R is for Reece

This weekend I am going down to Springfield to see my family, mainly my nephew Reece. He is turning 2. I haven't spent nearly enough time with the boy and am hoping to remedy that over the next few years.



I normally wouldn't post a picture of the kid on the net, but, I got this picture off of my sis-in-law's myspace. So, I figure it is okay. This is him at my brother's(his dad) wedding. That night my older brother's girlfriend had him bribed into sitting on her lap by way of cake induced coma. It was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.

Q is for Quiet

As in "Oh So Quiet" by Bjork.



I don't know why, but this song runs through my head a lot. I know the tune, but, only one or two lines. It sucks when it gets stuck in my noggin. Good song though.

P is for Pinky & The Brain

I loved this show. And, how appropriate that I found this intro:



I also liked this one:



I miss watching cartoons.

O is for Obligatory

This is the O post that I am obligated to bring you. I know it is late. I know it is not informative in any way. But, damn it, the fact that it is here is good enough for me.

On to P.

N is for Nothing

"A hole would be something. No, it was nothing."

"They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they? I always thought that's what they were..."

M is for MMMMM

I went to the Blues first home preseason game last night. What does this have to do with MMMM you ask? I also got my first Nathan's Philly Cheesesteak of the season last night. The Steph will tell you all that I am a cheesesteak snob. Which is true, I am. And the closest thing to a real Philly Cheesesteak that I have had since moving away, has been the Nathan's Cheesesteak at the Scottrade Center. Every time I go, I have to get one. I love them.

L is for Logic

A logic puzzle for you.

A man has a small boat and needs to get across a river with all of his worldly possessions. These are a dog, a goose and a bucket of grain. He needs them all to be safe on the other side to continue his journey and can only take one of them in his boat at a time or else it will sink. If the dog is left alone with the goose, it will eat the goose. If the goose is left alone with the grain, it will eat the grain. How does he get them all across without any of them being missing at the end?

This is actually fairly simple. I managed to get it in about 3 minutes when it was told to me, the other day.

Good luck.

K is for Kleenex

I had a whole other post already typed up for K, which was actually my original J post, before I thought of Just. It worked for both letters. Then it happened. I went from slightly sniffly to really stuffy and runny in the span of a few hours. This weekend is going to suck. At least I am not on call. I wish I hadn't stayed out so late tonight, because I really need some Nyquil, but that will make me sleep through my alarm at this point.

On a brighter note, I am acing both of my classes so far this semester. Although, to be fair, one should be aced without effort and the other is decently easy if you just apply some logic. Time to type up my L post and go to bed.

J is for Just

I love this video and advise you all to watch it(if you can get past Thom Yorke looking like he is having a seizure when they show him singing). Pay attention to the subtitles. They are what it is all about. Radiohead has some of the best videos.

I is for "I'm not getting Gonorrhea because you want to ride the Log Flume with someone else."

Steph, her cousin Betsy and I were sitting around the kitchen table before the baseball game on Saturday. Somehow, the subject of my ex came up. And, how I had broken up with her at the very beginning of our relationship, because she was also dating someone else. I knew about it, but was trying to stay with her. I was in love with her. It got to the point where I couldn't handle it any more, so I ended it. When I told her I breaking up with her, she told me that if I only waited she was going to end up with me. Then, she went into an analogy comparing our relationship to a trip to Six Flags. Something about her wanting to "ride one ride with someone else, and then spend the rest of the day" with me. I told her that I wasn't going to wait around and that I would go ride the rides with someone else. And, that was that. In the end, she broke up with the other guy a few days later and came to me and begged me to take her back. I did. Oops.

Anyway, Steph says, "I would have said, 'I'm not getting Gonorrhea because you want to ride the Log Flume with someone else.'" I wish I could have been that quick. that would have been awesome. The Steph always has the best comebacks and one-liners. I thought it was hilarious and needed to be shared.

H is for Homework

The one thing I dread about school is doing homework on a subject we have yet to cover in class, in a subject I know nothing about. I have to perform adjustments on journal entries for my accounting class and have no idea where to start. I have read and reread the chapter, but, without the interaction of the classroom I am a bit confused. I learn a lot better when I can have discussions and talk my way through it. And, my only resource for that is out in San Francisco and, God Bless the man, but he would probably confuse me even more, trying to explain something over the phone. So, after I finish typing this and my "I" post(cuz, I'm behind and have a good one while I am remembering), I will have to start struggling through my last homework problem. Of course, being the last problem, it is the longest and most involved of all of them.

Okay, enough procrastinating.

G is for Gummy Bears

"Gummy Bears? I love Gummy Bears."

Interrupt the Alphabet

I interrupt the regularly scheduled post to bring you all news. Myself and some of my hockey teammates have been playing together for 10 years(a few even longer). We have played in countless roller and ice rec-leagues. We have played in at least 10 championship games and never won one. That is, until tonight. I know it is only a rec-league and a new one starts in a few weeks, but, it felt great to finally get one. We have lost by huge margins, we have lost by small margins, we have lost on bad bounces, and we have lost on bad calls. It feels great.

F is for Fun

Yesterday, I woke up, went to see the Blues scrimmage in camp, went to the Cardinals game(where I sat 11 rows off the field by first base for my first visit to the new ballpark. Thanks Betsy and Steph.) and then started drinking with the Steph to celebrate her birthday. It was the most fun I have had in a long time.

E is for Excentric

When I lived in Pheonixville, Pennsylvania, there was this lady who would walk around town wearing the same blue coat, head wrap, sunglasses, and one glove. It didn't matter if it was 100 degrees or 0. She would always be wearing the same thing. Everyone referred to her as "The Blue Coat Lady", and everyone swore that she had lived there for as long as they could remember. From time to time we would see her shopping at the grocery store or walking along the side of the road, going nowhere, in particular it would seem. I would have guessed her to be in her 60's or 70's if it weren't for that one gloveless hand. It looked like the hand of a teenaged girl.

She lived in a house, two houses down from me, right next to the railroad tracks. Her house was slightly further back from the street and surrounded by tall weeds and small trees. I had no idea it was there for months, until one day I brought up the subject of the blue coat lady with my landlord during an innocent chat. He told me about when he had bought the house we were living in and the one next door. How he was cleaning up the yards and getting rid of all the weeds and extra growth. He actually walked up to the house to see what it was, and found lights on inside.

There were no walkways leading out onto our street or the main road that backed up to our house. Which meant she must have walked out along the railraod tracks. I used to take walks along the tracks with my neighbors and their kids and we would see her walking away from her house from time to time.

Rumor, also had it that she lived with her two brothers. Nobody ever saw either of them out around town. I would have never believed any of it if I hadn't seen it for myself. I don't know whether the brothers are real or just rumor. But, she would come and go along the tracks and the house was there. Every once in a while, lit up at night. I always wondered what would lead someone to live like that.

D is for Dragging

This week has been very tiring. Every morning when I get up to go to work I have to leave a half hour early to pick up one of my friends who works with me and has no transportation. I get home at least a half hour later every day depending on traffic and whether or not we stay over to help out. Tuesday and Wednesday I go to work and then school. Tuesday evening after school, I had to study for a test on Wednesday and finish up homework for the same class. Wednesday evening after school I went to play hockey. Thursday, after work(I stayed late to help out with a few maintenance issues) I tried to go home and get a nap in. Somehow, people always know when I am trying to take a nap. I got 3 phone calls within 15 minutes of laying down. So I got up and blogged a bit before I went bowling. The long hours are beginning to take a toll on me and I am dragging. I won't get to sleep in until Sunday. So, I have more day to drag.

ABC Posting(Check with The Steph)

Since, I was invited to do this and it is an excuse to actually blog more often, I am going to see what I can come up with. I am behind a few letter so here is A, B, and C.

A is for Armadillo Invasion

Since blowing the whistle on those damn armadillos, I have not noticed nearly as many of their corpses on the roadside. Either, they got scared and bailed on their mission or they have found a different way to infiltrate our ranks. Until further notice, be wary of that new guy in the cube down the row. You know, the one with the hunched back and long nose. He could be a spy.

B is for Bowling

I have grown to loe my Thursday night excursions to the bowling alley. The group of friends that I go with, used to play pool, but, are now hooked on bowling. We head out late(it is cheaper after 9:30p) and bowl for about 3 hours. If any of you read my previous post on bowling and my goal of a 200+ score. I have managed to achieve a 199. That last pin, just would not fall. Seriously, I bowled 3 straight strikes in frames 9 and 10 and on my last ball, rolled a 9 and wobbled the last pin. Since that night several weeks ago, I hae not even come close.

C is for Cracked. Oh, and Cheap

As in cracked sticks. Last night, while playing a game of pick up hockey, I broke both of my composite shafts. One of them was a stick that I got for $10 from a friend, so that I had a back up. I am not too upset about that one. The other one, however, has been with me for at least eight years. I am not exactly sure when I got it, but I know I got it before I got married. I have used it as a primary stick and a back up when I bought newer models. It was just the right length(I always used it to measure my new ones and cut them to size). I have never seen a shaft break like this one. It creased and would bend when I tried to shoot or pass the puck, but when you looked at it, you could not tell it was broken.

Thankfully, the Blues are having an equipment sale this weekend, and knowing people, I managed to get into the room last night to pick out a few unused, pro stock sticks that I will be getting at near half price when they start selling. At least my timing is decent. I could hae payed full price if I broke them a week ago or next week.

Please God

If life has taught me nothing else, it has taught me that God definitely has a sense of humor. However, over the last few weeks I have managed to expand my idea on that simple concept. Take it up a notch, if you will.

In earlier posts I have mentioned the HeShe, and her affection for me. Recently, I have found myself in too close quarters with this woman, waaaaaay too often. And, every time I have been anywhere near her, one or more of my coworkers has had uncanny ability to be in the same vicinity. That is hard to do, with as big as the complex is that we work in. I have been a very easy target for quite a bit of teasing from my coworkers. And, although it is funny and helps pass the day, this poor woman still freaks me out and there are so many other ways to pass the day.

Now, what I didn’t mention above, and what any of my friends and family can tell you, is that I am famous for beating a joke to death. I can take anything, make it funny and then almost instantly (okay, not really instantly, actually it is more like painfully drawn out) take it too far or just kill it. So, my new theory is this; God, being all encompassing, has every different sense of humor. And, uses our own on us, for his own amusement. So, God, if you read this (PLEASE DEAR GOD READ THIS) will you please find someone else to torment for a few days. I could really use a rest. Or, if you could at least keep that woman from smacking my ass again, that would be great.

Two Months Ago

As I sit here typing this, I am in a bit of pain. Two months ago, I got hit in the face, while playing hockey, lost part of a tooth and loosened another. Over the last few dental visits, I found out that the loose tooth was actually broken off below the gum line and that I was going to lose it also(the whole time, it has been held in by a metal wire, stretched across 6 of my front teeth). Today, after a lengthy wait, looking like a resident of West Virginia, I finally got some resolution. The dentist extracted the loose tooth and prepped the teeth on either side, for a bridge. Now parts of four of my front teeth are fake. I got a temporary bridge today and go back at the beginning of October to get the permenant one.