Thanksgiving 2009

This year Thanksgiving was held at my brother’s home. Frank made tables and everyone chipped in to prepare food for the day. My family brought rolls & Steph made some killer pumpkin bread! So…what did we have for dinner? Hmmm….

Turkey.

Turkey.

More turkey.

The BIGGEST turkey.

Billy fried a turkey.

So we had 2 turkeys and a half ham for 19 people. We also had all the stuffing, potatoes, green beans, desserts and breads you could think of. It was a huge meal and we still hardly made a dent in it. Guess leftovers are in order for today! We all had a blast and it’s always great seeing family together for this day…my favorite holiday of the year! Here are some photos from our family get-together. Hope you had a wonderful day as well!

Frank “sliced” up the ham

Ready to eat!

Pretty girls

AJ givin’ me “the eye”

I’m not the only one taking pictures!

Chatting online with my sister in Florida

Dad finished his meal in 8 minutes & 32 seconds. He didn’t break his record this year…

Look who got the leg!

Seriously cute!

All the grandkids

Ava gave Steph a ceramic Santa she painted!

We are really, really happy!

And now for dessert!

Guess what Christopher wants for Christmas?

Another Turkey Day done, another 10 pounds added.

Turkey Day Turkeys

Of course, when you have a family like mine, there are ALWAYS fun photos to be shared and this year was no exception. Here are some embarrassing pictures from this year’s get-together. I was considering making this “Family Only” access…but then I reconsidered…so for your entertainment I present…Thanksgiving Day Turkey Photos…

Not happy. At all.

Givin’ it the thumbs up!

Mmmmm…bread…

Comatose?

There was a full moon for Thanksgiving.

Uh…hellooooo?

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving also!

In My Lifetime…My Mom

Is there anyone more influential in a child’s life than his mother? I think not. And that definitely holds true for me also. A little over 41 years ago, my Mom & Dad adopted me from an adoption agency (no…I wasn’t delivered by raccoon) and I would like to believe that my parents have never regretted that day. If there is one person in my life who has seen me at my best and at my worst, in my best times & in my worst times, it’s my Mom. She has always been my rock, the person I can go to if I ever need a guiding voice. She has seen me through my teenage years when I was gawky and full of teen angst. She has seen me when I’ve been down on myself and when I’m so high I appear cocky. She has seen me get married twice and had one fall to pieces. And she has seen me as a parent, still trying to figure out how to raise two children in a world that is so different from when I was a kid. There are many things to love about my Mom, but the most obvious one is that she loves me…unconditionally. And that is what makes her the most important person in my life.

Today is my Mom’s birthday. 13 years ago she suffered an aneurism. I thought before that incident that she was an amazing woman. And 13 years after, she has shown me how resilient and how spectacular of a person she truly is. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my Mom…and I love her more today than I ever have because now I see how hard she worked to raise me and it was she that made me the kind of person that I am.

Thanks Mom…for everything. I Love You and Happy Birthday!

Your son,

Alan

Guilty Pleasures: Golfin’ With My Dad & Brother

Editor’s Note: All photos posted in this blog were taken by my brother’s camera. I take no responsibility for any fuzziness or spot shadows because my brother has a new photo organizer that allows him to play with sepia tones and soft focus and he has taken to adding special effects to EVERY picture! So the ones of me where I look like I’m hitting out of the rough or where my Dad is NOT 4 inches from the pin? All done in Photoshop. Just sayin’…

I love going home to visit my family. Lucky for me, they all live within a short distance of my parents’ home. With the exception of one sister and myself, they all live in Zanesville, Ohio. Home of the Y-Bridge and Adornetto’s Pizzaria. I love going home to hang with my parents and I love visiting my nieces & nephews every chance I get. But the real guilty pleasure I get when I go home is when my Dad, my brother and I hit the links at my Dad’s home course…Fuller’s Fairways Jaycees Golf Course.

Nestled deep in the rolling countryside of Muskingum County, this little course is where my Dad spends his retirement. He golfs everyday with his buddies and buys rounds of coffee and soft drinks for everyone while he’s kicking their butts. It’s what a retired guy SHOULD do…well…except for when my Mom wants him home and then maybe it’s not. But for the most part…golf is his getaway. It’s what he does. And when he does it…he does it at Fuller’s Fairways. So when I come to town and my brother & I head out to the course with my Dad, here’s the way it goes…

My Dad & my brother face off and actually keep score. I do my best to hit the ball into the fairway.

Seriously.

Now I’m not a terrible golfer. I played on my high school golf team and I know the correct stance and how to grip the club and some of the basic rules (what’s that rule about not being allowed to kick your ball out from under a tree again?). But you get my Dad and my brother together and it’s like they are talking a different language. It’s golf lingo at its best as they discuss everything from new putting stances to club grips. I admittedly have no idea what they are talking about 95% of the time. What I do know is this…they can both out-drive me. They can both out-putt me. And they can both re-grip their own clubs. Soooo…they should both be better than me…right?

Well…they are. But that doesn’t stop me from getting out there and talking a little smack every now and then. But usually it ends up with Dad beating my brother by a stroke or two and some fairly competitive play happening for the last 4 holes of the course. As for me? Well…I sit back and soak it all in. There’s nothing better than to listen to my Dad give my little brother a verbal beatdown while the breeze is blowing and the cornfields are in the background and all I can hear are the birds and my Dad and Frank sparring with one another. For me…that’s good times. And it’s the stuff memories are made of.

Here’s some photos of our last get-together on Wednesday. Hopefully it’s not the last time this fall that we get to play. But if it is…then I’ll have to wait til next spring to get my putter back. Literally 22 years since my Dad gave it to me, my brother has finally promised to re-grip my putter. 22 YEARS later?!?! Oh I am SOOOOO gonna kick his butt on that first green next time we play…

I need to bend at the knees a little more…

Obviously NOT Photoshopped…

I didn’t see WHERE it went…

See!!! Soft Focus?!?!

Nice shot Pops!

Nice backswing…

Picture Of The Day_The 2 Stooges

My brother & brother-in-law.

Aaaaaaaand…I got nuthin’…

2 Birthdays For 2 Important People

So today my brother turns 31. And despite what he thinks, he’s getting older every day. But for the past few months he has turned himself around! He quite smoking, started running and working out, had a new baby girl and has done everything he’s SUPPOSED to be doing at his age (which is to say raising kids, being a husband and working constantly in order to support the family unit).

Congratulations Frank! Another year down! And just think…9 more and you’ll be in MY seat. Old, smelly and feelin’ funky…

A man & his club

And today is ALSO my nephew Alarik’s birthday. He’s 9 going on 19 and was here over the past weekend. At some point I know he’ll be hitting me up for something for his birthday! Just dunno what it will be.

I’m ANOTHER Monkey’s Uncle

Last Friday my brother, Frank, and his wife welcomed their second child and first daughter into the world. Allison is beautiful and has her mother’s good looks! (Thankfully). And her brother, A.J., has yet to figure out that now he won’t be getting all the attention…which should be happening right…about….now.

As of this posting, I am now the uncle of 8 little monkeys. And this is the second one this summer! I figure I got at least a couple more coming at some point…

Right Frank? Amber? Kathy? Mandy? Ruth Ann?  Anyone???    :-)

Yep. That makes 4 in the family!

The Summer That Was

Dude…June & July were crazy busy! And not for work related reasons either. Mostly just for kid-related reasons. And house-related reasons. And summer-related reasons. Needless to say, my blogging has taken a hit because, quite frankly…I’ve been really freakin’ busy up in here! And now that August is rolling around, I’ll be busy working and making some money to pay off June & July which were a lot slower than normal. Oh well…I got to spend some quality time with my family, my friends and lots of smiling faces (except when I was yelling. Hey…I get a little stressed sometimes). Here’s a recap of this 2 months…

I gotta new nephew

I drove to Memphis with Newman to visit JT

Our home renovation was finished

Ava has a loose tooth

Christopher started football practice

We hung out with friends

Cousin Alarik visited for a week…

so we went to the zoo…twice.

We cooked out…A LOT

We bought stock in the latest trend…animal pillows.

Have I mentioned that Ava’s tooth is loose?

And there were so many OTHER things that I don’t have pictures of…such as golf camp, tennis camp, basketball camp, football camp, cheerleading camp, Steph’s class reunion, the kids visited Grandma & Grandpa and an endless cycle of eating out with friends, having friends over for dinner and basically just doing things with friends.

*sigh*

And now…back to work for me. I’m working 24 days next month. Ugh.

Buuuut…ya gotta make money somehow…right? Look for me to get back on the blogging hot & heavy here soon. Thanks for the patience. Oh…and I deleted the Lady GaGa post that was basically generating over 2,000 hits a day for myself. It got out of control with people leaving rude & obnoxious comments. Seriously…anyone THAT smitten by a musician (and an odd one at that) should really consider getting a life. But it was interesting for awhile, just seeing how many hits I could get out of it! LOL

Oh yeah…AND I moved my office from the basement to the upstairs, moving the kids toys to the basement so they would have more room to play. And we rearranged the living room moving the basement couches into the upstairs and the upstairs couch downstairs and we moved the hutch into the kitchen and the …

Oh…nevermind…

When A Cousin Comes To Town…Day 4

Today was a fun day and the rain held off. We went to the driving range (after making many stops to the bank & the steam cleaner place & another bank) and Alarik & Christopher hit a bucket of balls. I think they had fun, however they plowed through the bucket so fast that I guess I will never know. After that, Stephanie entertained a friend and her 2 daughters while our neighbor’s daughter also joined us and before ya know it…we had a full house! But a good lunch and some outside play got the kids all worn out and then we were off to Christopher’s football practice. Tonight he got his helmet & pads and our friend Shayne (who actually played football in school) helped him get his pads in place (Look…my ego isn’t so sensitive that I would let my son run out there and get hurt. I would rather have someone who knows the game pad him up and teach me how to do it than to have me do it and he gets his head knocked off!).

So tomorrow is Alarik’s last day here with us and here’s hoping that next summer we can have Alarik back to visit us again!

Obviously posing…

Taking a hack at it

Grandpa has nothing to worry about…yet.

Christopher’s shoulder pads & helmet

His mean face

Shayne helps out

Crazy cousins

Basement slumber party!

Tomorrow…if the rain holds off…we’re gonna try to get to the zoo before Alarik heads home and a little food off the grill if we got the time…(and you & thie girls are invited to the cookout Mandy!)

What My Sister Needs To Know

So I asked for suggestions on blog topics a few days ago. The only one who actually gave me a specific topic was my sister who is going through a breakup right now with her husband. I haven’t been around to help her in any way because we live in different places, but I understand it has been very hard on her. So her question was this…

“How do you handle divorce when you don’t want it and how do you get over the pain and move on?”

And THAT is a damn good question. Here’s the deal…I’m a divorcee. I was married for the first time in 1995 and we ended up getting an annulment 2.5 years later. Our marriage didn’t last for several reasons that I won’t get into here, but needless to say…it just didn’t work out. So…that happened and I moved on. The difference between what my sister is going through and what I went through is that I wanted out of my first marriage. She didn’t. So I am really not sure how to answer my sister’s first question because, quite frankly, I was the bad guy in my relationship. I was the one who walked away…so I can’t honestly say that I know how to handle a divorce when you don’t want it. Obviously, there are 2 sides to every relationship and both individuals have their own feelings about things, so when one starts feeling unattached, there is probably very little the other can do to make things better. Not that there can’t be something done, it’s just that sometimes TRYING to make the other love you can backfire. Sometimes it’s a fine line to walk where you want to make your other happy but he/she just isn’t in that place. So you have to deal with that situation.

Now…as far as the pain is concerned, THERE I can help because, believe it or not, I thought about my first wife every day for almost 3 years after the annulment. I had feelings of guilt and anxiety over my decision. There was always that thought that I could have worked harder. That maybe I should have tried a little a little bit more to make everything come together. But you know what? Moving on was the best thing I could have done. I ended up marrying my wife now. We have two wonderful children, a nice home, my career is great and things have definitely been for the better.

So that is my answer to you sis…keep your chin up. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but things WILL get better. And once the heartache goes away, there will be someone else there, waiting to pick you up and willing to make life look so much more colorful. There IS someone out there for you…but maybe you just haven’t found him yet. So keep looking and never let what happened in this relationship get in the way of what COULD happen for you in the near future. Because allowing this situation to control your life would be the worst thing you could do. You are a very strong woman. I know…I have seen it firsthand and it is one of your most amazing traits. You pick yourself up very quickly and you dust yourself off and you move ahead. And that is what you should do here. And as soon as possible.

I hope this has been helpful in some small way. I love you and I’m thinking about you. You are one of the strongest members of our family…but if you ever need an ear…you know I’m always here.

Love you sis!

Your brother

Rainy Days & Wednesdays…

Day 3 of Alarik’s visit this week. We had oh so many plans for the day…a trip to the zoo, a trip to the Bengals football stadium, Christopher’s practice. Many things that would have been more interesting than sitting in the house all day watching the rain fall. But that’s what happened…and that’s what we did. It rained so much that Christopher’s practice was even cancelled! So…we stayed in and the kids got to have their way with the house…except for the basement. I took the opportunity to steam clean the carpet so tomorrow night the kids can have a slumber party down there without having to sleep under boxes (post-construction cleanup STILL being worked out)! And the kids did manage to have a little fun…even though it wasn’t as exciting as the zoo…

It rained a little bit

Christopher swabbed the deck

Wringing Wet

The Car Washers

Say hello to MY little friend…

More room for the kids to play in now!

Compared to THIS tiny room…

Pre-sleep Reading

A Boy & His Book!

Tomorrow…who knows? Will we finally get to the zoo? Will it stop raining long enough for us to go hang out at Paul Brown Stadium? Will I ever get the boys out to hit golf balls at the local driving range? What adventures will there be? Check it out tomorrow!

When A Cousin Comes To Town…Day 2

So today wasn’t terribly busy. The kids played over at the neighbor’s house for an hour or so, then we were off to the pool for some fun in the sun! Afterwards, we came home, had some dinner and went to watch Christopher’s football practice. I think the kids had fun…but you would have to ask them…

My view

Alarik

Ready…

Set….HEY!

Very sneaky Ava…

The Gang

Watching Some Football…Kinda

Eh…They’re Not Watching Either…

Christopher’s Group

A Monkey In A Tree

No Idea Who This Is…

One Sweaty Kid

The End Of A Long Day!

Tomorrow…The Zoo & Paul Brown Stadium!

Little Cans Of Lemonade

Drinkin’ the lemonade…

This week will be full of good times as my nephew visits from Zanesville. Alarik is my sister’s only son and he and Christopher get along swimmingly (and I say that because they both LOVE to swim). So it was an easy decision to bring him home with us for a few days (5 actually) after the kids spent the weekend with Grandma. This morning, I packed up the car, threw the 3 kids in and headed for home. And even the trip home was an adventure. Here are a few excerpts…

CANS OF LEMONADE :

I stopped to get gas and the kids asked for soda. I said no. The last thing I need is 3 kids hopped up on caffeine & sugar for a 3 hour drive. So I got them water instead. Then they asked me what we had to drink at home. I said water, juice pouches, milk…and their mom bought them lemonade.

“Cans of lemonade or the juice pouch kind?” Christopher asked.

“Cans.” I replied.

“SWEET! Cans of lemonade are awesome!” Christopher & Ava cheered.

And Alarik looked at them like they were crazy.

WHAT MAKES HER HAPPY :

We had barely gotten on the road when I noticed Ava was being very quiet (which is VERY unlike her). I asked, “Ava? Are you okay?” and the next thing I knew…she was bawling! I flipped down the rear view mirror and she had giant tears streaming down her face.

“Ava…what’s wrong, hon?”

“I miss Grandma.”

“Oh sweetie. I bet Grandma misses you too! But you had a great time and we’ll come back real soon…okay?”

“Uh huh…” And more tears.

Alarik, being the trooper he is, turns to her and says…”Ava…think about something that makes you happy! Think about cans of lemonade!”

And then they started laughing. And all was good.

WHEN YA GOTTA GO…

About half way home and after chugging their bottled water, all 3 kids had to go to the restroom. So when nature calls, ya gotta do your thing. So we stopped at the rest stop and headed into the Men’s Room. As we were entering, a man was leaving and held the door. Ava became hesitant.

“I don’t want to go to the boys potty. I want to go to the girls.”

“Honey, I can’t go into the girls restroom. You’re gonna have to come in here with us.”

BIG frown and arms crossed.

I ushered the boys in and noticed that as you enter the restroom, you could go left OR right. So I told a little white lie…

“Oh look…they have a special section in here for the girls!”

“Really?” (Christopher looked at me as if to say, “really?”)

“Yep…okay…boys go that way and girls go this way!”

And that, as they say, solved THAT problem…

3 stories in one trip ain’t bad! And I’m sure there will be many more. It IS only Monday after all! LOL

Top 10 Changes That Come From Quitting…

Notice the fag in his left hand…

My brother Frank has recently kicked his nasty smoking addiction that we (our collective family) have been giving him crap about for pretty much the last 12 years of his existence. Finally, after mucho haggling and several tries, he has managed to put the cancer sticks down and has taken up a few newer habits. He asked me a while back why I hadn’t written about it, and I told him I thought it was really something HE should write about. So he did. I told him if he gave me a post, I would put it on my blog. And he did. So I am. Congratulations Frank! Quitting is the greatest thing you could have done for yourself and your family. I think I can speak for our entire family when I say…we are very proud of you and we love you! Now…here’s Frank’s blog which he also has posted on his anemic blog site called “The Veracity“….

Hell is officially frozen, pigs are flying and monkeys are crawling out of Alan’s butt!! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, brother Frank has quit smoking! How was that bet laid out again? Alan rides a fake bike and Frank quits the most addictive substance this side of Tang?! Fair? No. Besides, Alan lost like 15 lbs…and then gained 20 back hanging with school chum JT in one night! If the bet involved his nails, I’d have won easily! This calls for a list…

Top 10 Changes that come with quitting…

10. Shhhhh….It’s pretty quiet around here without all that bitching about my smoke.

9. 10 & 2 ……Both hands on the steering wheel, weird!

8. Work sucks. 20 minutes longer. No smoke breaks for NON-smokers is bullshit.

7.$180 richer…..$6 a pack x 30 days…you get the math.

6. Now what?…..I guess sleep follows directly after sex now.

5. Who farted?…..I can smell EVERYTHING!!!

4. I’m THAT guy…. I tell everyone I quit and how.

3. 30 sit ups, 50 push ups, 3-5 miles ever other day. No shit.

2. No more flem….I hope I spelled that right. (You didn’t. It’s “phlegm”  -Alan)

1. More people than ever hate me……Fuck them! Some say I am meaner, some are jealous or mad I actually quit smoking. Misery loves company and nothing pisses off a smoker more than someone who succeeded in quitting. My good smelling ass is gonna run right by them while cracking a six minute mile as they huddle around an ashtray grumbling how indecent it is for me to run in public wearing those shorts. I do it for the ladies.

Special thanks to Kathy for the “Book of Ages” which pretty much pushed me over the edge to quit.

Now he can take a deeper breath BEFORE he swings!

My New Nephew…(has got some serious hair!)

Little man. Brand new to the world and as happy as a little clam. And he has an amazing amount of hair! Seriously…I have never seen this much hair on a newborn in my entire life! And the funny thing is…it’s actually very stylish. You could put this kid in some Pac Sun clothes, give him a skateboard and he would fit right in! Very odd…but it works for him…so I’m going with it. Anyway…allow me to introduce to you…my new nephew Erik Alexander!

A little out of focus.

Safe in mommy’s arms

Yeah…we think she’s crazy too!

He can’t believe they’re related!

And yet another cousin? How many are there???

My uncle is the COOLEST guy on the planet!