Proud As Punch

So every week we have playgroup. Each week another mother is in charge of planning an activity for the kids. It is just a bunch of moms from church and their kids. We do things like go to the zoo, play at the park, have a Valentines Day Party etc. Last time I was in charge I planned at trip to the local Brusters Ice Creamery. The kids loved it and it was different. Free Ice Cream didn't hurt either. This week it was my turn and Aaron actually took charge of it for me. At Genuardis, they used to do preschool tours of the store. They would take the kids around and show them things about the store, have them point out colors and some of the other cool stuff in the store. Well, Aaron thought this might be fun for playgroup, so he worked it out with the Asst Manager to bring our group. So on March 12th, we all headed to the Royersford Genuardi's for a tour. It was great! Allie was so proud to be at her Daddy's work. She told everyone. She was at the front of the group. She loved every minute of it. Ryleigh kind of just hung out with Daddy the whole time. The hit of the day was the baler (it is where the boxes get crushed, before being tied together). It turned out to be a great tour. The kids had a blast and it included free pizza and cookies for all.

All of the sudden it was a little too quiet.......

It was a tuesday night about two weeks ago.....Aaron was at an Elders Quorum meeting, Allie was in bed for being naughty, Lindsay was asleep. So it was just me and Ryleigh hanging out. She had been running back and forth between me at the computer and the front room, watching something on tv.....and then it was just too quiet! I found Ryleigh on the floor in the living room with Allie's fingernail polish all over her legs!!!! It was kind of funny I must admit. I proceeded to give her a bath, and the purple came off, however, the blue dye they use in the nail polish, did NOT! Ryleigh did not understand why we kept calling her Smurfette! She kept saying "I am not Smurfette, I am Ryleigh". So just a little insight into our lives!

Breaking Benjamin - Breath OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

This is the song that sold me on the band, enjoy.

Breaking Benjamin - The Diary of Jane - Music Video

There is an acoustic version of this song on the "Phobia" album, but only if you purchased the physical CD. I downloaded from iTunes, and missed out. I did get the song since, it's good, but I prefer the heavier metal version.

Breaking Who?

So, I've discovered a new band. Now, they aren't a new one by any stretch of the imagination, they do have three albums (that I've found). There was a local radio station FREE 94.1 - WYSP "The Station that Rocks" that I used to listen to all day. They used to have Howard Stern in the morning, then the Barsky Show midday, Matt and Huggie for two hours, and finish with Kidd Chris on my way home. It was an all talk format from 5 AM until 7 PM during the week, and I loved almost every minute of it while driving from site to site (Matt and Huggie were annoying). Well, it started with Stern leaving then being replaced with the god-awful David Lee Roth. They then brought the Opie and Anthony (blech) syndicated show back for a few hours in the morning, but that didn't last. In one week, they fired most of the on-air talent, and "Brought the Rock Back" and made it a rock station again. Which basically means they started playing really bad rap/metal fusion or pop/rock stuff that passes for what I consider rock these days. In all of this, my radio station listening moved to the sports radio station WIP - 610 AM on your Philly radio dial. That's really unacceptable, since all they talk about is the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and Sixers - and bag on the Redskins.

It appears that I've gotten too old for that "dang kid music" of rap, rap fusion, and that type of vibe. I sometimes will get to a store, and there's inevitably some white kid from the suburbs in a track suit three sizes too large for him, baseball cap turned sideways, really scruffy hint of a beard, earring, inevitabling blasting some urban garbage at a decibel level that shakes my window from the new row over. It's really annoying, and I just don't get it. So, in light of that fact, I've shunned a lot of the newer music in favor of remaining securely in the late '80's Hair Metal era, or the early 90's grunge that I'm comfortable with. I'll include RUSH in this, as Jim Jardine turned me onto them while we were roommates in Virginia, even thought they don't really fit in the hair metal or grunge music. So, in light of these facts, I was out of the loop for any new music probably since we've moved here back in 2001.

So one Wednesday, I was listening to 93.3 WMMR - the other rock station in town that actually plays Queensryche still, and heard this song that I just couldn't get out of my head. I was lucky enough to have that song be at the end of a 3 song set, so they named the artist and song. Breaking Benjamin "Breath" . I went home that day, logged into iTunes, and listened to the song clip again still loving it. I then decided to check out the album it was on "Phobia" and ended up using 10 bucks of my iTunes gift card (perfect birthday gift for me - March 24th) to buy the whole album. I didn't know there were groups putting out this heavier type of music that I like. I was under the assumption that 3 Doors Down and the like were what was passing for my type of music. Boy, was I wrong. There are still some really good heavier metal bands, nothing to the like of Metallica, Megadeath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden from my youth, but good enough for me to actually download some current music. In the end, I now own all three of Breaking Benjamin's albums - and the kicker is that they are from the Philadelphia area, so they come around here when they can, apparently. They are on tour with Seether, and some other band I've never heard of, or you can always watch their videos on YouTube. I recommend "Breath" "Diary of Jane" or "Polyamorous" for your listening pleasure. I have some of their videos posted on my Facebook page as well. Finally, something to drown out the freakin' people who keep bothering me while I'm trying to work. I can't wait for them to come local, so I can see them in person.

My latest

Today's post: Something that I really hate. (shocker, huh?)

Rachel and I have been married for almost 9 years now, so far we've lived at Mom's in Fairfax, in Manassas VA, and Pennsylvania. We've met a good number of people in that time, and made some lasting friendships. We've also made good friends, who turn out to totally snub and forget us once either they or we move. Some history first.

I never was really big on keeping in touch with people, not that it wasn't important to me to do so, but I just didn't think about it. I complained a lot when the house in Fairfax broke up, with Jim moving back to Pittsburgh and I ended up at Mom's again, about friends not keeping in touch with me. I complained all the way up here to Pottstown, as the people I thought were my friends never called/emailed/visited me. I realize now that some of this was my own fault, as I didn't make the effort to keep the lines of communication open with them. That being said, with Rachel's help, I am a ton better at keeping in touch with friends and family than I ever was before.

Which leads me to my current issue. I really hate it when friends move away. No matter if it's the next county, or across the nation, the result is the same. "Let's keep in touch" or "I could never lose you guys" or "You're too special to forget" or some amalgum of these sentiments is invariably uttered by one or both parties. I hate that, because in my own experience, this never happens. I've lost countless friends to the wind, all promising to keep in touch -- but emails go unanswered, phone calls and voice mails ignored, and these people I let into my heart STOMP on it with their callous shoulder turned to me. I would much rather someone tell me, "Look, we had a good run. I like you a lot, but let's be honest, I'm moving away and will never see you again. I'm going to be making other friends, and I really don't have the time or effort to keep in touch with you." That would be honest, and refreshing for once, rather than telling me how much I mean to you, and then completely ignoring when I try to keep in touch. I take that stuff personal. So, to the Edwards, the Ecks, the Smiths, the Abels, and now the Hassels, amongst many others - - goodbye.

EDIT: I wasn't talking about Jim and Jessica in my post about the house breaking up and not staying in touch. They've been solid on that count.

Family Portrait

I worked on Saturday, and was checking our work schedule for this week. I completely let it slip that Monday was President's Day, and it's one that is observed by Safeway for backstage employees. There are seven "corporate" holidays that Safeway observes for their backstage staff, with President's Day being an odd pick for one of the seven. I mean, you have New Years, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas as the big six. I just don't get how President's Day made it over Martin Luther, or Columbus Day. For most of the office is off, but Field Services is required to have staff in the field of some sort. Checking the schedule, Paul was scheduled, with Kris and myself having off. I was fully prepared to take the shift, to make some extra money - until I got called out for a sev 1 on Sunday. So, after calling Paul to apologize for not taking the shift, it turned out I was off.

Rachel and I decided it would be pretty fun to get a family portrait done, since we all had matching shirts (another story, I'll tell it if you want later). We got in touch with Picture People early, thank goodness, and were able to secure an 11 AM appointment. We had already washed and dried out outfits the night before, just in case, and headed to the mall. After all was said and done, here's how the picture turned out:

For some reason I love the Product (RED) items from the Gap. I'm not sure if it's the cause it represents, or the colors, but I just love them. I ordered a shirt from Gap.com, along with Allison, Ryleigh and Linday's, as the girls shirts were on sale for 4 bucks each. Rachel bought her's on Monday at Gap in the mall. The salespeople were all looking at us, and thought it was pretty neat we decided to go with their product for our family portrait. I am even wearing two Product (RED) leather bracelets, as you can see. I think it turned out great, and we got the chance to use the shirts we originally bought for something else (again, if you want to know, ask again later).