2007 Review Part III

I have ZERO clue why it won't let me just post these all on the same post, but it won't and never has let me... So I had to do three posts... :)

August - in Monterey for Titus and Jackie's wedding!

August - Titus and Jackie Goodling!!!

September - I FINALLY finished the entertainment center that I started in April... Well, I use the term finished loosely because I still need to put the doors on the bottoms, and I STILL haven't touched up that wall where I had to move the thermostat... :)

October - this is about as far as we got on this whole project, there might be a few other things that got done, I'll get back out there in the next month or so and complete it so it will be ready come Spring!! Next year though, from Spring on, you'll find me sitting at that bar there with my computer watching everyone swim, while joining them occassionally... :)

November/December - The FINAL project of the year, I decided to redo the kitchen, which Carolyn absolutely LOVES I might add! So she didn't mind that it took me a month and a half to actually get it done... :)

2007 Review Part II...

June - was the month the "project from hell" started... :)

June - was also the month the kids got to start swimming!

July - I started the pool house, or at least started the actual framing, the "prep work" was started MUCH earlier...

August - this photo is out of place, but I HATE the way blogger deals with photos, so this is where it shall stay! Anyway, I got MOST of the outside work done on the pool house that month! Still a LOT of work to do though... :(

July - we went to San Francisco for a few days, then on to Monterey... :)

2007 Review Part I...

January - didn't take many pictures for some reason, we went ice skating though... :)

February - was the month the kids just HAD to have instruments, and here it is nearly a year later and they still don't know how to play them... Perhaps lessons this next year?? :)

March - I didn't spend the WHOLE month on it, but that is one of the things we did that month...

April - finally finished the "circle", and for anyone who had been over to our house prior, they could confirm that it was a MESS! We used it as a burn pit for about 3 or 4 years...

May - FINALLY finished the front yard, which ALSO had been an eyesore for a few years ever since Titus and I 'tore' it up a few years ago... :)

Nope...

Nothing going on that is... :) I've pretty much done nothing since Christmas Eve except go through almost a full rack of firewood and watch movies with Carolyn... There aren't that many movies out there that are even watchable though, but we have suffered through some:

*Bug - possibly the stupidest movie I have ever watched, not even sure why we continued to watch it, but we did...

*Ghost Rider - barely watchable, but if you have ABSOLUTELY nothing else to do...

*Eastern Promises - mildly entertaining, although slow going at first...

*Next - again, mildly entertaining...

*Safe Harbour - if you like Danielle Steele then this is about the same as the rest of her books, something you can catch on Lifetime pretty much every few hours though...

*Transformers - I saw the previews and thought I might like it, it was however another of the stupidest movies I've ever seen, although not NEARLY as bad as Bug...

*The Kingdom - pretty lame as well, although I didn't turn it off for some reason...

*Wild Hogs - this one I did NOT finish watching, not sure though how I managed to sit through Bug and not this one, wow!

*Perfect Stranger - another almost unwatchable flick, but I sat through it for some reason...

*Mr. Brooks - we actually liked this one... :)

I think we actually watched a few others, the names of them don't exactly pop into my mind right now though... Now I've got to try and find some for tonight, but the issue is I don't think there are any more out there that I even WANT to bother watching, we'll see what I find on my way home from the office...

Happy New Year's Eve!!!

Funny...

Road Trip...

So we were wondering what to do during Spring Break and we decided to go the route Titus and Jackie did and rent an RV and take off... We found a site where people that own RV's rent them out... We found one like the one pictured that is available when we want it, but we will go look at a few of them before actually picking the one we want to take... :)

Our planned route... Of course I'll be like Chevy Chase planning where we want to stop and the places we want to visit before we actually leave, but that is one of the fun parts of taking such a trip... :)

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a GREAT day with friends and family! As usual, the kids were up and ready to GO! Of course I told them to empty their stockings while Carolyn and I got ready... Joshua came over around 9:00, and of course there was the usual, where are the batteries, can you open this, how does this work... :) Then Carolyn fixed a great lunch for us, I did grill the steaks, but that is about it, and it was raining, so I had to open the garage and pull the grill right inside the garage to even cook them, NOT that I'm complaining, because we do need the rain! :) Cory and Jessica came over and had lunch with us, then we opened more presents... Then Joshua left to go to Marci's and we headed over to Nate's parents house where we exchanged more gifts and socialized for a bit before heading back home... Now I'm actually working believe it or not... :( I do get to work from home, but have to cover for pretty much the entire globe until midnight, hopefully nothing breaks! :)

Ready to tear into the presents!

Family shot...

Chance and Tanner... I neglected to get them any games for it though thinking that, "Hey, it comes with five games!"... Needless to say, the five games it comes with aren't exactly that fun!! So I suppose I'll have to go get them some games for it tomorrow... :)

Cory got Jessica this dog for Christmas, and it is SO little, it looks like a little fur ball walking around. The kids LOVED it! So did Carolyn, now Carolyn wants one of them... :)

Cory opening his gifts...

Hope everyone had a great day and Merry Christmas!!

I Did It...

I didn't think I would get it done, but I did...

There are a few things that aren't done, but whatever, I'll get to those later...

A bonus, I nearly got the 'other room' done as well!!

Yes Petra, I did "whip" the plate holder together as well!! :)

Tick Tock...

Christmas Eve... Not sure about everyone else, but I have three people who are getting VERY excited! Hopefully people take time though to explain the TRUE meaning of Christmas, I'm sure not many do though...

To a LOT of people, Christmas IS about gifts, food and socializing... Sad, but that is what it has turned into. Christmas is about giving though, but for way too many, they forget about the most important gift that was given... Hopefully everyone has a GREAT day, I'll be attempting to finish that kitchen since we DO have people coming over for dinner tomorrow. We'll see how that works out for me... :)

I Can't Wait Till This Is Done...

Many are running around trying to get 'last minute' Christmas stuff done, me? I'm trying to get this kitchen done for Carolyn! I'm almost done though, believe it or not! Tomorrow I'll get the dishwasher, sink and ice maker working, and other than that, it is nearly done! Whew!!

Merry Christmas!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas who may be traveling! Hope everyone has a safe trip and a very Merry Christmas!!

Dreaming Of A White Christmas...

Well, I'm not, but my kids are...

I doubt we'll have one though. It's been rather warm lately, although it has been getting cold lately. If you call in the 40's and 50's cold!! I do! I would MUCH rather be hot than cold! I MUCH prefer the 80 and 90 degree weather here in the summer, I would rather take clothes off and turn a fan on than have to bundle up! Anyway, the day started off innocently enough, the job I have, things slow to a crawl until about mid January... Today one of the A/C motors blew and caused the temperature in the data center to go up to over 90 degrees. Of course there is hardly anyone at the office, but I had facilities prop open the data center doors and move in spot coolers, and it took the HVAC tech about an hour to get there, meanwhile servers were dropping due to the heat left and right. They FINALLY got it fixed and I was able to go back to doing not much of anything...

I took the kids to the store earlier to spend the money their Aunts and Uncles had sent them, and the trip that normally takes about five minutes took about twenty! Ugh! I see all these people running around, the traffic, the lines and I'm like, why did you wait till the last minute?? We've been done for a week now. So about the only thing I have to do over the next few days is finish some things around the house. I HOPE I don't have to leave the house for the next four days! I'm sure I might have to go down to the grocery store or something, but that will be it for me!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas holiday! I do love this time of year (except for the chaos that ensues because everyone waits till the last minute), and I just might take my kids out to see the lights in the neighborhood right now... :)

Funny...

How True...

Tanner and Bo...

Tanner just LOVES Bo!

Ditto!

Yeah, we do have jeans for the boy without holes in them, but for some reason they INSIST on wearing the ones with holes in them!! :)

I wasn't too keen on the idea of getting a dog, but I've kind of taken to Bo! He is such a crazy dog though... He thinks he is SO big! The other dogs in the neighborhood start barking, and he is SO funny, he sits in one of the flower pots we have by our front door and barks away! Little knowing that the dogs across the street would eat him for lunch and want more... He has turned out to be a good dog though, and now that it is winter, he is so fluffy with his winter coat. When I pick the kids up from school and come home, he is usually sitting in that pot and the kids get a huge kick out of it! So I guess we did the right thing by getting Bo! The kids love him to death as well... :)

Christmas School Parties...

Whew! Everyone had a BLAST it seems, but can't say that I'm not glad it's over! Taylor's party started at 8:30 this morning and Chance and Tanner's parties both started at 10:30... I'm the room dad for Chance's class, so I didn't get to spend much time at Tanner's party, although I did pop over to his class a couple of times...

Taylor making a gingerbread man... Her class made those and made some jingle bell necklaces and also ate breakfast... Carolyn and I both went to her class party, then Carolyn had to go to the doctor... After her party I actually went home for about 30 minutes, luckily we live right down the street from the school.

Tanner's class made gingerbread houses, which looked rather messy, good call on the table cloths! I'm actually not exactly sure what else they did as when I would pop in, it was basically, "Hey Tanner! Having fun? That looks great! Well, I'll be back in a bit!" :)

For Chance's party, one of the kids dad is a magician, so he did a magic show for the first 20 mintues or so. The kids seemed to enjoy it a lot! Then the pizza arrived for lunch, so passed out the pizza, drinks, etc... When they were done eating, we had them all make Christmas tree ornaments which they seemed to enjoy! (Carolyn and I got the idea when we took the kids to Michael's last week. It was the "kids craft" for last Saturday, which was good, because I had ZERO clue what to have them make, so it required no thought on my part! :)

Now I am back at home with Taylor and Tanner, Chance wanted to stay at school because his class is watching a movie as I type! Carolyn is out shopping and I SUPPOSE I might go try to wrap that kitchen up, we'll see how that works out for me... :)

Wow!

Okay, so I haven't been blogging much lately, but whatever... I've got this new assignment at work and it turns out I don't know much about Citrix, but I'm having to learn QUICKLY because the only other guy that supports it with me went to NY for the week and I'm on my own! So it's been a huge learning curve, but I'm a quick study! :) NOT that it consumes ALL my time, I want to know who first suggested watching Arrested Development because I've spent the past two hours watching episodes on Hulu... I'm done now though, WHY I do that, I'm not sure.

Then there is the whole "Holiday Party" thing for the kids, turns out not many parents are interested in participating, so Carolyn and I are running around trying to make sure that gets done! We actually ran into Chance's teacher today at Michael's while we were there getting the stuff for the 'craft project' for his classes party. I think she was playing hookie actually, I'm sure she needed a break... She WAS buying stuff herself for the class, so good for her! :) So we decided the craft project would be to make Christmas Tree ornaments, we'll see how that goes over!

Is the kitchen done yet you might ask? No! I think Carolyn is about OVER it though, the kitchen we have downstairs is not that big, so I will HAVE to get that done soon!

We are done shopping though, I haven't sent out my cards yet though! I have them all on my desk though ready to go, I just have to address them basically, so they are ALMOST done, so if you don't get it until AFTER Christmas, hey, it's the thought that counts right! :) I'm sure I'll get them out tomorrow though, unless I decide to watch two more hours of Arrested Development that is... We'll see! :)

How True...

Gift Giving...

Is it REALLY that difficult?? To hear some people talk about it, you would think that they would rather die than have to actually finish the dreaded chore of making sure that they get the right gift for everyone... I hear it at the office all the time, people gather around the break room talking about what they are getting who AND what they think they expect in return!?! Huh?? Is that what it is all about? To some, yes! Some moron the other day attempted to start a conversation with me about this topic while we were standing at the urinals... HUH?? Wow! First off, do I have a sign on me that says I enjoy idle banter?? Secondly, hello, why do you want to start a conversation with me while we are relieving ourselves?? The attempt at conversation abruptly ended though when he looked at the 'I can't Fing believe you are trying to talk to me' look on my face... Anyway, I know some people fret the entire season about the whole prospect of gift giving and gift receiving... Most of the people who do that, don't even appear to enjoy a single aspect of the season, and are likely miserable as hell throughout it and likely are quite relieved when January 1st arrives, but then they also likely start planning either 'revenge' for the people who didn't give as they think they should have or planning the 'gotta do it better' next season because that 'person' outdid me this year... Stunning really...

How about gift cards? That is the topic that got me thinking about the miserable, pathetic fools who don't bother to enjoy the season, but fret about it the entire time... It started with this article:

Gift cards are not gifts...

Wow!! And Miss Manners can kiss my ass too! Although, I wouldn't even bother reading that one if I were you, I MUCH prefer the article written that slams her about the whole concept:

Some language may not be appropriate to some readers... :)

My thought on the topic is, we don't give to receive, EVER! Carolyn and I do give Christmas presents, but we have NEVER expected anything in return, it wouldn't be a gift then, would it?? If you gave and then expected something in return, why not just each person go buy their own crap?? I don't get it AT ALL!

How about all the commercials? You MUST give gifts to your landscaper, barber, mail carrier, paper boy, blah, blah, blah, blah... Sure, it's nice if you want to, but HAVE to?? Yeah, whatever! I'm all about being kind to everyone, and I am to people whose services I use, but I DON'T feel as if I have to do shit because some moron who thinks they know about etiquette or manners tells me I have to... Idiots!!

I think people like that should take a HUGE chill pill and start enjoying the things that go on during the Christmas season. The family activities, the festive moods, the house at night when just the Christmas tree lights are on, driving through the neighborhood with the kids, listening to them ooh and aah about the various lights people have out, and of course the reason for the season, telling the story about Christmas! I doubt the 'people' who fret about the season SO much over the whole gift giving/receiving thing though EVER do actually enjoy it at all, and it's kind of sad really...

Alrighty Then...

So yeah, I've not posted regularly in a week or so, but I haven't felt like it... :)

What have I been up to you might ask? Or maybe not, but who cares, I'll tell you anyway... Well, there is the whole kitchen thing going on, and it's ALMOST done, but not quite, but then, I'm NOT very good at finishing those last few details... Kind of hard not to in the kitchen though, so I'm sure it will be done in the next few days, we'll see! I must say though that it looks a helluva lot better than it did! No, I don't have any pictures yet, soon though, soon...

Why do I insist on putting those ... after sentences?? I have no idea, I just do! :)

How about the "Holiday Parties" at the school? Okay, first of all, I don't like the term holiday party, or winter party, or whatever it is they want to call it, but that's what they call it because of a VERY small minority of people who love to run their noise holes incessantly about it and the VERY large majority who prefer for the most part to keep their yappers shut and just seeth inwardly that it is happening... Anyway, I'm the room Dad for Chance's class, so I wonder how many will chip in for that? We'll see, I sent the notes out today asking for help, but if I have to do it all myself, I'm sure I'll be fine. Luckily Taylor's class has their party at a different time, because no one volunteered to help, so I guess I will... Luckily there are a few parents who volunteer in Tanner's class as their party is the same time as Chance's class...

What else is going on? Well, I got assigned to a new task at work, so I have to learn about that, but it appears it's not that hard, so I DOUBT that is going to be an issue. I'm going through the kids Christmas "lists" deciding what we'll actually buy them, I guess Carolyn will get most of that done this weekend... I suppose the MOST important thing going on right now though is finding the time to watch Elf, because according to Andrea, it is a MUST watch film!! :)

Eagles - How Long

Wow!! What a song! Here is a question for you: who were the two original Eagles?? Okay, whatever... I'm not doing much this second, although I have been busy... Now who DOESN'T like the song????

Christmas Cards...

The Art Of Sending Christmas Cards

A considerable amount of strategic planning is required to ensure that maximum effect is gained from sending Christmas cards. Timing, size and quality are of paramount importance.

Sending Christmas cards too early is not only ineffective but can be humiliating for the sender. It reveals one's position, discloses the size and quality of card, exposing oneself to the possibility of a devastating counter-attack. On the other hand, a very late Christmas card runs the risk of negating the recipient's ability to respond, and reduces one's total card count.

It is certainly better to be on the early rather than late side, for the get-in-quick Christmas card sets the pace and compels the opposition to reply. It is a brave opponent who will respond with less than an equal-to or better-than card.

The next thing to understand is the value of size in Christmas cards. Important people, or at least people who think they are important, send big and important looking Christmas cards. This makes the recipient feel small; which is precisely what is intended. This can be quite costly, but usually worth it.

There is also a place for very small and/or very cheap Christmas cards. They imply bad taste, poverty or disrespect to the recipient, and will guarantee deletion from their Christmas card list. These are particularly effective for terminating pointless long term Christmas card exchanges with people like the Fanshaws you met in Torremolinos in 1976, and can't even remember what they look like anymore - or was it Benidorm?

First-time Christmas cards sent on impulse to recently made friends should be avoided, for they can have devastating consequences; like those nice Watson people you met in Benidorm. Whilst it might be a nice surprise to get a lovely card in return, you might not be very pleased when they arrive at your front door on Boxing Day - or was it Torremolinos?

Copyright © 1998 William Connor

I thought that was fairly humorous, and true for the most part... Do you send Christmas cards? Do you get them? After you send your Christmas cards, do you then send them retroactively because you received one? We pretty much just take our address list from my family and my wife's family and send everyone a card whether we get one or not. We didn't used to even send cards, so it has actually been a rather recent thing we started doing... I'm the world's WORST about sending stuff out in the mail! (Sorry if anyone is or has been expecting something from me and has not yet received it! I'm sure if you are expecting something from me it is within close proximity waiting to be mailed... :)

Speaking of Christmas cards, we got our first one in the mail today! I LOVE Christmas cards that are handmade, creative, include photos, etc!! I think cards that actually took time to make mean the most! They are the only ones we actually keep. If I get a card in the mail that I just happened to see at the grocery store in a bin marked 33% off, with just a scrawled name on it, into the trash it goes, I'm not interested... But that's just me, but that is why my blog is titled Matthew's Opinion... It IS my opinion, if you don't like it, don't read it... :)

Our first Christmas card, in the Christmas card tree holder... I LOVE it btw!! The card that is... :)

So Anyway...

I had to take Carolyn to the hospital this morning for an outpatient procedure (she is doing great and should be up and running around tomorrow), but while I was there for three or more hours, it amazed me how anyone can pretty much go anywhere in a hospital... Shortly after we first got there, I went to get coffee and smoke, and when I went back, I couldn't get back in because it said, "No admittance, Staff Only" on the door, I flagged down the nearest moron and told them I needed to go in, they let me in and asked ZERO questions! An hour or so later, I went out again, when I came back, I heard some woman explaining to some person that worked there that she needed in, I simply told them, "Me too", and tagged right along without a second glance from the person who had access... As I walked around, it became apparent that no one seemed to give a damn who went where... I know they are busy, but wow!!

So yeah, I didn't get much done on the kitchen today! I am taking tomorrow off though, so who knows??

I was going to post some other things about what I feel about things that are going on, but why bother? No one comments, so I won't...

He's Back!!

I thought he would let the freeloading, race pimps get to him, but it doesn't look like he did!!

Thankfully!! Because there is nothing else on in the AM that is even watchable!

Back At It...

Yeah, I've been kind of lazy for the past week, so it's time to get back at it! I've actually done nothing all week except lay around and watch movies. Carolyn wants her kitchen back though, and I do as well, so it's time to get it back together!!

I HATE painting!! But someone has to do it, so I started painting the trim...

I ripped that old counter out and built a new one, laying the tile on it...

I NEVER should have put those things diagonally, I've had to make so many cuts you can't make it up!! I thought I would finish it tonight, I didn't... :( I suppose I will tomorrow!

The Kids Chasing Bo...

Yeah, my video shooting skills require attention! :)

I'm getting a new video camera though, I actually shot that one with my camera. Any suggestions on what kind to get?

Wow!

So I'm sorting my pictures out (again!) and came across this one!

That was 1999, I'd been working there about 8 months I suppose. It's AMAZING how far technology has come in that amount of time! I was actually pretty happy about that time, I had just recently gotten that black laptop in the docking station to my right, it cost about 8 grand, had 32MB of RAM, I forget the processor speed, but wow! My cell phone has more computing power than that thing did... Of course in my office now, I have two flat panel monitors, and one laptop that has nearly 100 or more times the computing power than all the equipment you see in the picture... I can't believe I've actually been there almost 9 years now! I suppose a few years from now, the computing power in the laptop I use will make me wonder how I ever settled for the one I have now... Technology is amazing!!

Anti Smoking Ad

I found this kind of humorous, I think I may have even posted it before, not sure... :)

No New Post...

Why is that you may ask?? I have ALL sorts of things to post about, but why bother? Plenty read, not many comment... I'll post a pic when I have a new one...

Yesterday...

LeRoy, Timberly and the kids came over yesterday, but for some reason, this is the only picture I took... :)

I did absolutely nothing yesterday, so I have LOTS to catch up on today! We'll see how much gets done... :)

Tis The Season!!!

So up to the attic we went and dragged down all the Christmas decorations... I was actually kind of glad that it was time to do it as it gave me a break from the remodeling, of course it meant another day with no progress on the kitchen, but whatever... :)

Starting the tree... I normally just set it up myself, but the kids begged me for weeks to let them help, so of course I said okay, they soon found out what a chore it was, and needless to say, they didn't hang around very long at all... :)

Of course once it was time for the ornaments, the kids came back, along with a few of the neighborhood kids...

Carolyn was glad to have the shelves to put some of the stuff...

Stockings are hung...

Tis done!

Now the kids just want to know what is going to be under the tree! Of course they've had their 'lists' on my desk for a few weeks now, they change them periodically, but we've not really told them what they are getting... Sometimes they know, this year they don't. Carolyn got up today and fought the crowds and got some of the shopping done, I can't do it myself... I don't like going shopping when it's NOT busy, I refuse to go the day after Thanksgiving... I suppose tomorrow I'll have to get back to my remodeling chores... Oh wait, Timberly and LeRoy are coming tomorrow, I might take a break tomorrow as well!! :)