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This collection of entries is from October 2005.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Wet Halloween 
Left the office a little early to get home and setup for the neighborhood trick-or-Treat'ers. It started out well, but at about 4:45 it started to rain and it went downhill from there. Total for this year: 56 Last year: 61. 2003: 69 2002: 79. I guess its been slowly going down year-by-year. (Yes, we keep tally on a pad of paper near the door.)
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Oh, one more thing. It's a thing I've been doing for the last couple of years. I let the kids take whatever they want from the bowl. Our kids are just so damn nice, they only take one or two and never grab whole handfuls out of the bowl. They REALLY seam to enjoy being able to pick and chose the ones they want. I don't know, it's all about Customer Satisfaction. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 07:31 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Half his life 
Went to my mom's house, all excited to see Jack.
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After all, he's 6 weeks old today and we haven't seen him since he was 3, so we've missed-out on half his life already! He's changed a bit, too. He finally starting to look like a little guy. Last time we saw him he was still a little bundle. Now, as my mom said, he seams to be "un-winding". His legs and arms aren't being held close to the body anymore, so it's like he's finally stretching out. He's getting bigger, too, which you would expect by now.
I had what I consider a cool thing happen. he was laying on the floor with Melinda and went over to see if I could stimulate him and "play" with him (as much as you could "play" with a 6-week-old). I leaned-in close to him. His eyes are just starting to work, so you have to get close to him for him to see you. Then it happened - his eyes after looking all over locked on to mine and for that brief few seconds, I really knew he was looking at me for the first time. He reacted, but he's reacted to every sound and light show he sees, but it was still pretty damn cute (and touching actually) to know that he saw you.
I brought some gifts over for him that he won't have clue about for years to come, but I got him a World Series pennant and an official World Series Game Ball , and a program. He's not going to appreciate the gifts. I hope some day he would. Chicago had a World Series Winner for the first time in 88 years and he was around for it. He's just not going to remember it at all whatsoever, so I got him some things to commemorate it.
The family had long discussions about Christmas. Every year, Christmas never works out the way you want it. This year is going to be one of those years, I'm afraid. It'd be nice for everyone to get together, but with restrictive schedules, it just can't happen.
On the way home tonight I had to stop and take pictures of the house on Nagle that's all decorated. I forgot to get it at REaster, but I did get it at Christmas. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 11:01 PM | Link | Uncle Michael § |
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Cheese and Rabbits!
We went to the AMC South Barrington 30 this afternoon to catch a 4:40 showing of Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. You can never never never go wrong watching a picture from Aardman Animation. However - perhaps a Full-Length motion picture (85 minutes) really is a little long for our buds Wallace and Gromit. GREAT movie, though
posted at 07:39 PM | Link | Movies § | Quick bunny update
I haven't talked about them in a while and some of you wanted to know, so here's a quick picture of Indy & Chip. They're great and doing well. They are absolutely inseparable, except for every once in a while where they take turns in the cage and the other being outside the cage , sort of giving each other their own "space" for a few hours. Otherwise, they are always together grooming, playing or sleeping.
posted at 11:31 AM | Link | Bunnies § | Frosty
The weather is really changing around. The mornings are really crisp, with frost on the grass (before the sun comes up and melts it). The leaves on the trees in the neighborhood are almost all on the ground. It's like I've been into "baseball mode" for so long, that I refused to believe it was fall (it wasn't until last weekend when I bought a World Series pin that said "Fall Classic" on it that I was able to actually say the words "Fall" and "Autumn.". All this time I felt that, as long as my team was still playing, then it was summer. And then it it kept being summer. We were at Game 2 of the World Series in the low 40's and upper 30's in the rain - it was still summer. Now that baseball is over, it's fall. In my head, it was like it went from Summer to Fall in the blink of an eye. It was Summer, and then it wasn't. I look around my neighborhood, and see the leaves on the ground and I feel like I missed something. I actually missed the changing of the leaves, and the appreciation of the beauty of it all. It went from green to brown. But this year, I'll let it go. This year I didn't want to have it any other way.
posted at 08:12 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Friday, October 28, 2005
Wearing the Championship
Carol left me in charge of getting our World Series championship apparel, so I went over to Dick's Sporting Goods after work. Last time I was there they didn't have anything with any playoff logo on it. Guess that all changes when a team becomes World Champions - they carved-out a really good sized area in front of the store and loaded it with merchandise. Apparently this is going on all over town - sporting goods storing opening hours earlier than normal and the merchandise is just being scooped-up.
posted at 04:06 PM | Link | White Sox § | Streaming Video is a good thingLocal TV stations in Chicago started their coverage of the White Sox celebration (a celebratory motorcade from the park though the neighborhoods to the Board of Exchange, followed by a "Ticker Tape Parade" down La Salle street (like they still use ticker tape... I heard they're using shredded-up Chicago Sun-Times newspapers... in my opinion a good use of the Sun-Times, but that's gotta look crappy) and a rally in the midle of La Salle and Wacker, right at the river.
Anyway, some of the local stations (Channels 2, 5, 7, and 9) are streaming their coverage over the web so I'll be able to watch from my desk!
Update: Sign in the crowd downtown: JOE CREDE I WANT TO GO TO THIRD BASE WITH YOU
posted at 11:03 AM | Link | White Sox | 1 comment § |
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Water CanonsI guess the White Sox just landed at Midway and the cool thing was that their plane (looked like an American Airlines 757) was welcomed with a traditional Fire Department Water Canon salute (it's where the fire department water canon trucks will setup opposite each other off of a taxiway and shoot a curtain of water into the air over the taxiway that the plane taxi's underneath). It's cool to watch because that's something that only done on very special occasions and I've never seen it done at a Chicago airport.
posted at 03:31 PM | Link | White Sox | 1 comment § |
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS CHICAGO WHITE SOX - 2005- WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Not much to say here... I'm kinda overwhelmed and overcome with emotions, I guess.
To follow one team all your life and finally see them win the championship.
Priceless.
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(Boxscore)
Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere
A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night
Working hard to get my fill,
everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
(chorus)
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlight people
« hide the extended part of this entry posted at 11:05 AM | Link | White Sox § | That's 3Damn it. Fell asleep in the friggin' chair watching the game. Woke up when the local Fox news was on after the game. Checked TiVo, but it stopped after Uribe's at bat in the 14th, right after Blum's homerun. (have been TiVo-ing all of the games and copying them off to DVD... just for "posterity")
14 innings (The only other World Series game that lasted 14 innings was on Oct. 9, 1916, when the Boston Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 2) Five hours and 41 minutes. (longest (time) in World Series history). 482 pitches. 17 pitchers (the previous high of was 13 for a World Series game). Most walks in a World Series game - 21. Most walks by one team was a record, too, for the Sox - 12. Most players used in a World Series game - 43. The 30 men left on base, 15 by each team, were the most in a World Series game. Most combined Double Plays - 6. Scott Podsednik became the first player to have eight official at-bats in a Series game. First World Series game played in the state of Texas.
I knew it was going to be a rough game. If the Sox didn't win, I wasn't too concerned thinking that the Astros and fans would be pretty pumped. They were but everyone sure fell silent ion the 5th when we scored 5 runs to take the lead after being down 4-0 (especially off their "superstar" pitcher Roy Oswalt, who everybody was raving about, to the point of giving him a win for the game handily without him even throwing a pitch - like he was predestined and nobody could touch him).
Hope I can stay up and watch the game tonight!
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posted at 01:47 AM | Link | White Sox § | Sunday, October 23, 2005
Damn faucetWoke up and went to the bathroom to get a drink of water. Turned on the faucet, filled my cup... couldn't turn the damn faucet off. We've got an old one-touch faucet with an acrylic handle and the handle feels messed up. But I can't get it off. So, we hit the cut-off for the cold water. That way, we can turn the faucet to cold to turn off the watre, and if we need hot water for washing, just turn it to hot. And, in the morning, for cold water either get the first drips out of the faucet when you turn on the hot - which always wind-up cold for the first few seconds - or use the faucet in the bathtub.
Damn. Will have to call a plumber.
posted at 12:52 AM | Link | Mundane § | Saturday, October 22, 2005
Big Screen World SeriesWe had Bary, Buffy, and Debbie over this evening to watch the first game o fthe World Series on the big screen in HDTV.
I can't tell you how happy I am that Barry was feeling well enough to leave the house and come out all the way to our house. And I'm happy that Deb was able to get out here, too.
So, we called-up our new PF Chang's at Woodfield and placed an order for pickup, and the "girls" went out to pick it up before the game started.
What a great time - they stayed for the whole game, the food was great. Oh, and we won the first game. How cool.
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posted at 11:46 PM | Link | Friends § | World Series ShoppingWe're having company over tonight - a perfect time to get out of the house to let Carol clean it without ME being around.
Besides, I've got places I need to go and see.
After all, the World Series is in town for the first time in 47 years.
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I drove down to U.S. Cellular Field. Note to self: don't take the tollway. Though the oasis is a plus for drinks and snacks, but the construction at the River Road Toll Plaza to start the conversion to Open Road Tolling is going to screw things up - cost me over 15 minutes today, can't imagine what it'll do tomorrow.
There's no traffic around the park, but there's sure a lot of people out and about. I stop and take a picture of a huge banner that's covering the ramps at Gate 6. It's a Grinder Rules ad:
GRINDER BALL RULE #162:
CRYING IN BASEBALL --
ONLY ACCEPTABLE IF CHAMPAGNE BURNS YOUR EYES
Priceless.
I take a right onto 35th. I hadn't planned on stopping at the park to take pictures, but there's just too much happening. I notice that there's a group in the southwest corner of Lot B. Us Flags, City Flags - What's going on? I pull into the lot and walk over - only to miss the end of a Press Conference by Mayor Daley, talking about the Ceremonial Bet of Lou Malnatti's Pizza, Eli's Cheesecake, Atomic Fireballs and Tootsie Rolls. There's a fiberglass cow painted/decorated in Sox colors. And, of course, what everybody in the city has been looking for - Ozzie Guillen cardboard masks. Everybody is taking their own Eli's cheesecakes, and pizza's. Took pictures of the mayor and cow. I walk toward the park and find out that the grounds crew took the World Series stencil that's used on the field and painted a duplicate on a piece of grass outside the park so people can get their picture taken on it. (which I did, thanks to an elderly lady that decided - on her own, mind you - to stand on a bus stop bench to get a better shot (she was right!). Walked around the property and found all of the exterior souvenir stands open and busy, both with customers and with stocking the shelves with new product. After gathering a few things, I walked back to the car and drove just a few blocks west to Grandstand, the world's best White Sox souvenir stand on the face of the planet.
Grandstand had a huge line formed outside the building, running down Wallace. It took me 45 minutes to get into the building - and then I felt like the proverbial "kid in a candy store" and ran around just grabbing those things that I just wanted. Hundreds of dollars later, I escaped the building.
The day wasn't over, however. I heard about what the city was doing with the well known statuaries around town, so I drove over to Michigan Avenue and went to the Art Institute. I parked my car on Columbus and walked along the front of the building.Took pictures of the huge lions that flank the entrance to the building - with large White Sox hats on their heads. Walked to Daley Plaza and took pictures of the Picasso Statue, also with a Sox head on top of its... "head"? Walked back to the car and headed home... and accidentally found the third statue involved on Congress: The Bowman and The Spearman is a statue of an Indian on a horse... that's wearing white socks with White Sox logos on them.
Everybody I saw all day had White Sox stuff on. I saw maybe two people with Cubs stuff (obvious psychopaths).
This is really friggin' cool... « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 02:43 PM | Link | White Sox § | Friday, October 21, 2005
If the sky's gonna fall, at least let's make the place look good...The Picasso statue in Daley Plaza is wearing a Sox hat.
The two lions in front of the Art Institute are being fitted for hats and will be wearing them shortly.
(I don't know this statue) the hoofs of a downtown sculpture titled "The Bowman and The Spearman" are to outfitted with white socks in time for tomorrow night's Game One against the Houston Astros.
The mayor's office is distributing 20,000 Ozzie Guillen masks. (That's supposed to make the place look better?)
posted at 02:07 PM | Link | White Sox § | Today has become "The Sky Is Falling" dayToday, the White Sox and the media are laying it on thick. The World Series is coming to town, but if you don't have a ticket, don't bother getting anywhere close.
The first game starts tomorrow night. The police & FBI are blocking of the streets for a block around the park. Nobody without a ticket gets inside the area. On top of that, there will be random car searches. I remember 2 years ago the searches they were doing around the park prior to the All-Star Game. The real unnerving part? They had guys with Geiger counters checking for radiation coming from the cars... makes you wonder if they heard"chatter" about a "threat". And, jeez, the World Series is a pretty big public event... Great...
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World Series opens Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field
10/20/2005 11:29 AM ET
MLB.com
CHICAGO -- The American League Champion Chicago White Sox will host the National League Champion Houston Astros for Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday, October 22 at U.S. Cellular Field.
The White Sox are making the following recommendations to fans attending World Series games:
• Game 1 will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m.; Game 2 begins at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 23. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, are scheduled for Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m.
• World Series tickets are sold out. Fans without tickets should not come to the ballpark. No standing room tickets will be sold.
• For the entire World Series, the Bullpen Sports Bar, the outdoor seating adjacent to the Bullpen Sports Bar, the Pontiac Fundamentals Area and the center field Fan Deck are sold out. These areas were sold as regular ticketed areas and will not be available to the public.
• Fans should arrive early to avoid traffic. Gates to the ballpark open at 4:00 p.m. on both days.
• The White Sox strongly recommend that fans utilize public transportation. The CTA Red Line stops near the ballpark at 35th Street and the Green Line is two blocks further east.
• Fans driving to the ballpark with reserved parking coupons should follow the directions on the coupon back to reach their assigned parking area. Parking coupons should be displayed prominently as fans approach the ballpark. All cars are subject to inspection.
• Cash parking will be very limited, and fans intending to drive and pay for cash parking should follow directional signs to available lots. Additional parking will be directed to IIT, Michael Reese Hospital and McCormick Place, where free shuttle service will be available each day.
• Tailgating is permitted, and parking lots will open at 3:00 p.m. Tailgating during and after games is prohibited.
• As is the policy throughout the regular season, fans holding tickets for the upper level will not be able to access other levels of the ballpark. This policy ensures that fans safely and comfortably enjoy the game with access to the areas of the ballpark where they bought tickets.
• Finally, the White Sox ask fans attending games to be respectful of the neighborhood and homes surrounding the ballpark before and after games.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
World Series Road Games 4 and 5 to be broadcast at the United Center
10/21/2005 11:48 AM ET
MLB.com
CHICAGO -- The American League Champion Chicago White Sox have announced that World Series Games 4 and 5, being played Wednesday, October 26 and Thursday, October 27 in Houston, can be viewed by fans at the United Center, the home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks.
Tickets for the World Series viewing party are $15, with proceeds being split equally among the official charities of the White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m. CDT, and gates to the United Center will open at 6:30. Seating will be general admission.
The event will feature the White Sox famous opening introductions, scoreboard video montages and all of the promotions fans would experience at a White Sox home game. It will be the closest thing to being at U.S. Cellular Field.
"The World Series is the pinnacle of this exciting White Sox baseball season, and we knew our fans would want to watch the games together in an energized stadium atmosphere," said White Sox vice president of marketing Brooks Boyer. "We anticipate the possibility of inclement weather, so we were thrilled to work out a partnership with the Blackhawks and Bulls that ultimately will end up supporting worthwhile causes. We think our fans will feel good about that."
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 11:39 AM | Link | White Sox § | Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Houston, eh?So we finally find out what opponent we have for the World Series:
Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros
It's going to be a long, well fought series.
posted at 10:50 PM | Link | White Sox § | Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Tickets? HA!World Series tickets went on sale at noon today.
Gone in 18 minutes.
Thank God we have ours already. There weren't a lot of tickets available anyway - I've heard 2,00-4,000.
Still don't know who we're playing.
Update: Well, it's Houston.
Update: Here's the word on tickets from the Inside The White Sox blog, written by Scott Reifert, their Vice President of Communications: I've gotten quite a few questions about how the tickets are distributed. The White Sox get our allotment for STH, etc. Then MLB takes a big chunk for the following: MLB sponsors, licensees, broadcasting partners, the media, all other 28 teams, every MLB player, umpire, etc.
What's left goes on sale to the public, which was just over 10,000 tickets available to the general public for the four games. If you figure there were 140,000 people trying to get 2,500 opportunities (since each could buy four tickets), you can determine how tough the odds are and how many fans were disappointed.
Update: This should put us in our place. 10,000 tickets in 18 minutes? How about Tickets for Wrestlemania 22, to be held in Chicago on April 2nd of next year at the Allstate Arena, were put on sale last week -- and sold out in less than two minutes. And that was 15,000 tickets.
posted at 06:15 PM | Link | White Sox § | *squint*
We're at that real dangerous point of the year. The point that the sun - when out - is very low on the horizon during the time of your commute. And I'm lucky to commute on a "diagonal" road that eastbound (or actually, slightly southeastbound) points right into the sun. You need sunglasses. You need a working sun visor. You need a clean windshield. You need to pay attention.
I had an old lady tailgating me all the way to work. I'm convinced she did that because she could actually keep an eye on me. If I got too far ahead, I'd be in the sun and she couldn't figure out what to do. A bit nerve-wracking.
posted at 10:17 AM | Link | Mundane § | Monday, October 17, 2005
Taking it's tollSleep.
Lack of it.
A little bit (HA!) of excitement about getting to the World Series. I think I'm a little pumped-up but the fatigue is easily taking over. Hard to stay awake at work (very embarrassing... not a good idea).
posted at 04:29 PM | Link | Mundane § | Sunday, October 16, 2005
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODCHICAGO WHITE SOX - AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS - 2005 I didn't think we'd win 4 straight and actually go to the World Series! 4 straight games of complete game pitching?
This is unheard of.
Paul Konerko gets the ALCS MVP trophy.
No World Series appearance since 1959. 46 years. 16,825 days between qualifications.
No World Series win since 1917. 88 years. (let's not get ahead of ourselves)
I wish I could explain to you the feeling of following a team all your life and the team finally makes it to the championship. It's unbelievable.
Yes, there's tears. Tears of joy. I can't explain it. Relief. Pride. Excitement.
(Boxscore)
posted at 10:41 PM | Link | White Sox § | Saturday, October 15, 2005
Wolves 1 - Moose 3 
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A year has passed and we're back at the Allstate Arena for some AHL Hockey action.
Sorry. Not ready for this - baseball is still going on, my team is really into it, and hockey... can wait for all I care.
The game seemed "foreign". We don't have a single goalie we had before. Most of these guys have never played with us. Our new captain - Derek MacKenzie (Steve Maltais is gone - rumors fly - looking at Europe? showed up to camp way out of shape? retired?) - breaks his ankle sliding into a goalpost in the first.
Still don't have a powerplay - how many years will this go on? - Just feels like there wasn't enough practice time with the members of the final team to iron passing and just plain fundamentals.
Sucks.
(Boxscore - Gamesheet) « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:53 PM | Link | Wolves § | Friday, October 14, 2005
Irregular postingSorry that I haven't been regularly posting anything around here lately. I've been SWAMPED at work.
On top of that, Carol and I have been wiped from putting in extra hours at work... just so that we can go to the ALDS and ALCS baseball games that we have tickets to (through our White Sox Season Tickets).
On top of that, I couldn't ignore the "call" of a friend who was looking for help when her MovableType blog went absolutely kablooie (ka-bloo-ee? Kablewie?) . It didn't look like anybody was going to help her out and, well, she's a good egg and I just felt I needed to help her. So, I upgraded Erin's site from 2.6x to MovableType 3.2 and got all posts to work again - now she's got comment problems (which may have started this whole mess), so I still have some work to go on her site. But at least she's posting again.
I promise, I'll write something here again soon, and fill in my empty days... sometime.
posted at 09:37 AM | Link | Mundane | 2 comments § | Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Ahhhhhh....CCCCHHHHOOOOOOOOOOORunny nose, sneezing, congestion, watery eyes and itchy throat. All the time.
Guess if I didn't know before, I now have definitive proof:
Chicago is #1 in a list of Fall Allergy Capitals according to The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America The rankings were based on each city's pollen counts, the amount of allergy medicine used per patient, and the number of allergists per patient.
Wonder where we rank in spring. It ain't too pleasant now and I seem to remember a whole mess of unpleasantness back in the spring.
posted at 01:16 PM | Link | Mundane § | Saturday, October 08, 2005
20 bags of cypress mulch20 bags of cypress mulch on that wonderful area that Diane worked on this summer means it's finally done. Carol & I went to Home Depot and bought and transported the mulch home and just went though and covered everything we could the best we could.
We're exhausted.
posted at 12:34 PM | Link | Mundane § | Friday, October 07, 2005
Sweep? Sweep? SWEEP!
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First playoff series win since 1917
First playoff sweep in team history
We advance to the AL Championship series for the first time since 1993.
WE SWEPT BOSTON - how did that happen?
OH! Picture this - Damaso Marte (who I STILL don't understand why the HELL he's on our playoff roster) LOADS THE BASES WITH NO OUTS in the bottom of the 6th. 4-3 White Sox. It looks like it's over.
Ozzie - pissed at home plate umpire Mark Wegner's ball-strike calls - brings in former starter El Duque, Orlando Hernandez - who gets out of the inning with a foul out, a pop fly, and finally a strikeout (a Full-count check-swing by Johnny Damon was ruled that he actually went through the check).
After that, El Duque had two scoreless innings while allowing only a two-out single to John Olerud in the eighth.
Sox Win. WHITE Sox Win. And Advance.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 07:33 PM | Link | White Sox § | Thursday, October 06, 2005
WipedCarol and I are just both wiped-out from the events of the last two days and the hours we're putting in to be able to get time-off to get to these games. The word "fatigued" doesn't come close. But, ya know, it's a "good" fatigued? I mean, we can barely walk and talk, but I wouldn't have given up a chance to see those games.
posted at 05:19 PM | Link | Mundane § | Monday, October 03, 2005
Blackout in the darknessDamn - the power went out at quarter after 2. In the friggin' morning .No storms, no rain, no nothin'. Couldn't sleep when that happened so I got up, jumped in Carol's truck and drove to Walgreen's to get some flashlights. The power was back by 3am - the time I got back home.
Screwin' with my sleep...
posted at 03:04 AM | Link | Mundane § | Sunday, October 02, 2005
Jack visitWent to my mom's house for the usual Sunday night dinner, like we've been doing for years. Decades, even.
Tonight's different. Diane and Melinda are bringing Jack over. His first night out with the family.
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Melinda brought Jack into the house in his car seat/carrier thing. Every time I see him now, he looks the same and looks different. Is it possible that he changes so quickly? He's only 2 weeks old. He's in such demand - trying to get everyone's attention. Actually, he's just trying to remember how much he's learned about life in just 2 weeks. We're just getting suckered into providing for him and holding him and comforting him. At this age, that seems to be pretty simple - especially since we're not with him 24 hours a day. Melinda is doing a bang-up job, as well as Diane. They're dragging, though. His feeding cycles are a little tight, making for only very very short naps. Yes, they're dragging.
That picture above is of Jack as I took my turn holding him tonight. You know how hard it is to try to hold a camera with one hand and try to take a picture with a macro focus in low-light while trying to hold onto the subject with your other hand? It took a couple of tries - either I was too close and couldn't get the camera to focus or I moved too much and blurred the shot. I was fortunate, however. Jack had just been fed and was in one of his "Milk Coma's". Apparently after he feeds, he's just light's out. In fact, it was kinda scary because you couldn't even tell he was breathing. He would just lay there, so comfortable and peaceful. Every couple of minutes he would kind of sigh, this cute little high pitched, but quite whisper sigh and move around just a hair and then he would continue on dreaming of whatever he was dreaming about.
I sat on the couch in the living room. Mom finished putting away dinner, so she had to have her time with Jack, so I didn't have much time with him tonight. I felt so much different this week compared to last week. I didn't panic, I just held him and basically just kind of stared at him the whole time.. I couldn't really talk to him - there were others in the room. And he really wasn't listening - he was out cold.
It's that weird thing that takes over though, where you just look at him. You trace the arch of the cartilage on his tiny little ear. You check out his nose, his eyebrows. You absent mindedly stroke his back. Des it feel good? Does he care? He doesn't seem to react - he sees to be enjoying that deep sleep of his.
So Mom wrestled Jack away from me. That's the way it's going to be, I guess - Jack's going to be passed around and fought over for quite some time.
I guess the key is to treasure what time you have. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 09:46 PM | Link | Uncle Michael § | The heavens openedFreaky little thunderstorm that just caused havoc in the neighborhood with heavy rain high winds, and hail. There's debris all over the neighborhood (we even lost a plactic downspout drain pad - we found it down the driveway almost in hte street).
The storm followed us all the way to my mom's house. We had standing water on Golf Road that I haven't seen in the 20 years we've been out here. Couldn't take the tollway - too backed-up. The traffic on Higgins flowed, at least, though it was a bit dicey going through standing water or when the clouds just opened up and you couldn't see very far in front of you.
Still hot & humid afterward. And summer is over, right?
posted at 04:08 PM | Link | Mundane § | OK, now that the season's over...For the first time in a while (actually, only 5 years but it's long enough) it's time to get ready for post-season baseball.
But it took until today to figure out what was going on. We swept the Cleveland Indians (which I was surprised/shocked about).
We end the season TIED for the best record in all of baseball (best in the AL at least - we tied with the ST. Louis Cardinals) - 99-63. I think that's an OK comeback from our little "slide". (The Cardinals had the best record in baseball at 100-62. We came pretty damn close after losing our best record to them in August)
So, here's how the AL plays out for the ALDS First Round:
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Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox
Gm 1 BOS @ CWS Tue Oct. 4 4:00 pm ESPN
Gm 2 BOS @ CWS Wed Oct. 5 7:00 pm ESPN
Gm 3 CWS @ BOS Fri Oct. 7 4:00 pm ESPN2
Gm 4* CWS @ BOS Sat Oct. 8 TBD
Gm 5* BOS @ CWS Sun Oct. 9 TBD
* - if necessary
New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels
Gm 1 NYY @ LAA Tue Oct. 4 8:00 pm FOX
Gm 2 NYY @ LAA Wed Oct. 5 10:00 pm ESPN
Gm 3 LAA @ NYY Fri Oct. 7 8:00 pm ESPN
Gm 4* LAA @ NYY Sat Oct. 8 TBD
Gm 5* NYY @ LAA Sun Oct. 9 TBD
* - if necessary
« hide the extended part of this entry posted at 03:42 PM | Link | White Sox | 2 comments § | Saturday, October 01, 2005
CrashWent to B&B's tonight. Originally, we were going to go out to Mon Ami Gabi for dinner to celebrate our anniversaries, but Barry wasn't up to it.
Instead we had a nice homemade ham dinner and a movie afterward - Crash. Dinner was great. Conversation was great. Movie was disturbing. Great cast, great script, great movie - just disturbing.
posted at 11:15 PM | Link | Friends § | *nose wiggle* x 2posted at 07:09 AM | Link | Memes § | |
