressed by Rachie's skills on the court. Mom even popped out to tape the game - - she tapes everything these days, and especially the week of the reunion.

If you look closely, at the picture of the house, you can see Mom up there playing Alan Funt, and Rachel was able to zoom in on our camera for the shot on the right. Rachel and Amy went down to the public beach landing, and found that the water was right up to the landing, so the beach was pretty much closed. They also found a condemned house on the beach, so if any of you are looking for a cheap place to stay - I can hook you up, if you don't mind the possibility of a house collapsing on you at some point of your stay that is. Since the beach was closed, the kids were playing in the sand of the volleyball court. All was well, until the battle over the shovels started and we had to take kids inside.


On a side note, the house next to ours is a duplex. One side is a rental property (that's also for sale), but the other side is a private residence. We were tossing the baseball around, and I noticed that they older couple were taking their dog for a walk. I didn't pay too much attention, until Ben kinda motioned for me to look to my right, and there's the old guy coming up to me in his attractive dark socks, shorts and tennis shoe ensemble. He basically told me to be careful when I went into the brush to look for the baseball, as the ticks are a problem. He walked off with his wife, I rolled my eyes and made a partially obscene hand gesture and went back to playing. Later, I was picking up the ball to throw back to Ben - and I noticed that sure enough, there's a tick crawling on the seams. I killed the sucker, and got the kids inside. We all checked for ticks, and Rachie Ann found one on her. So, Sorry Old dude for the Hand Gesture .... My Bad, Yo.

Love to all.

Part III

I'm usually a load to wake up in the morning, due mostly to the fact that I am a border-line insomniac. I usually fix my lunch, lay out my clothes, and take my shower the night before so I can sleep as long as possible before getting up and throwing myself together and scoot to work. It's a sickness, really. Well, for some reason I kept going to bed early and then waking up between 6 and 6:30. It's amazing how that happens, I was even able to eat breakfast at a leisurely pace. I might have to try and go to sleep early more often, if my body will accept a new schedule of sleep instead of sleep deprivation.

Monday morning we decided to visit the N. Carolina aquarium with Andrew and Amy, as the weather was supposed to be bad that day. Due to the fact that we have a Philly Zoo pass, we found that the aquarium would let us in for free. We tried to shmooze the ticket lady into letting Andrew and Amy in as well, but no dice. I guess it's not true what they say about people in the South being stupid. It's a nice aquarium, right on Manteo Island. It's smaller than I'm used to, but the girls had a blast.

They started out with some of the local wildlife in the swamps and marshes, then moved to local fish and other reptiles. They had an exhibit on hurricanes, specifically Hurricane Irene which tore up the Outer Banks back in 2003. It's always amazing how violent nature can be.


Allison and Ryleigh loved watching me touch the rays in the see and feel part of the trip. We couldn't get the girls to participate, except for when Ryleigh frustrated the mentally challenged guy who was in charge of the starfish part. Ryleigh kept splashing the water, and that guy kept telling her to stop, but Ryleigh wasn't listening.

We brought lunch for everyone, and so we ate on the way to the Outlet Mall that was near our house. There was a storm coming in, and the wind was kicking up. It was mostly looking at a few stores, and killing time before we went back to the house. Ben and Sarah had scheduled the photographer for Monday night's family portrait, but that was cancelled due to the store and wind. So, Monday night we spent playing the Palmer family favorite game "Loaded Questions". We've long since ditched the official instructions, and made up our own set. Officially, you have a board, playing pieces and there's a deck of cards. We've eliminated everything except the cards, and turned the game into a part Roast of the family, and part see who can be the funniest. Having the whole family there just made the game a ton of fun, except when people try to hard. Sometimes, only the truth is funny.

Love to all.

Part II

There was discussion about holding a family devotional/testimony meeting on Sunday morning at the house, but it was really wishy-washy as to whether or not to have one. Rachel and I decided to see if there was a meetinghouse close to where we were staying, as I thought it was important to attend church even though it was vacation. We searched and found the building was about 9 miles from the house, so luck was on our side. As we were getting ready for church, I pulled out my slacks to iron. Well, I must have crawled on my knees in something at work - because they were filthy. It wasn't a big deal, but I was forced to wear jeans with my shirt and tie. I felt like a complete idiot, but I figured attending church was more important. Besides, it wasn't like I was wearing a swimsuit, no shirt, and goggles (no matter how sexy that may sound). We stayed for the first hour, and then went home. I know that Thad, Ben, and Rachie Ann and some of the kids pulled out the boogie boards in the afternoon and went body surfing in the frigid weather. Well, not frigid exactly - - but I saw some of the adult's nipples through their shirts on some of those people after they were done. Wha-HOOOO ... nipples !! Although when it's family, and it's mostly guys - the sexiness of it all is lost. It did look like fun, I'll admit. Dinner was hamburgers/hot dogs on the grill, just something easy.



Last November, Rachel and I were talking about the reunion and how it coincided with Mother's Day. We wanted to do a digital scrapbook for Mom, and we started playing with different programs online to accomplish that. I kinda forgot about it, but to Rachel's credit, she brought it up a few weeks later. We decided to see if we could get all the siblings together to submit photos and stories of Mom. After some phone calls, and emails - everyone was on board. We waited until after the winter holidays to start taking submissions, and I still had to decide on a program to use. Well, after some poking around, I decided on a website called Picaboo. I LOVE IT ! Coming from a guy, and considering it's scrap booking - - that should speak volumes. I played around with it for a week or so, just trying things out and seeing what I could make. I ended up making a 2007 Palmer yearbook for our family, and getting it printed to see the quality of the finished product. After that, we started asking for submissions from the siblings to get started. I tried to encourage people to download the software on their own computers and do their own pages, and a few took me up on that. The book was finished by mid-March and we had it printed in April after combing over it for mistakes. I had friends and family proof-read it with me, just in case. After leafing through the finished pages, I knew I had a guaranteed crying, blubbering Mother after she finished looking through it.

Ben decided to kick it up a notch by suggesting we put together the pages from the book in a slide show on his computer, use his big screen projector and show it to her along with music, while everyone read their pages on the wall. Then, after that was done, present the book to her as a "Gotcha!" moment. I loved it, and Ben started work on it. He was able to get that done in a short time, once we realized you could save the pages as .jpg images, then import those into PowerPoint. So, stage was set - - and mission accomplished: Mom started crying as soon as she saw Thad's image on the screen and didn't stop until the last two collage pages. It wasn't always easy to keep everyone to my timeline, and I know I probably pissed some family off in the process at one time or another. I just knew how Mom would love to have this, and how important it was that I get it done. Thank you, Sarah, for your support and encouragement. Rachel the Wife and you both deserve a mention in here, as I quit several times when things got rough. Both of you picked me up, and I started again. I was very proud of the work that I put into that book, and very proud that a LUNKHEAD like me could do something so creative with the use of such a wonderful program.


As you can see, I've added Picaboo's web link to my blog to help advertise such a blessing of a program (Money, please ... HINT HINT).

Love to all.

We're Gonna Break This Up

::BEEP:: Download complete ::BWONK, WONK::

I've downloaded the pictures from our camera tonight, and instead of trying to do one post and fit the whole past week into it, I think it better to make a few posts and spread things out. Anticipation makes the whole thing worth more, at least that's what Rachel tells me. So, in that vein, I'll begin:

I took Friday, May 9th off of work to help with getting the luggage/car packed up for the trip and to help make lasagnas for our dinner on Saturday night down in North Carolina. Rachel and I thought that we needed to make things simple for dinner that night, so that everyone could unpack and unwind from the drive down from Virginia. With 28 people in the house, we figured to make 4 or 5 pans to make sure there was enough for dinner and have left over's for lunches and such. Well, I made the decision to go ahead and make 6 pans, just to be sure. We were able to freeze 4 of them, and they all made it down. We left on Saturday morning about 6:00 AM, and started the trek down. We used Google Maps to see what the fastest way was going to be, and we also got the address of the house in North Carolina to plug into our GPS. Both points of reference agreed that going down the DelMarVa peninsula, then across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel into Norfolk and then continue south to Nags Head. The total trip was only about 6 to 7 hours that way, so I was stoked. With some gas in the tank, food in the belly, we started.

Nothing really fun to report, we made a few bathroom breaks for Allison (okay, us too ...) and found that the "5 Dollar Footlong" Subway marketing campaign has worked on Allie. We stopped at one to use the bathroom, and I look in the mirror and see Allie miming the TV commercial. (I hate this commercial, and all like it for some reason.) Rachel usually is pretty nervous going over bridges, but she only got edgy a few times going over the span of bridges and tunnels that make up the span of 17 miles. We even stopped at a rest stop to take in the view, change diapers, and snap a few pictures.

There were a total of 5 cars making the trip on Saturday (Andrew and Amy came on Sunday), and we all kep in good contact over the trip making sure everyone knew where everyone else was. Since we left from the furthest away, we ended up in the lead. Well, since we left earliest and my family's penchant for dragging ass gave Rachel and I the lead. Once we got about 30 miles from the Outer Banks, we decided to stop and give Ben and Sarah a call to see where they were. They were the ones picking up the house key, so no reason to haul buns to get there to sit in the driveway of the house. We needed to pick up a few things from the store anyway, so we stopped and gave them a call. We were just ahead of them, so our stopping gave them the lead. They called us to let us know they were able to get the keys early and the race was on. Ever notice that traffic just seems to know you are in a hurry? We ended up behind every pokey person on HWY 158 ..... I used some fancy driving to get around them, but from what Ben said, they were in the lead to stay. I followed the GPS turns, and wouldn't you know it ... We WON !!! Apparently, Ben had directions that took him the long way around and gave the contest to us.

We got into the house, and unloaded our cars. Rachel and I started the lasagna, and finished unpacking our stuff. Vicky, Zac, Mom, Nancy and Rachel all arrived at about the same time, so we got them unloaded as well. Rachel and I paid for an extra room for the girls, so we got two rooms on the middle floor of the house. Now, this is a twelve bedroom house we were staying in ( I'll be posting pics of that later), and the middle floor had 6 bedrooms. Both our room, and the girls' room looked out on the beach and the Atlantic Ocean, just like I wanted. So, with dinner started and our van unpacked, we helped get the kitchen setup and finished dinner once Beth, Chris, Thad and Brooke showed up. Vicky had made some spaghetti for the kids, which most of the adults ended up eating as well. I was annoyed that more people didn't eat my food, but it was all good in any case. Saturday ended with most everyone turning in early, which was just fine with us. More to follow.

Love to all.