Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted. So much for getting back to regular posting.
Well, that Monday Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. Although I don't think their coach deserved the coach of the year award. Let's see, what else happened recently. I finally came to a head with the morons at Comcast and dumped their ass. The people for the dish are installing it tomorrow. I can get every channel the Dish offers on every TV in my house for 6 dollars less per month than cable. Funny how Comcast just blows. I'd tell you the whole story, but I don't have the three hours to type it out and you don't want to listen to that rant.
That same day my parents came up and I drove Terri to see her clients for the first time since giving birth. So, for just over 2 hours the little one was all by himself with Grandma and Grandpa. He apparently did really well. He had his two week checkup and everything was A-OK. So, again we haven't managed to screw anything up too badly.
A couple Saturdays ago we had a bunch of people out at the house to help with me some long overdue yard work. We worked for about 8 hours, had a picnic type lunch and got a lot accomplished. I could actually see that I had a yard which was an improvement over what it had been.
That same weekend we also went to a graduation party for Jaime. Jaime is the younger Jacob's mom. So, as usual, those functions are always lots of fun. The little one didn't take too well to the heat, but other than that he seemed to enjoy himself. He was in the Snugli (a gift from Uncle Matt and Aunt Alison) for the first time. He has really grown to like being walked around in it.
Then on Monday we had dinner brought to us by Randy, Elizabeth, Katie, and Suzy. It was delicious Chicken Pie and Brownie Sundaes for dessert. We were all talking about the plethora of children. Katie was born in December, Gage in May, and as you'll find out in another paragraph or two, another one followed in June.
So on Tuesday I was off work and hung out with Terri and Gage all day. Alison was scheduled to be induced early that morning, so we waited by the phone just in case. Turns out their son (yes a little boy) decided to be just as stubborn as Gage was. In any case, at 7:03 AM on Wednesday the 16th Nathan Thomas joined dad Matt and mom Alison. I've seen pictures and he's adorable. I'd point you to the site, but I should get Mom and Dad's permission first. Hockey practice will be starting soon for all the boys. Also, before taking off for the sunny world of California and visiting Joe Dwight dropped by with a quilt and bear that his mom had made for Gage. I was blown away by the amount of work that went into it. And, the bear was charged with watching over Gage and making sure that he slept well at all times. We've got some cool pictures of everything, but I have to download them and make them a more manageable file size before I can link anything.
On Friday night we took Gage to see his first movie, "Harry Potter 3 and the Prisoner of Azkaban." We went to see how he'd take to the noise and atmosphere and because the tickets were courtesy of Matt and Alison. He slept through the majority of the film and in retrospect he had the right idea. Suzy told me to take some sort of Xanax or Prozac or something before seeing it. I doubt it would have helped. Those of you that know me know that I like things to stick to their original incarnations for the most part. I rarely like remakes and especially in a popular series like this, I think there's an obligation to get it right. Now, Chris Columbus built a pretty decent world from the books. My biggest gripes with his two films were the main parts of plot and characterization that they left out or conveniently forgot about. Cuaron decided to throw the book away entirely. This movie had about as much in common with the book as this had in common with the Frank and Jesse James story. Anyway, in addition to the fact that he moved major events around within the story, there were missing gaps so big you could fit the Empire State Building through it. I'd go into a ton of detail, but what's the point. Everyone would just disagree with me and then I'd get even more pissed about it. I will say that throughout the books and the first two films my impression of Hogwarts has been akin to a prep school for the witches and wizards. Rowling is very detailed about the robes and the look of Hogwarts to reinforce that belief. Columbus also made it seem very clean and prep like. The attitude of some of the characters, Malfoy for instance, also plays into an elitist type culture. Cuaron took a very dark book and made it...dirty. Everything and everyone in this film seemed grungy. The robes and uniforms were barely present and when they were they were disheveled. The kids were unkempt and the new look of Hogwarts took on that of a barrio or a ghetto. I half expected to see John Cleese swooping by with a boom box on his shoulder listening to 50 Cent with a '76ers uniform on and the shorts pulled down to his knees.
Anyway, Gage was good throughout the movie. Saturday we headed down to my parent's house for an early Father's day. Then we all headed up to an old family friend's house and had a wonderful chicken roast. If you are unsure of what that might be, picture a 12 foot stick with 25 chickens turning slowly over an open flame while being brushed with spices and marinade. Excellent. And everyone, of course, oohed and aahed over Gage. After the roast, we met up with Tom and had a sort of farewell dinner. I still can't believe he's actually moving. Although today was actually his first day of work out there so we'll see how it went. I expect he'll be updating his blog a little more frequently now that he'll have some steady computer access.
Sunday we went to church where Gage receieved another handmade quilt. Then we headed to her parent's house for a second Father's day. Turns out Gage let me pick out a 1/2 inch drill to run my hole saw. Not bad for my first Father's day. And, I'll wish a belated Happy Father's Day to all the first time dads. Rusty, Glen, Randy, Matt, John, Rob, Erik, and me. I don't think I've forgotten anyone, but with all these kids you never know. So, if I did forget someone, my apologies. Also, Happy Birthday to Matt. He's one year closer to catching up with his hair loss.
Tonight I was supposed to go see the Vandermark Five with Mitch, but I'm not sure either of us is going to be able to make it. That's a shame, I would have loved to have met Ken and had him sign my disc. And, tomorrow I get my Dish so all is well at the moment. In case you hadn't gleaned from above, Gage and Mom are doing fine and we'll be sending out hospital pics real soon to those who haven't gotten them hand delivered. And, that's about enough for today.