16 Years

16 years
16 years of intertwined hearts
16 years of changing technology but unchanging love
16 years building a loving family
16 years working toward a long and prosperous future
16 years of shared stories and events
16 years of stolen moments
16 years of holidays
16 years means 5,840 days together
16 years that can't be erased (nor should they be)
16 years of arbitrary twisting and turning in sync
16 years means our relationship can drive
16 years of sharing everything possible
16 years of wondering why you'd stick with me
16 years of gratefulness that you have
16 years feels more like 16 minutes

To us, my love.


She glided softly down the stairs, only a slight whisper of material and a small click of heel on stair to announce her presence. He glanced up feeling the familiar rush at seeing her, undimmed by the passing years. At the bottom of the stairs he held out his arm, they headed down the hallway to the foyer where he casually draped a wrap over her shoulders. He opened the door and she smiled as she saw the driver holding open the door to a classic Bentley. "And where are we headed?" she asked. "Somewhere special." he answered quickly. He gently closed her door and nodded to the driver, "No reason to hurry. We have plenty of time prior to the reservations." "Very good sir."
He climbed into the backseat and picked up her hand. "I love you!" he whispered. "I know." she answered smiling slightly. As the car headed toward dinner they sat in a comfortable silence enjoying the time. When they pulled up in front of the restaurant she kissed his cheek and said, "I can't believe you remembered." "It's only been 16 years, hon." he answered. "To some, 16 years is a lifetime." "Yes, but to me, it's only a small step at the beginning."

I love you!
Between now and then til I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me

Twelve Down Four To Go

Ottawa - check
New York - check
Philadelphia - check and double-check.
Detroit - Here we come.

I'm already weary of the time between series. I want to see hockey and I will tomorrow night. I'm tired of listening to the broadcasters talk about the precision, the puck-possession, and the shut-down defense of Detroit. Detroit's about to get a taste of what depth looks like on offense. Of the forwards only Tyler Kennedy hasn't scored at least one goal for the Pens and it isn't for lack of trying. The Pens aren't going to have the easiest time in the series, but I say they close it out in 6 on home ice in front of 17,132 screaming fans.

When The Puck Drops, The Cradle (Of Liberty, That Is) Will Fall

Bye Bye New York. Tee times vary by clubhouse. Please call ahead. Don't worry about getting enough guys together for doubles, the Flyers will soon be joining you.

That's right, in 6 short games or less (hopefully less) the Flyers will be giving statements to the press wondering what happened to their season.

I'm also predicting that Dallas will push their series to 7 and come out over Detroit.

The four remaining teams are halfway to the ultimate goal, but only two will survive to keep going.

One of the local sports talkshows has a host (and I'd love to have this soundbyte) and he opens a lot of segements and goes to commercial break with "The only thing better than advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals is stepping over the dead carcass of Philadelphia on the way there."

And, of course, there are other things going on besides hockey, but I just haven't had the energy to log on recently in trying to get the house ready for baby and get Gage's birthday invitations out and getting stuff ready for Adam's wedding and etc. etc. etc. Everyone seems to be well so that's an update at least.

I've Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway, Or At Least I'm Gonna

Alternately titled: I'm Not In A New York State Of Mind
Or maybe: Running On Ice
(Can you tell Terri and I attended the Billy Joel concert Friday night?)
There's much in the way of past weekend wrap-up, but I'm a little too jumbled in those thoughts at the moment so here's the round 2 hockey action. I went 5 for 8, which is a little above my normal 50%.

And, in case anyone's forgotten, the remaining teams are 4 wins closer to holding this.

In the West
Detroit
vs.
Colorado

I'm disappointed that Nashville didn't make it out of the first round, but they shouldn't fret because Detroit won't make it out of the second. Once again, they're showing their age with visible wear and tear. Dominik, I'm retired, no I'm not, yes I am, no I'm not, Hasek is playing like he's already looking forward to summer forcing Osgood to come in and spell him. It's anyone's guess as to who starts round 2. Colorado, even with all their respective aged ones should be able to pull through this in 6 games.

San Jose
vs.
Dallas

It's a shame Calgary didn't make the most of game 7, but then again, no one I wanted won the game 7. I'm predicting that since Turco has a taste of what it's like to win a series, Dallas in 7.

In the East

Montreal
vs.
Philadelphia

Well, after taking their foot off the gas and allowing Boston to make a series of it, Philadelphia liked what they saw and did the same thing for Washington. Turns out Boston missed the memo on what they were supposed to do after getting everything all tied up. Washington made a bit more of a game out of it. Huet just couldn't catch that last one. Two very tied clubs, but I don't think Biron can stand up to Montreal's firepower. I'm saying Montreal in 5.

Pittsburgh
vs.
New York Rangers

Both teams are well rested so one team being rusty shouldn't be a factor. Neither team took major injury losses so that won't matter. And, even though the Rangers aren't quite Pittsburgh East anymore, they still have Jagr, Straka, and Rosival. All in all, it's going to be Pittsburgh in 6.

And, if you didn't get the title...see here and here.

Sweepin Up The Competition

That's right I said Sweep. 4 games for the Penguins to 0 games for the Ottawa Senators. I picked the right outcome, but I was off on the number of games. I thought Ottawa would put up a little bit of a fight. I guess I was wrong. Unless I miscalculated tonight's game, Ottawa held the lead less than 5 minutes in the entire series. (For perspective, 4 games would total 4 hours). Granted, there are times when no one is playing with the lead, but for comparison, the Pens led during the series for well over 2 hours. The 3 stars for the game tonight included Martin Gerber, who, in my opinion, was the only Ottawa player who bothered to show up for the series. Most of the games could have easily been a lot more lopsided if not for him. The series in the West are mostly going my way, although I'm horrible about picking the number of games. I'd still like to see Nashville and Calgary pull it out, but who knows. The games in the East aren't quite as nice to me. Washington hasn't bothered to show up for the last two games. I guess Ovechkin's back isn't as broad as people had hoped. So, if Philly manages to close them out, they'll face Montreal, who has Boston on the ropes. That leaves us with the winner of Devils/Rangers, which right now looks more and more like Rangers. I'm not looking forward to facing Lundquist. But for now, I'll just enjoy the sweep. And, I'm going to game 1 of the second round, dammit.

Other Assorted Items and Hockey Of Course

Okay, I'll start with hockey. Most of the series are headed the way I like, with the exception of the Rangers and Jersey. But, sooner or later, the Rangers will realize that they are, the Rangers, and that will be the end of that run. Pittsburgh has put up two incredible efforts dispelling any notion that Ottawa has the psychological edge on them. After blowing a three goal lead in game two, they hung on and managed to get a beautiful wrap around game winning goal from Ryan Malone, who then proceeded to put in an empty net goal about 45 seconds later. Monday will be the true test up in Ottawa. If they can put Monday's game away, they have a great chance of sweeping and gaining some rest before round two.
I'm growing to like the commercial from the perspective of the goal posts.
Several items have brought about memories of college days recently. It started with reading the 4th novel, Murdered By Mumia by Maureen Faulkner. Not wanting to get into it again, Maureen Faulkner is the widow of the Philadelphia police officer that Mumia Abu Jamal killed in premeditated cold blood in 1981. He's been on death row ever since. When I was writing for the school paper, I was given the assignment to do a story about Mumia since his defense attorney du jour Leonard Weinglass was coming to campus to drum up more support for their "political prisoner" image. Now, I didn't know anything about the case before receiving the assignment. In the span of 4 days, I quickly brought myself up to speed and made my own mind up about the case. However, I spent the next day and a half agonizing, writing, re-writing, editing, reading out loud, scratching, typing, and finally came out with a non-biased account that I was fairly proud of. Turned it in, mentioned to my editor that it was a bit of a task to do a news story on the subject and proceeded to go about my normal set of weekend events (namely buggy). Monday I grab a copy of the paper and I'm thrilled to see top slot above the fold front page. Then I read the article. My editor took the opportunity to use his "editorial pen" to do a slight rewrite on the article and slanted it in favor of Mumia. I was livid since my name was attached to the article. I called immediately and asked where he got off. Three minutes later I had ended my affiliation with the news section of the paper. I continued to submit to the entertainment section doing movie and cd reviews and interviews, but I never submitted another news story. Anyway, reading the novel brought back all those memories and taught me even more about the case. It just amazes me that he's still alive 26 YEARS after being found guilty and sentenced to death by a jury of his peers. It's probably one of the few political issues I take an actual stand on.
The second thing that took me back was the death of Dith Pran on March 30th. I interviewed Mr. Pran when he spoke at Carnegie Mellon. I can't even imagine going through the things that he saw both in and out of his camera lens. He was a diminuitive soft spoken man, but highly articulate and intelligent and he and I had a great conversation that turned into a great article.
Then, of course, there's the ever looming Spring Carnival that occurs next weekend. By this time next week I'll know where my old team finished.
And, Smart People came out this week as well. So, all in all, it's been a blast from the past. I haven't seen smart people yet, but I'll probably see it soon.

Cup Fever, Lord Stanley, and the Beard

Tonight begins the best tournament in sports. Forget the NFL playoffs, the World Series, The Chase for the Cup (although that sounds quite similar), The Final Four, Whatever nonsense Basketball calls their crap, this is it. 16 teams, 7 game series, 16 wins over the course of 2 months and you can hold the Holy Grail of Hockey.
So, here are my picks for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (as well as a whole lot of hopin.)

Western Conference

1 - Detroit
vs.
8 - Nashville
Nashville is the huge underdog in this series and not just because Detroit won the President's trophy with the best record in the NHL. They are under-experienced in the playoffs even with the addition of Jason Arnott. I'd love to see Nashville pick it up, but I don't think they have the playoff motor primed and ready. Even though they beat Detroit 3 times in the regular season (and came close to making it 5) I think it's going to be Detroit in 6.

2 - San Jose
vs.
7 - Calgary
I don't know much about either team in this series, beyond the fact that a lot of analysts seem to think it'll be the Sharks and Pens in the final (though I disagree with their outcome). I think San Jose is going to make short work of Calgary. San Jose in 5.

3 - Minnesota
vs.
6 - Colorado
Don't know much about this series either. I'm not sure how much of an impact that Forsberg made in the regular season, but I do know he's a handy guy to have around in the playoffs provided he's healthy. I'm going to have say that Minnesota has their number and will take them in a 7 game series.

4 - Anaheim
vs.
5 - Dallas
Anaheim is the defending cup champ and Dallas is known for early and often playoff exits. I think Turco has decided that this is his year to turn that around. Dallas in 7.

Eastern Conference

1 - Montreal
vs.
8 - Boston
Montreal shouldn't have too much difficulty with this series. Tim Thomas isn't ready to carry a team deep, though neither is Carey Price, but with Kovalev filling up the net like he used to, I think it'll be Montreal in 6.

2 - Pittsburgh
vs.
7 - Ottawa
Ah, the rematch from last season. Although the tables are turned and Ottawa is scattered to the injured reserve winds, they have a yappy jackass coach and the experience to dig deep. Unless the Pens can get to them early and often in the first two games, I think this will a little farther than most people think. However, it will be the Wizard of Cros standing at the end of 6 games.

3 - Washington
vs.
6 - Philadelphia
This series will probably be the most brutal in the East. Ovechkin, the face of the Caps picked up the team and carried them into the post-season by kicking Carolina out at the last possible minute. Philadelphia has had an up and down year from sitting atop the division to being on the outside looking in during the last week of the season. They're also a little battered. Biron is not the wall they need him to be and with Ovechkin, Backstrom, and the late acquisition of Federov I think Washington will walk away in 7.

4 - New Jersey
vs.
5 - New York Rangers
Ug, can they both lose? Even though the Rangers have beaten up on New Jersey throughout the season, Brodeur has the ability to put up the invisible force-field in front of his net which will frustrate Jagr to no end and a frustrated Jagr is a whiny cry-baby Jagr and so long have a nice day. Jersey in 7.

So, there you have it. My predictions, half speculation, half hoping, half informed (as usual...I mean what do you expect from a guy with three halves.)

And, though I'm going round by round, you're cordially invited to Pittsburgh in late June or early July for the Stanley Cup rally. I wonder if Snowball will be around to watch?

To Count Or Not To Count

Hmmm, I know that one of the stipulations that I had for the 150 movies over the course of the year is that they were movies that I hadn't seen yet. Whether or not they were at the theater, on dvd, or on satellite didn't seem to matter. However, one thing I hadn't taken into consideration was how they were released. I'm wondering, do I count made for TV movies? I'm curious because this weekend I can either count 4 movies, or 1 depending on how the vote swings. However, the one that definitely counts is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
When I was growing up, it was in a small town with very little in the way of culture. I believe the bowling alley was probably the mecca of civilization. So, I tried to, in essence, "collect" as many different experiences as I could. I tried to venture to Pittsburgh as often as I could to help me out in my quest. This continued right up until college, actually, it hasn't ever really stopped, but my freshman year in college I was exposed to so many different items at different levels it felt like culture shock. One of the things that sticks out vividly in my mind was almost a fluke. My junior year of high school they decided to begin doing musicals. Outside of The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music, I wasn't really acquainted with musicals. So, I sort of dove in headfirst. But, until my freshman year of college all I had exposure to were the "normal" musicals. Then, a dramat (drama major) on my floor gave me tickets to Sweeney Todd. I was hooked. At that point, I realized that just like everything else in the world, musicals could be twisted and outside the norm. I had the soundtrack within a week and to this day it's still one of my favorite musicals. However, given it's graphic nature it doesn't get many runs in the traditional sense. So, when it came to Pittsburgh earlier this year, I was there. So, I've seen two very different stage versions and had every intention of seeing the movie when it came out. Of course, with a three year old, making it to the theater for an R rated movie. So, it passed out of the theaters and I almost missed my chance. Then I noticed that one of the cheap theaters in the area picked it up. So, yesterday, we headed down to the 1:15 show thinking that maybe Gage would nap through most of it. Since the theater was also showing The Bee Movie, Terri opted to take him to see that while I went to see Sweeney Todd. I'm glad I went. Johnny Depp did not diappoint. From the minute the score started pumping through the surround sound, I knew it was going to be a good movie. I'd definitely see it again in the theater given the chance. I will be picking up the soundtrack for the movie, even though they shortened or cut some of the songs. I'll also be picking up the DVD when it comes out.
After taking the assessment of made for tv movies, I'll update the counter on the right.
Oh, and today Gage and I got to see the Pens flatten the Flyers 7-1. Gotta love it. That brings the season series a little closer.

14 Years...

of moneymaking, media and pop culture dominance, introducing a mystical world into an otherwise drab "muggle" one, etc. etc.
I am, of course, speaking of Harry Potter and his creator JK Rowling. Although her history with Harry spans much further back, (in fact, another 7 years for 21 total...what is it with this woman and 7's?), the first Harry Potter book was offered to the world at large in 1997. And, rumors confirmed today that the seventh Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be split into two parts for a film adaptation with part 1 hitting in November of 2010 and part 2 hitting in May of 2011 (hence the 14 years from '97). The article can be found here for further reading. Contrary to the cynics who are claiming a pure money driven motive, I'm actually glad that it's being split. I like seeing film versions be as true as possible. Hopefully, with the extra film, they'll come close to keeping the plot mostly intact, as opposed to some of the other movies. Honestly, I'm hoping for someone truly ambitious, connected, and wealthy actually goes back at some point 25 or 50 years in the future and remakes all 7 books keeping sub-plots, timelines, and characters intact. The chances of that happening are slim to none because Warner Brothers isn't going to give up a cash franchise that easily unless they have some sort of major stake in the new one. I figure that 25-30 years is going to put some kid who was maybe 7 or 8 when this hoopla started at about just the right age itching to see it done better. (As an aside, I'm at work [didn't want to lose the narrative thread I had in my head] and while listening to the next album up in line, the song 7 Days comes on. Maybe I should go play triple 7's for tonight since I didn't win the Powerball yesterday). Seriously, most of the stuff getting remade nowadays comes from people of our generation who grew up and cut our teeth on this stuff and don't want to see it fade. Why else do we see remakes like Dukes of Hazzard, Bionic Woman, Dallas, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Willie Wonka, etc. Hell, I think the only show they haven't touched is The Waltons and who wants to see that again? Good-Night John Boy. Anyway, done correctly, with a consistent vision (hello gap between 2 and 3, did we hire Trading Spaces to come in and redecorate?) and keeping the books intact, I think it would be good. The 7 or 8 year old with the nostalgia for "his" franchise (because like we owned Star Wars, this kid owns Potter) would be hitting his mid-to late 40s and looking back on what once was. It could happen. Maybe, it should happen. I guess that will have to wait until Christmas of 2011 when the super deluxe special edition of all 7 movies hits shelves just in time for holiday cheer.

"I'll Take The Rapists For $200 Alex"

"That's therapists, not the rapists."
Yes, certainly Sean Connery has his favorite categories on Celebrity Jeopardy. And, an old episode of Cheers had Cliff see his stacked board on the game show. Yesterday, for the first time in a while, I managed to get a chance to sit down and watch Jeopardy. It was a pretty normal game til they announced the categories for
Double Jeopardy. One of the categories was something to the effect of, Quotes from Bruce Willis movies. Terri started laughing and remarked that it was my dream category. And, I did go 5 for 5 on the answers of, "Look Who's Talking," "The Sixth Sense," "The Siege," "12 Monkeys," and "Armageddon."
So, that's 1 out of 11 categories for my dream Jeopardy game. Although I would have used quotes from "Striking Distance," "Hudson Hawk," and the Die Hard movies.
I'm currently watching the Penguins crush the Buffalo Sabres. The score now is 7-3 in favor of the Pens. Gage must be loving the scoring. I'm sure Mommy is getting a ton of high-fives. I was doing some quick figuring on the 150 movies and realized that my movie watching would certainly pick up after hockey season. Hopefully, hockey season for the Penguins will drag on til June. I'll take that.

It's Been A While

Well, of course, I blame work. That lovely catch-all. But enough about a crappy subject. So, I hit several milestones on the lists. I got the first season of TV out of the way, I finished my first novel, and hit 10 movies. All in all, slow progress for it being at the beginning of the third month. But I still have 9 months for 14 more novels, 140 more movies, and 4 more seasons of TV. I have started the next novel and the next season. If all goes well with the seasons of television, I will complete two series with the 5 seasons. Two seasons of F-Troop and 3 seasons of Arrested Development. I would like to finish The Baby Whisperer (book 2) and then head into the 7 Dark Tower books, the Mumia Abu Jamal book Tom gave me for Christmas, and then fill in with 5 other books I've been meaning to read. Although that list fluctuates a lot more. I'd also like to pull several more movies out of my collection to finish as well, but I haven't gotten there. I'm guessing I'll have more television/movie watching time once hockey season is over.
Speaking of hockey, interesting trades. We'll have to see how everything works out. Right now, the Penguins are atop the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, we'd be matched up against the Flyers. Ick. Perhaps the Flyers will lose a few more and fall out of contention all together. Anyway, Crosby is back, Fleury is back, all we need to see now is a healthy Hossa and perhaps Gary Roberts. Hopefully they can ride March into a great playoff match-up and we'll see how deep they go. Oh, and if anyone knows any good girl names, we'll certainly take them under consideration. But they have to be better than Snowball and Broomhilda.

Collecting To Excess And Then Rebuilding

First the rebuilding, mostly because I think it's funnier.
Though I'm not a big baseball fan, I would totally buy this shirt. Tom sent me both that, and this article. It's going to be a long season, I think. On the bright side, they haven't lost a meaningful game yet. I think I'd like to get a t-shirt with the Steelers logo, the Pens logo, and the Pirates logo. Beneath the three logos, "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad"
Now, the next two links deal with collecting to excess. I'll freely admit, my mom is a packrat. Thankfully, I did not inherit this gene. I do, however, enjoy watching my own collections grow. Recently with the posting of the pictures of the library and conversations with some people at work, I've been accused of being a packrat and having too much stuff. I don't think I'm overly afflicted with this. Four things that people automatically leap to point out at my house are (in no particular order) legos, books, music, and movies. However, as I'm sure others will back me on, I know
one person that's got me beat in both movies and legos. Hands down. No contest. Yes, I do have a lot of books at my house, but I have a passion for the written word, both to read and to write. I also have an antique typewriter, three electric typewriters, and a word processor. Anyway, I came across the following two items on back to back days and I don't think that I want to hear anything about my collections ever again.
This collection makes me wish I had three million dollars. I'd probably spend the whole first month of ownership just browsing.
This woman needs some sort of intervention/beating/help/therapy or all of the above. This woman puts my mother to shame. The post has a ton of pictures to load, but it's worth it. Reading the descriptions are even funnier.
So, my collections are just average, everyday normal collections. Just like I've always said.

Retratction!

I guess I should pay more attention to the comments section. I opened it up for revising the answer and then promptly forgot that Randy had upped his guess to 3,500. So, he was the closest to the actual number of books without going over and I guess he gets to keep his showcase showdown. Not much else is going on recently. I watched the Daytona 500 and saw lots of old race footage since it was the 50th Anniversary running. That was pretty cool. I also had 6 of my 8 drivers finish in the top 20 which is a decent week. The other 2 finished in the low 30s, which doesn't go well in the points standings. I'll have to wait for the results to come in to see. And, the Pens managed a win against Buffalo so all in all it was a pretty good weekend. I didn't get to install the light in the nursery like I wanted to, but that will come with time. I mean, I have a ton of time left. Counting down to the current due date, I have a whole 133 days. That's a lifetime, right?

Single-Handedly I Tell You

So, I was at half-price books recently. What, I'm allowed. Anyway, I had methodically gone through the sections and heard a couple of people comment on my "list" that I carry. One of them actually commented to me, which is nice. I usually just hear it second hand. "Look at that guy shuffling papers." Anyway, I'm checking out. The counters at half-price are structured in such a way that they have three sides of a square to check out customers. Frequently, they only use one side, but occasionally there are two open. So, across the counter from me are two women, probably late 30s, early 40s. They are thrilled with the novelty of buying books at a half-price. The second one has her total come up to around $25 and remarks to her friend that in a regular bookstore you would have to pay $25 for just this book and holds one up. Turns out, it's some selection from Oprah's book club. I didn't see which one and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter. So, the first woman asks if she's heard anything about the book itself. The second woman actually verbalizes...out loud...in public, the following sentence. "I have no idea, but if Oprah recommends it, then I'll read it." The girl that was ringing up my books almost snapped her neck, her head spun around so fast. (She was, in my opinion, in the end stages of a goth look...kind of grungy, nose-ring, colored hair, but realizing that she was getting a little older) I'm just appalled and beginning to seethe. The two women continue their purchase, take their bags and head for the door. As the door is closing, Terri walks up to me. I turn to her and say, "See, I told you. I actually heard one of those women say out loud, 'If Oprah recommends it, then I'll read it.' I told you that woman is single-handedly destroying literature." The counter girl almost chokes trying not to laugh out loud. Then she turns to me and says, "I'm sorry, can I get a high-five for that? I'm not allowed to say things like that here, but since you did I'm going to agree." So, I exchanged high-fives with the counter girl with Terri rolling her eyes that not only is someone in agreement, but they're willing to admit it. She figures that's all I need and know she's going to have to listen to my anti-Oprah rant for the next several hours. Luckily, I was appeased by the high-five and the eventual thought of relating the story here.
Oh, and because I let it linger a bit too long, the final tally on the books contained just in the loft/library (that doesn't count books housed in the bedrooms, living room, dining room, or kitchen) is 3,573. So, that would make Susie the closest.

It's Official...I'm Screwed

Well, go ahead and laugh, everyone else has. And, while you're doing that, you can meet my daughter (name pending...I'm sure that will cause several more posts in and of itself.)
Tonight, instead of relaxing and watching the Pens beat the Devils, I have to clean out 1/2 of the loft so that someone can have her scrapbooking area available to her. This may be the first time in 15 1/2 years that I've lost a bet to my wife. I think the only one truly happy by all of this is Gage who adamantly kept insisting that he wanted a little sister. We're going to videotape that for later review. Like when she breaks his favorite toy, or starts dating his best friend.

Library Pictures

With A Book Book Here And A Book Book There

Since I was pulling the kids pictures off my new toy I decided to snap a few of the bookshelves that I kept promising. So, following are the pictures. Here are the guesses thus far.
Randy - approx 1,350
Matt - 1,500
Elizabeth - 2,012
Susie - 3,000

So, based on the pictures you can either increase or decrease your vote. Keep in mind that these are only the books in the library. This doesn't count books in the living room, kitchen, dining room, Gage's room, or the bedroom. I haven't factored those into the count. And, if you want to be totally exact, add 2 to whatever number you decide upon to accomodate for the books Tom bought me for Christmas that I haven't shelved yet.

Movie Time

One Sock On, One Sock Off

Katie Being An Excellent Big Sister

Gage Practicing To Be A Big Brother

With An Ankle Sprain Here And An Ankle Sprain There...

Let's see, Wednesday night into Thursday there was no sleep to be had. Too much work to be done. So, work on Thursday didn't let up at all and it spilled over into Thursday night as well. By the time Friday morning rolled around, I was working on about 7 or 8 hours of sleep between three days. Finally at around 5:50ish on Friday we put the whitewash on the fence and gave up the ghost. I wanted to go straight home to watch the Pens game, but I needed to run a few quick errands. It was 1-0 Tampa Bay when I went into the store. When I came back out, I couldn't get a score because all people were talking about was the fact that Crosby hadn't returned to the ice. That's when the alarm bells started going off in my head. Crosby + Not on ice = bad stuff. Turns out Mr. Crosby, much like Susie had an ankle sprain. Now Susie didn't pick hers up by crashing into the boards during a hockey game, but I'll be it hurts just as much. So, now two games without him, they are a plus 3 points, but it's gonna be a long haul if he's out for too long. Atlanta is quite upset as well. Sidney is not going to be able to play in the All-Star game. That can mean quite the revenue loss for them down there.
Anyway, Saturday rolled around and that enrolled us in babysitting duty. The Warners had relatives visiting and they were up for a dinner out and visiting the new glass exhibit at Phipps Conservatory. That left Terri and I (since Susie had the aforementioned ankle sprain) with 5 children under the age of 5 to babysit. Ok, technically one of those 5 is really under the age, since he/she is now -5 months old. So that one wasn't going to be too much trouble. Then we had Mary who is just a shade over 4 months old. Next came Andrew who just recently turned 2. Then Gage who will be 4 in a couple of months and finally Katie who just turned 4. Terri and I didn't think it would be too much trouble. Hang out, play for a little while, feed the kids some dinner, put Mary down for a nap, plunk the older kids in front of a movie, then get everyone ready for bed. Ah, well laid plans. Mary decided against the nap, opting instead for an alternating method of crying and eating. It's amazing to me how much you take for granted when a child can articulate their needs and wants. You forget little tell-tale signs of a small child's needs. So, it ended up being one of us with the three older children and the other with Mary. Finally, after 3 bottles and just about every song I had in my head (which is quite a few), I got her into a lulled sleep. The older children weren't really any trouble at all beyond the normal trials and tribulations of kids their age. "I don't want to eat my peas." "I want to finish the whole movie before bed." "I want to wait for mommy and daddy before sleeping." So, I'm fairly certain all involved slept well Saturday night. Except maybe Mary :-) Following are some pictures.

Ah, The Sunrise...Now Where Have I Seen That Before

Ok, yes, I shouldn't be taking a break. I still have more left to do, but with less than 2 hours before I have to be showered and in the car on my way to work in the office, I figured I didn't have time for another movie, so I'd add the ones I'd completed. After breaking the seal with Meet the Robinsons last night, I quickly went through, Pittsburgh with Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley, Jr. With the exception of maybe (and that's a stretch) Jeff Goldblum, there's not one actual real person in this movie who comes off as even remotely normal. I'm not sure how Jeff talked everyone into this, but it wasn't the greatest. After that, I went for one of those movies that everyone assumes I saw, but I never got around to. Road House It was pretty much what I had expected, maybe even a little more violent. Then I put in Nacho Libre. I was most disappointed in this one. It seemed to me like a bad imitation of Napoleon Dynamite. Right down to the dorky mexican-lite sidekick. Then I just finished up Walk the Line. I certainly wasn't expecting anything from this movie. Being a big Johnny Cash fan there isn't really any way to even come close. I did think that Joaquin and Reese did a passable job. It's just very hard to buy anyone as Johnny who doesn't have that completely low voice full of gravel. Having not seen the movie or really paid much attention as to who was in it, I was surprised to see Robert Patrick as Johnny's daddy Ray. Not because it was bad casting, but because this has been playing on satellite recently and he also plays the father role and they are essentially the same character. Anyway, now I'm up to 5.

To The Light At The End Of The Tunnel, Please Don't Be A Train

Work should begin to lighten up at the end of this week so if I haven't been as responsive to emails, ims, etc. now you know why. I did want to make sure that I quickly got this post in to say that I finally (after 16 days) managed to see a new movie from start to finish. While I've been sitting here working on the computer, Gage has been watching Meet The Robinsons. It's a typically Disney animated movie. I did really like the surprise cameo. That made me laugh out loud. I don't have a full rating scale like Tom does, but I'd certainly watch this again if the opportunity presented itself.

He's A Pittsburgh What?

So, since I rarely eat lunch and don't feel the need to be tied to my desk for 9 straight hours, I usually go out walking around the local area on my "lunch" break. I go out with Mark and we make a loop that some people in the office swear has to be a mile and a half. We just walk and talk and occasionally shop. Our last stop prior to returning to the office is the GetGo in the area so that Mark can pick up his 44 oz afternoon drink. We know all the cashiers and they all know us. So, Mark is getting his drink and we're talking with the cashier and a huge Hummer pulls up to the gas pump. Out steps an enormous man. He hobbles into the store and he and the cashier also seem to know each other. She asks him about his knee surgery and he explains that he'll be rehabbing in Arizona starting on Monday because they're the best in the business and he'll be ready for next season. At this point, because I'm not a complete idiot, I've gotten the idea based on money, size, and conversation that this man is a Pittsburgh Steeler. However, you could have given me 15 or so guesses and I still probably would not have realized that I had just met and spoke with Max Starks. In fact, even though I had heard the name, I still wouldn't have been able to pull his name out of a hat. Conversely, years ago when I was pulling time at a local fast-food eatery, I recognized Bryan Trottier instantly as soon as he walked through the door and have the autograph to prove it.
Tomorrow night is our company's holiday party from 2007. So, in the midst of a long week, instead of decompressing after work tomorrow, I'll be headed to socialize with everyone. Not that that's a bad thing, there will be an open bar and good food, but I've noticed recently that I've gotten a lot more selfish with how my time is spent. I want time for me, my family, my extended family, and my friends. Beyond that, I'm careful about what I do and where I go. Maybe it has something to do with the impending new addition, maybe I just want to have 10 minutes at home to get settled in and have visitors. Who knows?

One Book Two Book Red Book Blue Book

And yes, I have that one too. Well, I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures yet, but they are forthcoming. Guesses ranging from 1,350 to 3,000 which, whether right or wrong still constitute a nice rounded library.
So, when I was shopping prior to the New Year's holiday, I was a little peeved to see small displays of Valentine's Day candy cropping up here and there. That was small potatoes compared to the ire that I felt when I was out picking up a prescription on Monday and they had an Easter Candy display!?! Easter is still more than 2 months away. I know it's considered early when it happens in March, but that's still quite a ways off. Why do holidays have to bleed into one another. We're barely out of Halloween before Christmas takes over and Valentine's Day is sharing with Easter and I imagine that before the Groundhog pops up to announce 6 more weeks of global warming we'll be seeing July 4th fireworks displays.
I ran across this article today while I was working late for a webcast event. It's an interesting premise. It ties together ideas that most would consider counter-intuitive. Sitting long enough to write out three pages of stream of consciousness writing would match the amount of time for a decent gym workout. Most of the rest is fairly common sensical, which is why it isn't applied more often.
Well, I'll get the pictures posted quickly and allow people to modify guesses, if applicable. Then I'll reveal the number.

"It Was Firm, It Was Adamant, It Was Resolved."

Well, I guess it's fairly fitting that it's a movie quote to start off the post about resolutions since that will play a part in one of them. I guess I'll just list and exposit as I go.

So, looking back at posts from 2007, I never really set forth an actual list, I was just trying to clear up the list from 2006. This year, I do have an actual list, I guess.

1. Get the new house in shape for both family and baby.
2. Drop another 30 or so lbs. and put a little definition back into the old (and getting older) body.
3. The 5/15/150 prospective.
4. Slowly carve out more time for each family memeber and their pursuits.
5. Try and remember that both children will be unique and a little over 4 years in age difference.

Number one is fairly self-explanatory. We just recently moved and in the midst of packing and moving, found out we were expecting. So, the room in the house where we moved all the extraneous things into is slated to be the nursery. It hasn't quite recovered yet and there are still things strewn about the house. It's slowly taking shape, but it will have to happen a lot quicker to accomodate a late June/early July delivery.

Number two should also be self-explanatory. I've been slowly climbing down back toward the number I have in my head and looking back over the past couple years, I've realized that I've gone down about 10 lbs. each the past two years so it's no longer 50 lbs., but 30. And, though I never had a six-pack set of abs, I'd like to be able to distinguish where the muscles are and my legs, which were, at one time, the body part that was most in shape, are now beginning to lose the tone that they used to have.

Number three deals with my healthy obsession with pop culture. The 150 represents the number of "new" movies that I'd like to view this year. I half-heartedly started this last year, but will be pursuing it a little more firmly this year. Movies only count if I haven't seen them before. That can be a first run release such as Sweeney Todd, National Treasure 2, or the Bucket List or it can be a movie that I wanted to catch, but didn't make the theater such as Waitress, Rush Hour 3, and Eastern Promises. The 15 represents the number of novels that I'd like to read this year. I didn't even come close last year and that was with re-reading 1-6 of the Potter series and adding the 7th. I have several books that I'd like to slot in, but this is the year that I'd like to read all 7 of the Dark Tower series. I'm severely lagging behind in that regard. Ten years ago, I'd be reading the book as I was walking out of the bookstore buying it, but time is hard to come by these days. The 5 is just a little qualifier I recently added after talking to Tom. Tom would have made it through the 150 movies if he could have counted television shows on dvd. So, the 5 is added to accomodate series television on dvd. With what I already own, but haven't seen, I can get almost 40% of the way there on the movies and have enough for the next 7 years tv-wise. As for the 15 novels, I'll talk about that further at the end of this post.

Number 4 is kind of an all overall goal that will only be accomplished by all of us kind of working in tandem. In order for Terri to have time to scrapbook or read or for me to watch movies or build puzzles or write or Gage to learn how to skate or learn how to read, we'll have to keep up with everything else going on in our lives. Cleaning and maintaining the household, looking after the new little one, making sure work doesn't intrude at home, and not falling into the rut of excuses will be main contributing factors toward realizing this goal.

Number 5 is my own personal goal to realize that Gage has been, what I consider to be, the model child in many ways. Yes, I'd love for him to not have my sleep habits, but that can't be helped. This new little one, be it boy or girl, may or may not follow the same paths, but regardless, they will be unconditionally loved and I just need not to project either my own visions of progress or measure against Gage's progress during the formative months and years that lay ahead.

So, there's 2008 in a very ambitious nutshell. And, being almost one week into it and not having even slivered off any of it, well...there's 51 more to go.

Now, as for the 15 novels. When we were moving, Susie seemed appalled at the number of books and said I should count them as I was getting them organized and put away. Well, I have that number. And, for the comments section, I'd like to see guesses on how many books the readers of my blog think I might have. I'll reveal the answer after I see how close or far some of the guesses are. Again, I hope your 2008 is happy, healthy, and productive.

What Were You Doing In Canada?

Well, we made it back from the great white north. The game was, in a word, awesome. The spectacle was all they made it out to be. I'll give a quick travelogue and save the resolution post for tomorrow, I guess.

Monday - Terri went down to her parents to drop off the little man and I headed to work for a half-day. I quickly ran around trying to accomplish everything I needed to have done before leaving and then just as quickly headed back to the house. I hurriedly packed (since I had procrastinated the night before). We got on the road and after an ill-advised stop at the local Barnes and Noble we headed up toward Canadia land. After stopping for dinner and a restroom break or three we arrived at the hotel. We checked in, got to the room, and realized we didn't get what we asked for. Instead of a queen sized bed, we were confronted with two double beds. Annoying. So, I went back to the front desk and asked the woman why I didn't get what I had reserved. Some excuses later and I gave up and hauled in the rest of the luggage. Then I booted up the computer and pulled up the available rooms at the hotel and then called customer service. They looked at the records and found out that I had guaranteed my room with my credit card and absolutely should have gotten what I asked for and had a print out of. So, they said I had three options. Option 1: If the hotel couldn't accomodate me correctly, I could find another hotel in the area and the stay would be on them. Hmmm, tempting but I'm in another country, no clue what's nearby, it's New Year's Eve, and 73,000 people are fluxing in for a hockey game. Not really an option I guess. Option 2: They could see what the hotel could do for me and if that was acceptable it would be finished. Option 3: If it wasn't acceptable, they would file a complaint for me and the service department would review and do something retroactively. I chose option 2. The front desk came back with 10% off the room which was ok. It wasn't dire. Just an annoyance. We could either sleep separately or very very close together. The customer service gentlemen, by the name of Philipe, decided he was going to file a complaint anyway. 1/2 hour later the front desk gave us a student travel rate and basically we ended up with about a free night out of the deal. After all this we opted not to venture out to either the Buffalo celebration or the celebration at the Falls, or the casino celebration. So, I watched Canadia land television (which, by law, incorporated part of Strange Brew) and then we found Dick Clark's rockin' Eve which was done in a split screen with the Buffalo celebration and ball drop. I found out that Buffalo has the second largest ball drop in the United States. Apparently about 40,000 people were there. Terri was asleep by 12:05. I watched some more hockey highlights (which was about the only thing Canadian television was good for) and then went to sleep.

Tuesday - We got up, showered, and got on the road by about 10:15 or so. We got to the border and were singled out and examined both front and back. The question that puzzled us the most in the string of questions was the fourth one. 1. What country are you citizens of? Um, United States. 2. Where do you live? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 3. Why are you traveling here? We're in town for the Winter Classic hockey game. 4. What were you doing in Canada? Um, sleeping? 5. How do you know each other? We're married. 6. Whose car is this? Terri's. Fine, go ahead. I would have thought the fact that we were in town for the game had pretty much answered what we were doing in Canada. After making it through Customs we followed the directions and got within two miles of the stadium and stopped for lunch. We got back on the road quickly, but ended up in a ton of traffic. We sat in traffic for over an hour and were just waiting to park anywhere. A gas station one block from the stadium was waving people in and just before we got there they paused. Then the guy held up his hand for 1 more. We slid in, parked, and basically sprinted to the stadium. We got through security and luckily had walked in the gate right next to our section. We found our seats and were enthralled by the show the NHL put on. I have to give Buffalo credit, they were great hosts. Yes, we had to endure all the chants and horn blasts of "Let's Go Buffalo" and the booing of Sidney Crosby, but the rink was great. Inexplicably they sang "O Canada" and "God Bless America" and then had a Blackhawk helicopter formation fly-over. I'll direct you here for pictures since my camera decided to erase mine (more on that later). The Pens fans were present and even managed to get a sustained chant of "Let's Go Pens" going a couple of times. The weather was great and I'm told the game was excellently translated to the television but I haven't gotten my copy from Tom yet since he won't be in town til the weekend. So, I'll be excited to see the game from the television prospective. Just an aside, I loved the AMP commercial with ex-Pens goalie J. S. Aubin. It's nice to see he's still freezing in clutch situations. I won't rehash the whole game since you can pretty much hit any sports site and get the highlights. But, you have to wonder who Gary Bettman paid off to get a 1-1 tie, sudden death overtime, and a shoot-out that's won by your league's most valuable player. During the overtime I pulled the camera out one last time to get some player pictures. Then I hear the bing of the camera, look down and see it blinking "Disc Error." I put the camera away and finish watching the game. You can click on Section 143 at this site to see the vantage point from our seats. It's taken from row 10 and we were in row 12 so it's close. After the game we headed out to find a souvenir for Gage. We decided on a mini-stick since we knew he'd love that based on Tom's gift from the Phoenix game he attended. Stand 1, sold out. Stand 2, sold out. Stand 3 outside of stadium, sold out. Stand 4, sold out. So, we gave up and headed back to the car. Then we saw one last stand. We walked over and there they were. So, we started making our way to the front. Just as Terri got there the last one got sold. Thankfully she didn't move since they had more on the side that we didn't see right away. So, Gage got his mini-stick and loved it. We got back to the car and ordered sandwiches from the Subway inside the gas station where we parked. Then we asked the attendant for better directions and avoided 80% of the traffic and got back to the hotel pretty quickly. After a quick trip out scouting for snacks we were watching more Canadia land television which included a ton of highlights and clips from the game. I won't get tired of watching Crosby go five-hole on Miller. We turned the camera back on and it said, "Repairing Disc" for about 20 minutes. Then when it was finished we looked at the pictures and the last one shown was taken at our house on Christmas morning. So, all the pictures of my family's Christmas and everything taken leading up to the Winter Classic and all the pics at the Winter Classic are currently gone. I'll see about recovery, but I don't hold my breath. I even had a picture of the two retards that didn't understand the concept of sitting down to watch the game. I imagine it would look something like this.

Wednesday - not much to report. Got up, had breakfast, packed and got in the car. We explored the duty free shop for a little while and I'm curious as to why, if you can only bring about 1 litre back per person all the specials were for 3 mix and match litres on most sales. Other than the sales, I wasn't impressed with the prices there. They weren't all that cheap in my opinion. We stopped for a late lunch in Erie and went to a sports shop and came close to buying a pair of skates for Gage. The salesman recommended getting them fitted, though so we'll have to find a place around here. I'd also like to find a used sports store like Play it Again Sports to pick up a pair for me. We finally got to the in-laws, picked up Gage and then headed out to run some errands making it home fairly late.

So, there's the travelogue. I'm sure there's more detail, but that should suffice. Resolutions and such to follow. Hope everyone's New Years was fun and fulfilling.