Skit Rehearsal

I am cast as the wind in a St. Patrick's Day skit. This is the first time I have ever participated in a parade in Holland or a skit. In High School, I was in many plays and skits, but that was many many years ago. Darlene, who has been visiting Peace for three weeks now, asked me if I would be willing to be in a play. My role: The wind. How to personify moving air on a small stage? Well, she made me costume out of a sheer gray material and fake fur sown around the edges.

My fellow actors made a few silly comments about it, but they are dressed as grapes, St. Patrick and St. Urho. These are difficult times in which we live and a little silliness in a humorous can bring a little laughter where it is needed.

Today was the first rehearsal was today at Evergreen Commons. Pastor Mark is the narrator and John whose wife is Finnish, is one of the grapes. It was fun and I think we will get a few laughs out of it. It certainly was something fun to do on my vacation day. Although I am not Finnish nor Irish, I am having a good time being in this funny skit.

This morning felt like a Friday because I got the kids up and off to school. Nathan had T-O-A-S-T with P-E-A-N-U-T-B-U-T-T-E-R and large glass of orange juice for breakfast. I helped Evan get his pencil and pen and pencil refills situated in his planner. Adam was just slow getting up as usual.

After I drove Nathan to school, I went back to bed. Lori seemed irritated with that but she has Mondays off so he had a quite house to herself and with her own laptop to boot!

Stir Crazy

I can't blame the boys for feeling restless today. We haven't had any warm weather in months, or so it feels like it. Today the air temperature didn't get above Fahrenheit degrees. It isn't weather for kids to go outside and play for an hour or two. They got on each other's nerves as well as Lori's and mine.


There were moments where they were all quite golden. Last night when I took Evan to Meijer and Best Buy he was golden. He thought of his brothers and was very patient. He was fun to be around. Then today he was restless, agitated and screeching when he didn't get his way.


Nathan was in a fiesty mood telling us many times that he was bored and he wanted to do something fun. Lori explained that she is not an entertainment director. She feeds them, clothes them, and helps maintain a roof over their heads, but she is not here to provide fun when there is a housefull of toys, books and games.

Evan and Nathan both had showers tonight. That helped them feel better and Evan, Lori and I watched latest Mummy Movie. I hope this cold snap breaks soon.

She got her Toshiba.

I promised Evan that I would take him to Meijer or anyplace to buy him Zebra Eco mechanical pencils. We found them at Meijer on clearance. He also saw PaperMate Erasable pens, and the lead refills for his Zebra Eco pencils. We went to the checkout lane and he picked out candy for his brother's. For Nathan he chose Sour Ice Breaker Mints and for Adam he chose M&M's. I called Lori on my "cell phone" and asked her if Best Buy called. They hadn't, so I went there and checked on her laptop. I was told 20 minutes and it would be ready. So, Evan and I played games while we waited. He played Rock Band and I played College Football. And we waited some more and we played some more, and I checked on the status and we walked around the store. I showed Evan the computer his mom picked out.

I played as Ohio State against Michigan hoping that my lack of game experience would help Michigan win. Well, it didn't work. But, the graphics are impressive and it is a fun game to play.

While I was playing College Football, a Direct TV sales lady was told me about a "great deal." Well, I am not sure of how great a deal this was, but I listening to her sales pitch and talking about "Top Chef" killed some time. I went back to find that Evan was looking for me and I watched him play more Rock Band. Not that I haven't seen him play Rock Band before--we have the game here and he plays it a lot. Well finally I was told that they were waiting for the final updates on Vista. I told them that I can finish those at home, because my wife really wants her new laptop. They packed it up for me and I brought it home.

When we got there I pointed out Venus to Evan and he was impressed with how bright it was. When we left, we couldn't see Venus. I am not sure why, but the moon had moved too. Best Buy must have different method for keeping time. Twenty of their minutes is an hour and 1o minutes on a standard clock.

So, Evan and I came home with all our goods. He was just as excited about his pens and pencils as Lori was about her new laptop. She was surprised to discover that it has a webcam built in.

She got it up and running and with her wireless mouse and carrying case, she is all set. This means, my laptop is mine again!!! She did thank me for allowing her to make the purchase. I wanted her to have her own, and I don't care if it does have a few more bells and whistles on it than mine. I really like this laptop.

I can't believe I am still up playing Mafia Wars on Facebook. But, here I am doing so. I am going to church tomorrow--I mean today.

Saturday! She is a getting a Toshiba!!

Friday was a pretty good day, so my weekend got off to a good start. By the way, I have vacation on Monday. I am in a play and it is rehearsing on Monday. I am so excited! We got our tax refund on Friday too, so I made the house payment two days early and paid the past due gas bill. It feels good to be caught up. We still have to watch our spending and I have to work every hour that I can--even that will still put us behind. How can I make more money? That is a question that put me back on Prozac.

Anyway, Lori decided that she wanted her own laptop computer, which means I get mine back for good! She won't have to use mine ever again. She told Adam that when she has it, that he is forbidden to music on it. He has uploaded quite the music library on mine and I am happy for it. He and I like many of the same songs, so I am not upset by it. What did upset me was that he deleted the photos off the flash drive to make more room for his videos, which he put on my laptop. Maybe someday he will have his own. There were some really good photos that I took and Lori cropped of the kids and her cousins that are gone forever.

Today Lori and I ran errands and I mean we were out of the house together for more than two hours. It was really a good time. We went out for lunch at a new Mexican Restaurant, the food was really good and Lori told me about a dream she had. I, of course, interpreted her dream for her. That was fun for me, I love doing that and it isn't very often that I get to do that for my wife. My marriage isn't healthy at all, but I still love her and I look for ways that I can connect with her.

After lunch we went to church so she could fill out her time card. The organist was rehearsing which made being there rather spiritual. I helped her sort the mail and read a newsletter from St. Luke's in Grand Rapids. I started to get a headache so I took one of Lori's Aleve, which did the trick because as I drink my third glass of wine, I don't have a headache at all. We left Peace Lutheran and returned Momma Mia to Family Video. Momma Mia was cute, but not great, and at time rather hokey, but I digress.

We then went to Best Buy where Lori and I purchased a Toshiba laptop for her. I am so excited! She will have her own laptop, FiNALLY! (can you tell that I am happy and excited for her?) We then went to Meijer and bought groceries for two weeks of meals. Menu planning has saved us a lot of money, although we spend more money in one trip to Meijer we are focused with our money and the kids know what to expect for dinner.

Our last trip was to Bob's Butcher Block where we got Sizzler's for dinner. Lori is grilling them now on her grill pan. It is a good day.

There is a lot to be said for picking the proper font style and color when I finally get around to posting on this blog. Although it could be said that I am just trying to look impressive, for me it is all about getting into the emotional writing attitude. Truly, more than 90 per cent of all that we do is emotionally driven and the remainder is divided between necessary and automatic. Under the necessary category are items such as eating food and drinking water. Under the automatic items such as breathing, urinating and defecating--not very glamorous but we all do it. Why do we think that living is glamorous anyway? God told Adam that from dust he came and to dust he will return. Dust isn't glamorous at all.

There is nothing glamorous in receiving reports that your children are struggling in school, misbehaving or failing a class. Nathan is struggling in division. Evan is swearing on the school bus and Adam is failing Journalism. Nathan is getting help and Lori is working hard with him. I asked him how many dimes does it take to make 60 cents? "Six" he said. Then I asked him, "How many dimes does it take to make $1.20" He said. "10 dimes plus 2 dimes." He certainly understands the concept he just isn't making the connection. But he is starting to get it.

I don't know why Evan is swearing so much. I wonder if it has something to do with hormones and a OCD. I do know that he isn't happy with his drink choices with his school lunch. He was buying a Gatorade everyday at the price of one dollar. He was burning through his lunch money too quickly so I had to put a stop to that. He has been getting the chocolate milk but he wouldn't drink it. He said he doesn't like the taste--Lori thinks he doesn't shake it before drinking it. Yesterday, I went to the Food Service office and talked in person to Sarah who manages all the lunch accounts for all the West Ottawa students. She changed Evan's account so that he can have lemonade. He got it for lunch yesterday and said he liked it. He asked me if that was for just that day, and I said it was for everyday. He was happy to hear that.

Lemonade is given to students who are lactose intolerant. I told Sarah that he isn't lactose intolerant but that he has narrow nasal membranes and milk isn't the best choice for him. She gladly accommodated him. I know it's a small thing but it makes a big difference to Evan. I could have called her, but I wanted to work this out in person. We interact with people through e-mails, text messages and phone calls. It was real and human.

Adam and I met with his Journalism teacher yesterday after school. He told me that Adam won't fail the class but he needs to complete his edited drafts. It was a good meeting, the three of us sat down face to face and talked about Adam's work and progress in Journalism. I held Adam's submitted articles in my hand and looked at some of the editing comments. I agreed with the editing comments I read. I was glad to have a meeting with him. Conferences were such a disaster for us that we are working harder than normal to keep tabs on Adam's assignments.

Our meeting was at 3 and I was a little late. I went to the wrong building first. Adam rode with me when I picked up Nathan at Lakeshore. We went to Speedway and got our snacks to watch eat while watching "The Soup." We drove to Dave and Paula's house and let Bob out and fed him snacks--Paula sent a text message to Lori's phone asking Nathan to do so.

I asked Nathan to say something funny. He replied, "Airline food." It isn't as funny as humour blog that has vanished, but it is Nathan's interpretation of Jerry Seinfeld.

I don't know if it's the cold winter days or just pure laziness, but on Fridays, my day off work I hardly do anything at all and it is driving my wife crazy. I know she is angry at me for not doing much, and that money is really tight right now. I am not working any overtime. Today she told me that we might have to stop cable and/or internet. But there is no way she would consider stopping her $50 a month cell phone service. Either one of us is going to have to take a second job or she gets a full-time job. Overtime has been discontinued at my work, and considering the fact that I work in automotive, the fact that I am working at all is quite astonishing to me, indeed.

Anyway, I overslept this morning and had to drive the older two to school. Evan's expression on his face when his bus pulled up infront of our house was priceless. He started to change his clothes quickly and then he said, "you didn't get me up in time." He was right and I was already dressed. I walked out his bus and told his bus driver that Adam and Evan weren't ready at all. I did ask her what time she got them to school--Adam at 7:30 Evan 7:40. I was six minutes behind their usual time, but they weren't late.

I drove the boys to school in Lori's car, because all week long the Blazer's breaks have been hard to operate. It took all my strength in my right leg to press on the peddle. I got home, slightly delayed by a garbage truck that was blocking traffic, woke Nathan up and began the battle for comfortable clothes. The pants I picked out for him were too tight and the shirt was unconfortable. The sweat pants were good but the shirt had buttons. The third shirt has a zipper and isn't comfortable when it is zipped up all the way.

"Don't zip it all the way" I said.
"I have to." Nathan said. "It's my way."
I replied, "Change your way and you can wear that shirt."
"Nope, I"m not doing it."

Who does he think he is, George Herbert Walker Bush. perhaps? Well the young president-in-training wanted T-O-A-S-T for breakfast and was upset that I did not provide him with a large glass of orange juice and gave him a regular sized juice glass. He drinks too much orange juice. I want him to continue to drink it because I think it has really made him healthy. He drank his juice, ate half of his peanut butter toast--yes peanut butter, because we are choosy and we choose JIFF, which has not been recalled.

JIFF peanut butter was originally made by Proctor and Gamble who later sold it to Smucker's. Smucker's has maintained the quality of JIFF but has added new varieties under the JIFF label. Our future president, Nathan, did get dressed in a shirt he chose and then ate. We left home at 8:35 and not 8:30 because I read his lips and knew he was missing a glove, just as I was ready to back out of the garage. I went inside the house and got him another pair of gloves and drove him to school.

I came home, drank coffee and sat at the kitchen table with Lori. I paid the mortgage payment and updated our checking account. I then drove to Tuffy. A vacuum hose was disconnected which is why the Blazer idled high and the breaks were hard. Now, they are soft and the Blazer sometimes runs like it is missing. Well, it needs a tune up.

I picked Nathan up at school in Lori's car drove to Family Fare and bought a loaf of bread and Organic Romaine Hearts, which were on sale. I then filled Lori's car up with gas and drove home. While I was shopping, Nathan stayed in the car and ate his popcorn he bought at school. Fridays are popcorn Fridays.

I didn't do much at all, but for some reason I am really tired. We are going to Benton Harbor tomorrow to celebrate Adam's birthday on his birthday.

Museum trip

Since Christmas break, Adam has been wanting me to take him to the Grand Rapids Museum. It has been years since we have been there and I thought the trip would be fun. We would have gone earlier this month and we would have except for the fact that every weekend the roads have been icy and the visibility was 50 feet. I don't mind driving in the winter when I have to...well OK, I don't like driving in the winter.

Today was the end of the school marking period which means that the boys didn't have school today. I was happy because it meant that I was able to sleep in this morning. I would have slept even longer, but I stayed up past 3:00 last night. Doing what? you might ask. Trying to remove spy ware from our desktop computer. I couldn't do it. It is in really bad shape. Lori said that I should take to the computer guy we have gone to before, but instead I spent $30 on an anti-spy ware program, which should fix the computer. The CPU is so virus ridden that the anti-spy ware program won't install. So, that is why I wasn't moving fast this morning.

My rusty Blazer jerked and bucked for awhile on the way to Grand Rapids. Adam held the Tom Tom. I knew how to get to GR and Tom Tom knew the city streets. We parked in the parking garage and by the time we got to the Museum we missed the Star Trek Worm Hole exhibit in the Planetarium. I did pay for three carousel tickets so the boys could ride. We looked around and heard the clock tower strike at 3 and then again at 4.

We were there long enough to see everything and before the boys got bored. Evan loved looking at all the swords and guns. Nathan got tired and wanted to sit down, so I had him sit in the classroom exhibit and I taught him about idioms from the homework pages on display.

They separated from me as I walked into the Gas Light Village. The volunteer at the Apothecary Shop demonstrated how pills were made in the Victorian Era. She was very engaging, friendly, and taught us a lot. it was a highlight for all of us. We left the drugstore and the boys rode the carousel. It has the original artwork from the late 1800's. There were a few risque paintings on it.

We left the museum, walked to the parking garage, and Nathan wanted to walk to the third floor. The Blazer was parked on the first level. It was one of those moments that i remembered from my childhood when I wanted to see something but we just went home instead. I walked up the two flights of stairs with Nathan. When we got to the top I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to see and he replied, "Nope, that's all I want to see. Let's go home."

The truck drove smoothly on the way back and we got home in good time. It was indeed a good time.