Ho, ho, ho.....

Well excitement is building around the house as Christmas draws near. The wish list has been mailed and I don't know if even Santa will be able to deliver all that was asked for! --that's kind of an inside joke all Max asked for was a wand and a screwdriver. That being said he's getting a bit more than that I think Steph and I are more excited than he is for Christmas morning. Setting up gifts the night before and filming his reaction as he opens gifts will kind of be first for us since in the past he was a bit to young to understand exactly what was going on. Charge those video cameras.

With snow falling practically every day who needs a gym membership just go out and shovel twice a day. That being said it sure would be nice to find an indoor track somewhere nearby.

Fantasy football update, Steph and I are going against each other this week for the Superbowl. The only surprising thing about that is that I'm in the Super Bowl. In four years Steph has never not gone, with two first place finishes and one second, I'll keep you posted on how this fourth trip turns out for her.
Well I think that's about it, I'll get Christmas photo's up in the days following the holiday.

Passing time at work....

In case any of you are curious, sconecutter has the WORST coffee on the face of the plant. Coffee filtered through an old dirty shirt while camping tastes better. Their scones, filled with heavenly goodness, are delicious though. I am sitting here at work, 8:00 am on a Saturday, digesting one of these yummies.
Yesterday, Joe, Max and I traveled to the zoo to see the lights. They are quite fantastic. Max had a blast, running from one completely christmas light covered tree to the next. There were also light animals climbing trees and dancing, which apparently can handle grabing and shaking, which Max did with gusto. We ate deep fried smores, which are probably the strangest thing I have consumed. I don't really know if I liked it or not, but it sure sounds cool. Max is such a character, he ran almost the entire time, weaving in and out of people, yelling "excuse me." At least he is polite, right? When asked on the way home what his favorite part of the evening was, he responded "the rocks." Who knew that rocks strategically placed around a tree is better than a bazillon lights? Kids are great, such a different perspective on the world.

Half way there!

I am officially joining the blogging club!
I am now over half way through baking this little babe, 20 weeks 6 days to be exact. And for those of you who have seen my belly lately know that it is growing every day.
I have decided that we have the cutest little boy around. Yesterday when I picked Max up from daycare he ran over to me yelling Mommy! Mommy! with the biggest smile on his face. Oh, the warm fuzzy feelings I get from being a parent. He can do the littlest things to brighten my day. Later in the day I asked Max for a hug. He hugged me and then proceeded to squeeze my neck, saying "I am going to squeeze the stuffins out of you." Needless to say, I laughed so hard I almost cried. He is such a joy.
I am thrilled that the holiday season is here! Let the Christmas partying begin!

Well Halloween has come and gone link to pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/Operamouse/Halloween08#

It was a really fun holiday it's amazing what a difference one year can make "Do you have candy for me?" was Max's way of saying Trick or Treat. It was classic watching him try to open people's door and then with hardly a glance back at Steph just walk in once the door was opened up. I do have to say that he's done a very good job not eating all his candy in one day. If he asks you if you want any candy beware! It's a skillful ploy to get you to open it up and then share it with him.

Cold season is upon us and I've gone and found one, it's making it a lot tougher to get into shape boo!

Lastly come on Michigan just because we beat you doesn't mean you need to go and lose to everyone else you play!

Well the Holiday season is upon us and we are over half way through the college football season. The Utes have some very tough games ahead but if we can make it through unscathed I hope y’all have some time off left come the end of the year because the RV may need to be gassed up and pointed south again. We’ve had a good few weeks Tailgating, watching NFL games and just getting the cobwebs of summer straightened out. Who’s ready for goblins ghouls and fried turkey!!

I took Max to go see Wall-E the other day, we made it through 30 minutes of previews and 20 minutes of the movie before he had more fun counting the lights on the sides of the aisles. Still not worth paying full price for him yet, oh well. Bowling on the other hand is the thing to do when the weather’s bad outside!

The family is getting together for pumpkin carving tonight which should be a good time, then we’ll try to figure out trick or treating this weekend. If you weren’t already convinced that Americans are turning into paranoid Fatsos take a look at trunk or treating. Instead of running miles and miles to fill your pillow case with candy all you have to do is go to the local school, synagogue, parking lot and walk from car to car, and half the time the parents are doing it for the kids while the kids are off running around in a PARKING LOT! Yeah that sounds safe, no exercise and run around where cars are pulling in and out. Get off your lazy ass, and walk around the neighborhood with your kids until their old enough to go it with their friends. The neighborhood is pretty damn safe when you’ve got 100 kids and parents running around outside. You know what it really is, LAZY FAT ASS PARENTS! --Says the really out of shape Joe.

I need a projection screen, anyone have one? I want to show old Halloween movies and serve hot chocolate like the good old days.

See all you ghosts and goblins in the next few days/months hopefully in a much warmer climate!

Are you Crazy or am I just sma't

Ok, so the market has been a mess lately and so work has been pretty crazy. I guess we can be thankful at least we haven't had a major earthquake to make things even more hectic ;)

If you own stocks panicked and sold them 'shame on you!' You deserve to lose that money. What goes up must come down and vice versa. If you didn't know it this applies most of the time, “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." Tolkien

Do you ever try to do to much but at the same time not enough?

I really, really dislike religion and the belief that some guy can tell me what I can and can't do in order to save my eternal soul. Um sure whatever can I have some kool-aid as well? Don't get me wrong most days I'm not ready to die but I'm sure glad I've done everything I have so when I do I don't think back and say to myself, "Man I would have liked to try that". Because it would suck to go into that nothingness/primordial soup/ everything and nothing, thinking man I wonder what Disneyland would have been like if I'd tried ??

Coffee what the hell is wrong with coffee? I have a cup every morning 5 days a week I don't think it's going to kill me. The drive to work might though, hmmmm

Guess what people you can't all be right all the time, All though I'm pretty sure I am ;)

Everyone keep an eye on Maude because her blog has some awesome music. I'm grooving to it right now. Wonder what it would be like to be the youngest instead of the oldest? Having people look up to you fundamentally changes your perception of reality and every choice you make. But then again apparently so does colored sugar water.

Vodka please!

Sorry I'm sure most of this didn't make any sense and that's ok. I needed to write it.

Beer, Golf and um oh yeah Football!

The above picture is a photo from Spanish Trails in Las Vegas. Pretty course it's there signature hole, you are looking from the T box to the green.

----I did make it over the water.

Well it's been an eventful month, we got back from San Diego and started getting ready for the football season. Took a trip to Michigan to watch the Utes stomp on the Wolverines and it was a very good time, barring combating a wicked sickness that sent Max to the hospital the day I left. A few things about the trip,

Wrigley field can not fully be appreciated in 1 game alone. I'm estimating at least 3 games minimum is required.

Michigan fans know how to do it, they are awesome tailgaters that use all the space they can find and don't relegate them selves to one shitty black top parking lot. They also are very intelligent football fans and were very stand up people in defeat. Unlike some of the loonies that live to the south of us.

If you golf golf at Cog Hill in Chicago, I recommend the Ravines. BEAUTIFUL course, we Teed off at 6:30 in the morning and it was gorgeous. If you don't golf then um sucks for you!

Tailgating has been good, I'm still trying to push people to move out of that black top hell down to the grass and the shade. They just don't seem to like being more comfortable. Maybe some day. Keep your eyes out for an old trailer for sale we want to buy it.

I'll be putting a new slide show off to the side of there so click on it if you want.

"And if you're drinking then I know that you're my friend and I'll say, I think I'll have myself a beer."