Love or Money????
I saw James Moody at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild Thursday night. Thouroughly enjoyable. He was great. His band was great. He's 79 and it made me think. "Do they go on the road because they love the music and the crowds OR is it for the money?"I don't know about you but I'd always imagined when I was 79 (if I made it to 79) I'd be retired and hanging out someplace. With my current job/project, I can't retire soon enough! It's aging me by the moment. But I guess if I could find something to do that I was totally in to there's really no reason to stop and/or retire. I should be that lucky...Labels: Music, riddle me this, show, things I don't understand
We're getting better
We're getting better.We've both been fighting major league colds. It kicked my ass good. I took a day & a half off from work to fight it. I laid around & drank cold medicine. It helped. But the cold is still lingering. Fortunately HC got a milder version of the cold. She didn't need to call off but she still felt like crap. We're both doing better but the cough and kleenex remain.Labels: HC, Health, Update
Oops! He did it again!
So the other night my father-in-law took HC and I out for my belated birthday dinner.
After dinner, we stop to pick up some groceries. We come home and start to put away the groceries. We both get distracted.
We hear a crash in the kitchen. We come running.
We find HRH under the dining room table frantically eating the ribs we had left over from dinner. The empty take out container laying on the kitchen floor.
Yep. We'd forgotten about his
ability to reach the kitchen couter top.....
Oops! He did it again.
We were NOT amused!! But we had to laugh a little bit. The little bastard!!
Labels: Birthday, food, HRH, Random things..
Weekend Update
Another good but busy weekend.Friday evening we went to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts for a showing. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoy the openings. We've been to 3 or 4 of these and I've enjoyed myself at every one. I'm always amazed at the creativity and talent. I've not run across anything I thought was crap. Afterwards, we came home, fired up the chimnea and watched a DVD, (De-Lovely), outside. It was the perfect ending to the week.Saturday we went to yoga and ran errands. We took a nice drive up to Soergel's for some fresh fruits and vegetables. We met up with H & J that night at the Southside Works to listen to the 80's cover band Velveeta. They were very entertaining.Sunday we went to yoga and came home. HC had to work on her painting job. I washed the cars and cut up some logs. We had my belated b-day dinner at J's. Outta sight as usual. The first cassoulet of the season!!! He's the best. Labels: Birthday, food, Miata, Music, Pittsburgh N'at, show, Weekend Update
Anniversary weekend
This was a really awesome weekend.HC and I were married 7 years ago. The time has really flown by. It doesn't feel like 7 years. I'm very fortunate to have her in my life. She's so: kind, patient, fun, silly, artistic, hard working, smart, witty, pretty, open minded, adventurous, understanding.I'm the luckiest!!!Friday evening we spent a quiet night together. Watching TV, enjoying each other's company.Saturday I took her to the restaurant I had lunch at before I went to the hall where we got married. I then took her to the West End Overlook where we had our wedding pictures taken. I remember the weather being very similar. (Hot & hazy but not nearly as humid.) Saturday evening we had an awesome meal at Eleven. We decided to go for 1 of each of the Chef's Tasting menus so we could try both the meat and the vegetarian choices. We also opted to go with the wine pairings. It was awesome. Very well done: Great presentation, wonderfully flavored dishes, well paced (not rushed), nice wines paired with the food, nice atmosphere, very attentive wait staff. We'll definitely go back!!!Afterwards we went home and watched our wedding video. This was the first time that either of us had watched the video so it was a nice reminder of our wedding day. It made to a great ending to the day.Today we went to yoga & brunch. Then did chores around the house. Not romantic in the least but.....Labels: food, HC, Weekend Update
Musings at 3:00 am
A couple of nights ago I couldn't get back to sleep. I hate that. Sometimes I'm able to get right back to sleep. Other times I'm up for hours. And then I'm useless the next day...Here's what rattles though a Chowder's head at 3:00....- Ideas to fix problems at work. E-mails I need to send out. Call I need to make.
- Things to try on the new laptop to get it to print to the F'ing printer. I've wasted countless hours on such a basic task. Piece of sh!t. I can't belive it's being such a pain in the ass. I know it'll be something simple...
- Try to relax & get back to sleep.
- Things I want to get for the Miata. Shiny good!! Must pimp my ride....
- Holy Sh!t I'm going to be 43 soon.
- Turn on the satellite radio and surf for something to listen to. That'll do it!!
- Money. No I can't pimp my ride this year. I've spent so much on cars this year. My desire to pimp my ride must wait until next year. It's nice to have NOT need to have kind of stuff.
- How about breathing exercises? That'll help me relax & get to sleep.
- House projects: patio, front walkway, roof.
- Worry about where we're going to get the money for these projects.
- I've got 7 more vacation days to burn by the end of the year. Where to go. Where to go...
Labels: Birthday, Cars, ChowderHead 101, frustrations, house, jobs, Miata, Random things..
Do I have to....
Go back to work tomorrow? After such a great weekend, I'm working up the strength to go back to work tomorrow. I need to remind myself "I work for the money. So I can have nice things, go to nice places, etc..." It's not about the job anymore. I used to really love the job but now it's just something to pay the bills. My life, family, and friends are more important. I need to remember this, take a step or 2 back, and NOT care so much about the politics & BS. Let them say what they will. I just need to show up & do my job.Labels: frustrations, jobs, Time to get on with my life
Weekend update
We had a very nice weekend. The weather was perfect. Friday night the weather was so nice we went for a ride after dinner. We ended up at a very dangerous place for me: Best Buys. The gift card my sister sent me was burning a hole in my pocket. I just had to get rid of it...Saturday we went to the Strip District for groceries and lunch. It was beautiful out. A lot of fun riding around top down. Saturday evening we had dinner at J's place. Awesome food, drinks, company, and weather.Sunday we were invited over to S &A's for a cookout. It was nice seeing everybody. I've been friends with S for 20 years so I'm treated like a family member. His mother always says I'm like another son to her. It feels really good to have such good & down to earth people accept me and think of me that way. S & A's kids were their usual sweet selves. When we got there, they dropped everything they were doing and came running over to give me a hug. It's always nice to have those 2 come running and making a big fuss over me.... They are just the sweetest kids. (I think those 2 broke me of the kid phobia) HRH had a great time playing with the kids and getting all the attention that's appropriate for someone of his position. And let's not forget all the treats and snacks everyone was giving him!!! He was in heaven. Food, playing fetch, food, kids, food, getting food out of his toys for the amusement of everyone, fetch...Today we didn't have anything planned other than to enjoy the wonderful weather. We went on a ride out to Bear Run Nature Reserve near Fallingwater. I'd read about this place last year in a VisitPA brochure I got in the mail. We didn't get a chance to see the place last year so we made time this year. It's a lovely nature reserve with all kinds of trails. We enjoyed our hike. Very scenic. We'll definitely be back. There are many trails we have yet to take. We're both a bit tired from the hike. But a good tired. We both needed to burn off some of the food we over indulged this weekend. HRH enjoyed his time off leash. His time to roam the lands as he was intended. His time to eat anything and everything that lay on the forest floor. The phrase "turd munch" was used several times as we had to get him away from the savory bits the forest creatures were leaving for him. He's a sick little monkey. I don't understand his need to eat poop....Labels: Family, food, HC, Holiday, HRH, Miata, things I don't understand, Weekend Update
What's been going on?
Sorry I haven't posted recently. Here's what's been going on...Work: Hasn't let up. It's kept me running around like a chicken without a head. They have no idea what they want but they want it ASAP, yesterday if not sooner. And they don't tell me what they need and then get on conference calls and complain!?!? How can I help you when you don't let me know your needs? I've been trying to remember to do my breathing exercises to keep my stress at a manageable level. (It's helped a little) I've been walking HRH after work. That's helped too.Miata: Finally all fixed up. New clutch & glove box lock. I'm tops down again!! Oh I forgot to mention the new glove box latch was needed because someone tried to break into the Miata when we went up to Morraine State Park a while back. They stole a pair of $5 sunglasses from the center console and broke the lock on the glove box. You know whoever they are are really hard up when they need to steal $5 sunglasses. I hope they enjoy the cheap sunglasses as much as I did. I'm glad they didn't get into the glove box though since I had a 12 CD holder in there...HC: She's doing well. Busy with work and getting sporadic painting jobs here & there. HRH: Unsatisfied with the amount of food & toys his peeps give him. Always planning his next escape attempt in search of the land of food-&-toys-a-plenty.The Daddy-o: Doing well. He's been going on his daily walks. He's in good spirits. He had me took into a trip to Montreal for him last week. (I've stopped telling him it's cheaper if you plan your trip at least 14 days in advance.) It's his money and he can spend it however he chooses. I'm not used to him being this way. All my life he's been very frugal with money. So to have him pass up the opportunity to save some money for the same service/item is strange to me. But I guess it does add to the spontaneity AND besides he's not getting any younger so you never know...Me: Still frazzled & burned out. I need to get motivated to find my "What's next?" HC's been very supportive but I need to get motivated to read my "What Color is your Parachute" book and do the exercises. Most days I'm so tired at the end of the work day all I want to do is go home & hide. Thinking is T-H-E L-A-S-T thing I want to do. But I need to do it. I'll know when the time is right. I've noticed in my life things do happen for a reason. If I can see & learn the lesson I'm supposed to, I'll move on to the next phase/step in my life. Oh yeah. It was my birthday last Tuesday. HC took me to Whisper's Pub for dinner. The food, service, and atmospere were very nice. We'll be going back!Kids: We're back to going back & forth. Concerns about risks to HC's health. Concerns about having the time, energy, and money to raise a child. Concerns about how it will change our lives. We like our life together now. What's a child going to do to the mix?!?! Concerns about how good a parent I'd be. After all, I'm not the most patient person....Labels: Birthday, Cars, ChowderHead 101, Colored Parachutes, Family, frustrations, HC, HRH, jobs, Miata, Parents, Time to get on with my life, Update
