It's getaway week, and I'm counting down the hours, minutes, and pre-trip tasks before our departure to sunny San Diego on Friday! We are taking the kids on our first family destination vacation. We've traveled together with the kids to Chicago and Michigan before, and a road trip to planet Moab, but nothing fully vacationy like this one.
The bonus is that my parents and sister, Wendy, are flying out to meet us there! I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving, and they haven't seen the kids since the wedding back in August. So it's an extended family destination vacation. We also may get to see some of my Mom's-side California cousins and aunts and uncles, which would be sweet. Last time I got together with them, we caught some fish. Let's see... what type of fish were they again... oh, that's it: BARRACUDA!
As you know, San Diego means lots of things to lots of people. Some people point out the name is simply the Spanish translation of Saint Diego. Others believe it to be a German translation, meaning...something else. Hey, we're staying classy here in Stizl's blog. Still, so many memorable names and places! Like Tony Gwynn, Dan Fouts, and LaDainian Tomlinson in sports; that one season of the Real World with all those intellectual, fascinating characters; Shamu (the predecessor to their latest killer whale show, Sham-Wow); and of course, Ron Burgundy, the greatest San Diego-an (San Diegan?) of them all. What I wouldn't give to pop into Tino's night club and hear some jazz flute! We'll also be celebrating Annie's b-day on 4/7. Her new age will be Twenty-Eleven, or Tweleventy. I only wish I had that sort of depth and endurance in my life.
Been a restful few days, that's for sure--what, with all the primer and paint and adhesive fumes floating around the master suite, one kid's coughing, the other kid's ralphing. P's been hacking his lungs out since Sat. night, with nighttime sleep-yelling occasionally thrown in for good measure. Seriously, we couldn't tell if he was having nightmares or practicing to be a hog caller. Z put on an impressive show early Mon. morning, from bedroom to bathroom, and Mom had to stay home with both of them that day. Thank goodness I had all those "meetings" and "important cookie-related briefings" to attend.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and you stay classy, San Diego.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Shenanigans!
The cereal bracket final pitted the winner of the sugar bracket, Frosted Flakes, against the winner of the healthy bracket, Cheerios/Honey Nut Cheerios. My first question is, "what-what-what?!" How does the selection committee combine Cheerios and its Honey Nut sibling as one entrant? That's akin to saying Coke Zero (my new favorite soda) and Cherry Coke are the same beverage. I call shenanigans!
The winner of the bracket, of course, was Frosted Flakes, right? After all, they're grrrrrrunbelievably sugary delights. WRONG. It was the Big G's own tiny life preservers, Cheerios/Honey Nut. This is baloney, unless thousands of voters were daycare center snack managers. Even with the clear unfair advantage the Os have with 2 distinct products, there is no way participants on an ESPN radio show-hosted bracket (dudes who still eat cereal for breakfast when they come upstairs from their mom's basement) would choose them over Tony the Tiger's candy-masked-as-cereal crack flakes.
This can only be explained by one thing: General Mills, a Minnesota based company, funded the whole operation in order to crush Kellogg's, a Michigan based company, to further soften the state's economy. You see, Minnesota is running a guerrilla campaign to overtake Michigan as the "Most Popular Upper-Midwest 'M' State Filled with Lakes". They've even proposed a Grand Rapids-off, pitting the two towns against each other in a seven round winner-take-all prestige match. Grand Rapids, MI's upper hand: Once the "home office" of David Letterman's Top Ten List. Grand Rapids, MN's key claim: Slightly less cold than Pluto. The loser has to change their name to "Schmand Schmapids", so that's a consolation you can live with. Go GRMI!
Last night, I took a 3rd stab at fixing my ineffective dryer and did what I should've done the 1st time - take the back off and unscrew some stuff. (DUH!) Previous attempts involved: Inspecting, re-aligning, and cleaning the duct work; and reaching really really way far down into the lint trap housing with a vacuum hose. But with some idiot-proof instructions from Yahoo! Answers, I realized the entire problem was the blower wheel majiggy, and once I got the cover off (with TheWife's assistance) we found a dense mash of our former rug squatting in the wheel house. Pulled that out, sucked up other debris around the vents, and we were back in business! And to think, I was going to call another handyman...
Speaking of, we're only about 50% done on our bathroom, thanks to all the new fun things we have to do! Who knew that one failed water valve could lead to so many interesting and charming choices: What type of tub do we want? Do we want to tile or surround? What are you going to do with that gap in your floor (what gap?)? New linoleum or tile so your floor doesn't look so lame? What kind of toilet do you want since we (handy persons) accidentally smashed the base with a sledge hammer? What color are you repainting the walls? How did you get your nose hair completely white? Answer: I was using meditative breathing while chopping through drywall and tile. Was quite easy, actually. That white color gives it sort of a distinguished look.
The winner of the bracket, of course, was Frosted Flakes, right? After all, they're grrrrrrunbelievably sugary delights. WRONG. It was the Big G's own tiny life preservers, Cheerios/Honey Nut. This is baloney, unless thousands of voters were daycare center snack managers. Even with the clear unfair advantage the Os have with 2 distinct products, there is no way participants on an ESPN radio show-hosted bracket (dudes who still eat cereal for breakfast when they come upstairs from their mom's basement) would choose them over Tony the Tiger's candy-masked-as-cereal crack flakes.
This can only be explained by one thing: General Mills, a Minnesota based company, funded the whole operation in order to crush Kellogg's, a Michigan based company, to further soften the state's economy. You see, Minnesota is running a guerrilla campaign to overtake Michigan as the "Most Popular Upper-Midwest 'M' State Filled with Lakes". They've even proposed a Grand Rapids-off, pitting the two towns against each other in a seven round winner-take-all prestige match. Grand Rapids, MI's upper hand: Once the "home office" of David Letterman's Top Ten List. Grand Rapids, MN's key claim: Slightly less cold than Pluto. The loser has to change their name to "Schmand Schmapids", so that's a consolation you can live with. Go GRMI!
Last night, I took a 3rd stab at fixing my ineffective dryer and did what I should've done the 1st time - take the back off and unscrew some stuff. (DUH!) Previous attempts involved: Inspecting, re-aligning, and cleaning the duct work; and reaching really really way far down into the lint trap housing with a vacuum hose. But with some idiot-proof instructions from Yahoo! Answers, I realized the entire problem was the blower wheel majiggy, and once I got the cover off (with TheWife's assistance) we found a dense mash of our former rug squatting in the wheel house. Pulled that out, sucked up other debris around the vents, and we were back in business! And to think, I was going to call another handyman...
Speaking of, we're only about 50% done on our bathroom, thanks to all the new fun things we have to do! Who knew that one failed water valve could lead to so many interesting and charming choices: What type of tub do we want? Do we want to tile or surround? What are you going to do with that gap in your floor (what gap?)? New linoleum or tile so your floor doesn't look so lame? What kind of toilet do you want since we (handy persons) accidentally smashed the base with a sledge hammer? What color are you repainting the walls? How did you get your nose hair completely white? Answer: I was using meditative breathing while chopping through drywall and tile. Was quite easy, actually. That white color gives it sort of a distinguished look.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Cereal: It's what's for breakfast
This is such a great idea. One of the talking-head sports radio shows put together a March Madness-inspired cereal tournament! They're already down to the Edible Eight today, and voting continues to see who will move on to the Flavorful Four and ultimately be crowned -- read closely, Wheaties legal team -- The Champion of Breakfasts! Vote here. I will likely break down this championship after the fact, with stunning insight and breathtaking analysis, just like the 8 jillion "experts" do for the hoops tourney. For good measure, I may throw in some comments about the respective cereals' slogans. Sound grrrrrrreat?
Speaking of crunchy particles in a morning milk bath, Relish recently had a good idea to post a blog encouraging suggestions for holiday-themed marshmallows in Lucky Charms. It started with idle chatter about how great it is to have kids who eat cereal, so the dads can also eat cereal, and grew to suggesting a limited run version of Lucky Charms with nothing but green clovers as the marshmallows. This chat took place right before St. Patty's Day, of course. The next obvious drop is pink hearts for Valentine's Day, and don't forget purple horseshoes for National Campground Pitching Stuff Challenge Day. But why limit it to existing marbits (short for marshmallow bits, since there's no way on General Mills' green earth that those are actually marshmallows)? What about:
Green Trees for Arbor Day (yawn)
Yellow Eggs for Easter
Orange Pumpkins for Halloween
...
Okay, those are the easy ones, and you are surely nearing slumber. Here's a site with a list of holidays. See if you can come up with unique marbit-holiday combinations, even make up your own holidays. Be your usual creative selves, and keep a reasonable level of etiquette (Charlie). Post in the Comments below! This could be just as fun (and tastier) than the Sea Kitten session! BEGIN!
Speaking of crunchy particles in a morning milk bath, Relish recently had a good idea to post a blog encouraging suggestions for holiday-themed marshmallows in Lucky Charms. It started with idle chatter about how great it is to have kids who eat cereal, so the dads can also eat cereal, and grew to suggesting a limited run version of Lucky Charms with nothing but green clovers as the marshmallows. This chat took place right before St. Patty's Day, of course. The next obvious drop is pink hearts for Valentine's Day, and don't forget purple horseshoes for National Campground Pitching Stuff Challenge Day. But why limit it to existing marbits (short for marshmallow bits, since there's no way on General Mills' green earth that those are actually marshmallows)? What about:
Green Trees for Arbor Day (yawn)
Yellow Eggs for Easter
Orange Pumpkins for Halloween
...
Okay, those are the easy ones, and you are surely nearing slumber. Here's a site with a list of holidays. See if you can come up with unique marbit-holiday combinations, even make up your own holidays. Be your usual creative selves, and keep a reasonable level of etiquette (Charlie). Post in the Comments below! This could be just as fun (and tastier) than the Sea Kitten session! BEGIN!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tiggers are wonderful things
I do love Tigger. And I have the Tigger song memorized from all the Pooh movies we used to watch with my sister Wendy. But I find this wildly hilarious.
From www.savagechickens.com
From www.savagechickens.com
Monday, March 9, 2009
I'm just sick of it!
I'm sick of you, and I'm sick of everything. I'm just SICK!
And tired.
Remember that funny bit from Bill Cosby? I believe the video is Bill Cosby: Himself. Now available on Beta and VHS, only at your local video rental shop. Ha! Remember those? Now our videos come in the mail, or out of a giant red box, aptly named RedBox, or on our glowing flat screens. That video is so old, the Cos was probably wearing one of those crazy sweaters with the multi-color cable knit, and it was in style, baby.
Anyway, I've been sick since about Tuesday. Not as sick as Zoey, who had a hacking cough for several nights and played hooky with me on Thursday, and not as sick as Preston was yesterday when he ralphed all over the kitchen floor, for no good reason at all. But I'm sick (and tired) of not being able to breathe! No daytime remedies, sinus tabs, nasal mists, herbal remedies created by a schoolteacher, or effervescent drinks are helping. Nor is whining to the wife. Open mouth sleeping and phenylephrine-induced hallucinations are totally wearing me out. But I think I'm turning the corner. I haven't had to mist since this morning, and, fingers crossed, will get a good night's sleep tonight.
As an unexpected aide, 2001: A Space Odyssey just came on one of the Encore channels - now that'll put me to sleep! (rim shot)
I love doing this sometimes. I haven't written much lately, and I just popped this open to see what would happen. What did happen? A) Cosby reference B) Joking about outdated technology C) Used the word "ralphed", which used to make my sisters and I laugh hysterically until my Mom couldn't help but think it was funny, too. So this was good.
And good night.
And tired.
Remember that funny bit from Bill Cosby? I believe the video is Bill Cosby: Himself. Now available on Beta and VHS, only at your local video rental shop. Ha! Remember those? Now our videos come in the mail, or out of a giant red box, aptly named RedBox, or on our glowing flat screens. That video is so old, the Cos was probably wearing one of those crazy sweaters with the multi-color cable knit, and it was in style, baby.
Anyway, I've been sick since about Tuesday. Not as sick as Zoey, who had a hacking cough for several nights and played hooky with me on Thursday, and not as sick as Preston was yesterday when he ralphed all over the kitchen floor, for no good reason at all. But I'm sick (and tired) of not being able to breathe! No daytime remedies, sinus tabs, nasal mists, herbal remedies created by a schoolteacher, or effervescent drinks are helping. Nor is whining to the wife. Open mouth sleeping and phenylephrine-induced hallucinations are totally wearing me out. But I think I'm turning the corner. I haven't had to mist since this morning, and, fingers crossed, will get a good night's sleep tonight.
As an unexpected aide, 2001: A Space Odyssey just came on one of the Encore channels - now that'll put me to sleep! (rim shot)
I love doing this sometimes. I haven't written much lately, and I just popped this open to see what would happen. What did happen? A) Cosby reference B) Joking about outdated technology C) Used the word "ralphed", which used to make my sisters and I laugh hysterically until my Mom couldn't help but think it was funny, too. So this was good.
And good night.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Rocket kid...
 |
| From Rocket |
We launched Preston's rocket yesterday at the park. Click the preview above to watch, but if the video doesn't play right away, try refreshing, or try clicking back and forth between the 2 videos in Picasa.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
