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April 16

Easter Weekend

February 02

The Four Horsemen
Monday I left the office early for a very, very special occasion….Metallica!!!  I was going to the show with the LouLou’s, their friend Scottie and GF Stephanie, and Marcio.  I hitched a ride with the LouLou’s and we met the rest of the group at RAM microbrewery in Rosemont for dinner and drinks.

After a great dinner and quite a few drinks we all carpooled to the Allstate Arena and continued to drink in the parking lot (beats the hell out of $8 beers!).  With a fairly nice buzz we wandered into the Arena to catch the second opening act Machinehead (we missed the first opener).  I was hoping to catch up with Al, Vegas Joe, April and Jeff (who were all at the show), but unfortunately it didn’t happen…place was nuts.  Since all beer sales stop when Metallica come on stage…I remember this from the last time I saw them, we loaded up on as many $8 beers as possible during Machinehead’s performance.  I really don’t get the no selling of beer thing, I think it has to do when Lars went sober and they labeled themselves a clean band…why the hell should we have to suffer, I’m not clean damn it!

Metallica made up for this beer flaw with a performance to remember, I think this may have been my favorite Metallica show yet.  They sounded so tight and clean, then energy was amazing...they played a long long set, but time stood still.  If anyone had any doubt that they were getting old, or didn’t have it anymore…mmm they basically said fuck you and kicked your ass!  This was Marcio’s first time seeing The Four Horsemen and I think they lived up to all his expectations.

After the show we all headed our separate ways, the LouLou’s and I grabbed some Whiteys, had a few more beers at their crib and then called it a night.  Metallica Fuck ya!





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January 26

Drinks, Culture, and Science (sounds interesting huh?)
By Thursday the work week was getting really rough, so going out on Thursday night was a welcomed (and much needed) event.  Me, the Bob’s, Jim, and Kevin went to Flossmoor Station for an excellent dinner (where I did not drink any beer and ate a salad…trying to be healthy).  After the dinner we headed to the old man bar for to join Al, who was already there waiting for us.  Shortly after we arrived, this weeks guest of honor walked through the door…Vegas Joe (our buddy Joe that lives in Vegas).  It turned out to be a really nice night of good conversation and catching up with a great friend.  I really kept my drinking on the D.L. (sipping only few Jack and diets) in anticipation of the following workday.

Friday at work ended up being a great day, had an excellent lunch meeting at Coopers Hawk (great food) and in my mind accomplished a milestone for our future.  In this rough economy it’s really hard to make ends meet, so our current venture is really holding a lot of weight for us.  A few months ago I came up with a concept (yes, pat myself on the back) to kick start this venture a little sooner to help bring in some operating revenue.  This little concept evolved into something much larger than I envisioned, but something obtainable; it was well received by our partner and we agreed to progress.  It is very exciting for me…helps ensure my continued employment!

Saturday was a nice fun day with the kids while Trish worked, although I was looking forward to the kids going to my parents for the evening, and a night out with wifey.  We initially planned on going out for a nice dinner and then meeting some friends and Vegas Joe out for drinks…plans changed when Joe called me in the AM informing me he got sick as hell from our “f’d up Chicago weather.”  Since we were mainly going out for Joe, all of the plans for the evening went down the tubes.  My Mom agreed to still watch the kids, so I thought I should do something special for the wifey…something we don’t usually get to do.  I ended up buying tickets to go see Ms. Saigon at Drury Lane (with dinner beforehand).  She had no idea of the plans until we pulled up in front of Drury Lane, it was great seeing her surprised face.  We enjoyed an excellent dinner and then a magnificent show, the evening was priceless.

Sunday was a little more low key, although we did take the kids to the movies to see “Inkheart” (which was kinda boring).  The rest of the day was spent had home, we did manage to finish Meghan’s science fair project.  After the kids went to bed, Trish and myself just relaxed and caught up on some shows that were backing up our DVR.  It was a really nice weekend with a nice end…I was also excited for Monday….Metallica!!!!



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January 22

Yes We Did!
While I was not an Obama supporter, I respect and cherish the historic event that took place yesterday.  Many people I encounter have trouble seeing over their own political views, if they were McCain supporters they tend not to appreciate what has happened (although I don’t know many McCain supporters, I was one of the very few I associate with), if they were Obama supporters McCain was the devil, etc.  I like to think I am open minded enough to see over that wall and appreciate this moment.  At a time where our country is walking on such negative ground, and the masses hold pessimistic views about our economy and their own financial well being; it was nice to see millions join hands in happiness and absolute hope. 

I pray that this positive emotion in the air helps uplift the spirits of many, and the resulting positive outlook will bring us through the current crisis unscathed.  I personally have hope, but unfortunately I do not believe that our current financial situation is going to turn around in the next four years.  The financial turmoil we are in was many years in the making, it is always harder to rebuild than tear down.  While I don’t share all the same views as our new commander and chief, I am willing to be part of what he called for; work together to bring this country back where it belongs.  I really don’t know where my role fits in (besides for paying an enormous amount of taxes) but I will contribute.  I defiantly do not envy the situation our President is walking into, I think the honeymoon phase will be short lived.  He is going to have to make hard decisions, and decisions will always disappoint one party or another.  At this time where it is hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel, Obama’s message of hope is what the public should hold onto as motivation to keep pushing forward.

So far I am impressed with the new president’s ideals of transparency, etc.  On the other side of the coin he has strayed quite far from his original tax plans, etc (his approach is more McCainesqe).  In his defense he stated that he had to change with the times, the economy has changed greatly since he originally started running for office (maybe people should realize McCain wasn’t so bad) and he had to adjust with the times.  I wish him and us all the luck in these upcoming harsh times, the economic road is not easy.  Everyday I wake up with concern if I will have a job that day, the harshness of our economy has effected me personally (my job, investments, future plans, etc).  With that said, the message of hope is important for me, it helps keep me focused and my sanity in check.



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January 19

Mid January Weekend
The week was a busy one at work, needless to day I couldn’t wait for the weekend to arrive.  Friday night after the kids went to bed Trish met a girlfriend out for dinner and I played Darkness on the PS3 (pretty cool first person shooter game).  Was a nice relaxing evening to myself, I really needed it to unwind after the week I had.

Saturday was pretty chillax, we hung around the casa most of the day, ran a few errands, etc.  We did take the kids to Toy’s R Us to spend their lottery winnings (on Christmas Meghan won $200 on a scratch off ticket, we told her if she split it with her brother, they could both spend it all at Toy’s R Us on whatever they wanted).  They had a blast going into the store and buying what they wanted, Gavin had his $100 bones spent immediately.  Meghan took her time and really planned out her shopping strategically.  If I was a kid and that was me, I would have had it spent before I walked into the store.

After our Toy’s R Us adventure we came home and relaxed for a bit, then took the kids to Hollywood Boulevard to see Hotel for Dogs.  That movie ended up being a pleasant surprise, we all enjoyed it.  After the movie we headed home and our nice, wonderful chillax kinda day bit us in the arse.  Initially I planned on coming home, spending some time with the wifey…then heading out to meet the lads for drinks (Kevin, Jim, and Al were hanging out that night).  Our evening ended up being spent at the Urgent care due to Gavin splitting his lip open.  I was chasing around the kids before we were about to get them ready for bed (a daddy / kid thing we do regularly).  As Gavin was sweeping around the corner while I was incognito under the dining room table, he tripped on his HD scooter he got for Christmas and ended up splitting his lip on the handlebars (so we think).  The little guy handled it like a champ, he cried when it initially happened, but by the time we all piled into the car to head to the urgent care center he was all good.  After 3.5 hours or so spent at the medical joint, they ended up gluing Gav’s lip together.  They initially were going to do stitches, but they figured the glue would do just as good without the pain of needles.  All and all the little guy handled it better than I ever would, he is one tough kid.

Sunday the Connolly clan came up for a nice visit.  Everyone had a great time, the kids played, we chatted, then went to Sam McGuires for dinner.  At the end of the evening I was exhausted from the weekend and dreading the upcoming work week.  Hey, I keep saying I shouldn’t complain, atleast I am still working!



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January 15

New Tab Added
I decided to add a new tab to my website: "Professional Bio".  This little site of mine is so concentrated on the goofy aspects of my life that it almost appears hard to believe that I have a professional side.  I figured what the hell, I could post my professional bio...also share the other side of my life with the world.


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January 13

First week of 2009
I worked my first full workweek in about a month or so (granted I work the hours of a full workweek in a short week…but with the holidays I was enjoying my 3 and 4 day workweeks).  The week went well, busy as shit and left me burned for the upcoming weekend.  Wednesday we got our new puppy, a Shiba Inu, Chow Chow, German Shepherd mix…one of those designer dogs…a Showherd (lol).  This time we did what we should have done in the first place and went through a reputable rescue; not one of those rescues that are populated with a bunch of animal humping loons (not saying we know of any just in case someone wanted to use my words against me).  I have just been hearing of all these rescues out there that end up being loads of trouble; I have learned to do my homework before adopting a family pet from just anybody.  If anyone needs any information, I have discovered this wonderful rescue through a friend that does truly great work for animals of all kinds.  Our experience with this group has been fantastic, they matched us up with a dog that was fit perfectly for our family. 

We are still saddened by our experience with Kaya, if she is found we made the decision to relinquish her back to the rescue we adopted her from.  While Kaya was a promising dog, she probably was not right for our family.  According to animal professionals I have talked to, a dog that came from her situation needed to be rehabilitated longer with an experienced foster before going to a family.  She ideally sounded good, but unfortunately she was not ready.  One thing to note when adopting from a rescues foster (not from experience, but from what I have heard); if all the dogs in the house are friendly and sweet, and the foster says…”I’m keeping all of these for myself”, but then gives you the one that has to pry out of their crate due to pure terror...there may be an issue.  Anywho, we rescued Amber, and she has turned out to be a wonderful addition to our family.  I suppose everything, either good or bad happens for a reason.

Another big event this week was Meg starting her new school!   She did fantastic and agreed we made the right choice for her…go us!  The first full week of 2009 went great.  Me and Trish both kept true to our New Years resolutions (hey, a week is a start) I got back into working out seriously again (that was put on hold due to the whole car accident mess in November…my back was a bit jacked) and eating right.  Trish has been working out like a madwoman not missing a day (I’m quite proud of my ‘ol lady).

When the weekend hit it was pretty chillax, we didn’t do much at all.  Saturday night we went to dinner with my parents at this hella good Mexican joint in Lombard…Uncle Julio’s…good effen grub.  Sunday me and Trish had to bowl…I had my 2nd best game of my career…my ball is defiantly getting faster (hit 21.89 mph rolling down the lane…damn I feel tough).  The rest of our Sunday was laid back…onto a new week.

Anything stated within this blog was strictly for entertainment, if any names or occurrences resemble fact they are purely coincidental.  (don’t ask…but you know who you are you).



12:45 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Quicky Quick Catch-up
I’ve been neglecting my blog the past few weeks due to utter insanity, shit has been nonstop.  First off Happy New Years (2 weeks late), I hope everyone I know had a safe and fun NYE.  Our NYE was a nice relaxed family friendly event at our neighbors down the street.  I was done drinking after 3 beers and home watching Ghost Hunters with Trish by 10…but we did manage to stay up until midnight.  May not sound like the party packed fun filled NYE that I used to experience, but I didn’t get into any trouble and had a nice time with the fam.

New Years day we had a wonderful surprise from my brother of another mother!  Brian and Lilia came by for dinner and a movie (Burn After Reading…good flick if you enjoy dark humor); they sprung the news on us that they were pregnant!  The told us by showing us a YouTube video of his mom opening up her Christmas gift and screaming in joy (it was an ultrasound).  As they were showing us the video they were filming us secretly…so they now have the compellation of videos of people watching videos of his mom opening up the ultrasound; everyone’s reaction is on the digi, pretty cool.  It was a great night with exciting news!

I took the following day off of work (figured my last fuggaround day before the real work weeks begin), enjoyed it with the kids.  That night I went to LouLou’s across the street for a friendly evening of holdem’ with a group of guys…for once I kicked ass!  I won 2 out of the 3 games played, in my book that was a fun night.  I left with a nice buzz and more money than I came with!  The next night we went over to Kim and Joe’s for dinner and drinks, its always a good time at the Doza house.  After we left the Doza’s we headed to this kick ass blues bar called Harlem Ave. Lounge.  This place looks like a dump hole in the wall tavern off of Harlem and Ogden in Berwyn, but apparently the joint is legendary.  If you want some good old school blues without all the commercial frills…this is the place to be.  I would rank this hole in the wall on my favorite bar list, I can’t wait to go back. 

So far 2009 is going ok…despite a rough end to 2008, I have a positive outlook for the next year!









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December 31

Christmas Week 2008
I’m getting way to used to these short work weeks…but everyone needs a break once and a while right?  Well Wednesday evening was spent at the Kadas household enjoying a nice relaxed Christmas Eve.  This was the first year we only had to go to one place on Christmas Eve and one place on Christmas Day, it beats the hell out of running around to 3 places each day.  After the Christmas Eve celebration, we brought the kids home, shuffled them off to bed, then did all the “Santa” set up for Christmas morning.  We actually assembled and put batteries in all their gifts before wrapping them…took away from putting a ton of shit together while they keep asking “are you done yet? Are you done yet?” on Christmas morning…they can open and play (mmm I wish Santa thought of that when I was a kid).

After an exciting Christmas morning (and Gavin asking where the rest of his gifts are after opening a ton of presents…ungrateful little shit), we chilled and then headed over to my parents for Christmas day.  Had a nice late morning / early afternoon there with just my immediate fam, and then we were joined by all the aunt’s, uncles, cousins, etc.  Was a good time, the kids got to see their Auntie Sherry (who was in from Florida for a few days), the night went really good.

The next morning I had all intentions of going into the office, but when I went to leave I realized that the whole world was now an ice skating rink…I have never seen such a bad ice storm in my life.  I flipped on the news and went to the IDOT website…they were urging people not to drive, so I decided to work the day from home (which I do actually work unlike many people).  Later on in the afternoon when I was done working, we dropped the kids off at my inlaws so we could get ready for our night out with Sherry & my fam. 

We ended up going to this place called Frankie’s for dinner, the food there was fantastic, I highly recommend it…although the waitress sucked which was shitty for a white table cloth joint.  After Frankie’s we went to Sam McGuire’s to watch this band “Jack and Jill” who were just ok (sounded good but lacked something…not sure what it was…charisma?).    We were joined by my cousin Chase who ended the evening crashed out at our pad.  The night at Sam’s was fun, it was nice hanging with my sis, my parents and my cous (oh later on we were joined by Bob “Sailmate”).  I will say though, that if I owned that joint I think I would fire all the waitresses (maybe it was just a bad waitress evening), but our waitress there really sucked ass.  It all stemmed from us taking a table that her girlfriend (who was an off duty waitress) wanted to hold for someone…her panties got in a bunch and she decided not to serve us until my sister so kindly told her what a bitch she was being (at that point I think she spat in our drinks).  Either way it was an enjoyable evening, of which I maintained composure (didn’t get sloppy drunk).



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December 24

4 Day Weekend
Saturday ended up being quite a productive for us, we managed to drag our big screen TV up stairs (a dreaded project), set up our early family Christmas gift to ourselves (47” LCD TV…hells ya), rearrange our bedroom, and did some organizing.  After all that work we took the kids to see the Tail of Despereaux at Hollywood Blvd…movie was actually quite slow if you ask me, but the important thing is the kids enjoyed it.

Sunday we trecked it out to Bloomington to visit the Connolly clan, the ride out there was brutal with the winds, etc…but we managed without a hitch.  We spent the day with them, exchanged Christmas gifts, chatted, let the kids play, then headed to the pub for some dinner and drinks.  After the pub we headed home, the drive was much much better this time around. 

Monday I took off of work and we took the kids to the Winter Wonderland at Navy Pier.  It was a good time, but not a good time to go…way the hell too busy.  The kids really couldn’t do as much as they wanted due to long lines, etc…but all in all they had a fantastic time.  Next year we go a week earlier!



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Thirteen 3 Year Olds

I took Friday off of work so I could volunteer to do crafts & various other activities with 13 three year olds (Gavin’s preschool class)….work is actually less stressful. I really don’t know what preschool teachers make, all I know is whatever that amount is, it’s not enough! These teachers are troopers; after a few hours of corralling these kids I was ready to commit myself. In actuality it was a good time, I enjoyed spending the day with Gavin…he seemed to really appreciate it as well. 

By the time the evening hit I was ready to partake in some drinking activities, I was invited out by a friend to join a group of guys at JW Holsteins. I haven’t been to this joint in years, plus after spending the day with 13 three year olds, daddy was ready for some alcohol. I went and had a good time, the place started out a bit slow, but reallypicked up.   I gave my liver a good beating (bad liver, bad liver), but my head punished me for it in the morning. 

  




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December 23

I meet a football legend
Thursday…my last day of work this week before enjoying a 4 day weekend, I was called to participate in this impromptu meeting downtown.  I was simply given the address and suite number of where to be, and that was about it (I did know the purpose of the meeting…so I wasn’t totally in the dark, I just knew that 2 other people I knew would be present).  I arrive at the building, go up the elevator, walk up to the office door…low and behold, its Richard Dent’s office.  Now, as a background to this scenario, at work we have been working on this new venture that involves a company that Richard Dent has ownership in.  I have participated in a phone conference with him, etc; so it’s not a total shocker…well shocker to me because he was one of my football fav’s growing up.

I go in, see the one dude I know and start chatting.  Shortly thereafter my boss joins us and we continue our casual chat until the party we are meeting arrives.  This party was a group of 3 people, two guys that look like mafia car salesmen (dressed slick…but a bit too slick), and a chick that was dressed like she was going out hooking or to a night club.   I still think that this girl’s only purpose was to provide eye candy of cleavage throughout the meeting…other than that she offered no value whatsoever.

Anywho, the meeting starts and about 10 minutes into the meeting, who walks into the door of the conference room?  1985 Superbowl champ Richard Dent (also note that while in this conference room I was eying the 1985 Superbowl Trophy…his copy).  He walks into the room (and man is he a big boy…forget big, huge), introduces himself and then joins in the meeting.  Now, when I introduced myself as Tim Cahill, he responded with…Tim, oh yeah, I heard about you…how are you? (you have to understand, he was a childhood hero of mine).  He turned out to be a really nice guy, a complete gentleman.  The thing that was killing me was, I met with him for about 3 hours (he was sitting next to me mind you), and could not bring up his football career…I had to remain business.  After the meeting was wrapping up I chatted with him for a few more minutes and then left.  The whole time I’m thinking it would kick ass to get a pic with him in front of the trophy.  The odds of me meeting with him again are pretty good…I promise you one of these times I will talk football!!  All in all it was a very cool experience.





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December 17

A Call To Illinois Democrats…mmmm why?
Ok, I try not to take claim to a party, I am more of a best man for the job kinda guy; but if I had to be pigeonholed into a category I would probably fit more of the Republican mold.  Now Illinois is a democratic state for all practical purposes, all the government is democratic, the people vote democratic, etc.  So many times I find myself in a debate about politics with one of these Illinois democrats, and they act like what they have is better than sliced bread and the Republican’s are just out for the rich.  I have one thing to say…watch the fucking news!  Your wonderful party has now given us (not yet, but coming) our 4th state governor to go to prison!  Now democrats want to worry about Republican’s taking care of the rich? What about these democrats taking care of themselves on your dime…they are saying fuck you to your face!  We live in the #1 most corrupt state in the country with one of the worst unbalanced budgets / deficits.  Now the county I reside in (cook), also a democratic county is lead by County President Todd Stroger…this guy is a friggen stroke.  His own people now hate him, not only is he unfit for the job, he’s a crook too…his cronies making six figure salaries for nada…again looking out for themselves.  Now Cook County has a terrible deficit, to fix this Mr. Stroger wanted to try and sell off some of the County preserve land, fire a couple people, etc…keep his friends working.  Another fact to note, Cook County has the worst air quality in the entire country (a tidbit of info).  Now inside of this highly populated Illinois county we have The City of Chicago ran by Mayor Richard Daly (a democrat).  Now I cant report factual news on Daly, the dude is the Don of Mayor’s, untouchable.  Now please do not think that does not mean he is corrupt, that is common knowledge in Chicago…he is just much smarter than our Governors.  With that said lets talk about Chicago…one of the worst crime rates in the country, as well as one of the worst examples of public education (oh note who Mr. Obama just picked for his cabinet…mmmmm ya ok).  Chicago is going to be selling off its parking meters to balance the budget (which will go up to a rate of $8 per hour)…thank you Mr. Democrat.

With all this stated…oh and there is more, I’m just condensing it…why support democrats with such pride?  I would be embarrassed…you should be shamed…you support crooks!  I’m not saying Republicans are a hell of a lot better, but they sure can’t do any worse in Illinois.  Go ahead and knock me for being a “Republican”, but turn on the news and listen to what your party has done to your state…they fucked you! 




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Our rescue dog needs rescued
Saturday we adopted another dog, a beautiful female Shiba Inu named Kaya (we currently have a male Shiba).  We adopted her through a Shiba Inu rescue group, her life before her foster home consisted of being a puppymill mom (her life was to breed puppies).  Until her foster home, Kaya never really knew what it was like to be part of a family, because of this she was very shy and skittish.   Kaya was a perfect fit for our family in every way; we would have the patience she would need to come out of her shell, we have experience with her breed (they can be quite quirky), and our dog got along with her perfectly.  While being timid and shy, she was very sweet with the kids and our other dog…I saw nothing but a great future with her in our family.

Sunday after going to Petsmart to buy some goodies for Kaya, we came home, opened the front door, and she ran out…she has been missing ever since.  She was waiting right by the door and as it opened she slipped out in-between Trisha’s legs and was gone.  We chased her on foot for quite a distance, others joined in the chase; but no luck (Shiba’s are a very fast breed), she disappeared into the forest preserves.  A girl that works at the horse stables by us went into the preserves on horseback, LouLou and myself followed her in a golf cart…we had no luck.  Later in the evening others went by foot, four wheeler, etc..no luck.  The following day the foster family that adopted Kaya to us came out and joined in the search, again no luck was had.  We did have a bright bit of news when I received a response from one of our many flyers out there, someone spotted her headed towards the downtown Tinley Park area.  Trisha went back out to hand out more flyers and look, but still no luck.  We have to keep hope and keep looking.






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December 11

Another Weekend
This past weekend was pretty chill chill (for me at least…Trish and the kids had birthday parties galore).  Friday after work we had to go to this Christmas dance recital for Meghan, now we pay a fortune for this “private” dance school, you would think at the least they could provide seats for the parents….nooooo.  This recital was at the Palos city hall and we were jammed like sardines, fighting for a view to see our children...poorly prepared if I may say so myself.  Besides for that the recital went well.  Now what I am not mentioning for personal reasons of male pride…Gavin was in the recital too, yes he is in the same private dance school (doing hip hop dance though, so that’s ok).  It’s funny how they worked that in, all the Moms that had daughters Meghan’s age were there every week for class with boys Gavin’s age.  The dance school then recruited the Mom’s into letting the boys have a dance class (of course you have to pay for it)…genius if you ask me.  To make the Dad’s feel better about letting their 3 year old boys join a dance class instead of football camp they call it “hip hop” dance…it is now socially acceptable.

 Saturday Trish and the kids had a couple birthday parties to attend…I was gonna go to one to hang with the Dad’s, but I found out it was at Chuck E Cheese…Chuck E Cheese on a Saturday afternoon, Ill take a pass.  Instead I froze my arse off and hung Christmas lights outside (which all friggen blew out on me when I was done…they make this shit so cheap now).  I did finally get the lights up and rolling (hours and a hundred bucks later).  I could honestly say I think I have the best light display on the block…not that I’m bragging or anything (although Monday when Trish got home she pointed out that half of them were out again..muther fugger, Im going to have to redo em again).

 Sunday morning we went to Breakfast with Santa at our church (Meghan’s school), that was a hoot.  After that was done we came home, I did more lights, and lived the rest of my Sunday.



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December 04

Recession? Just now figuring that out, wtf?

Monday I received an email from CNN…a breaking news flash…our country is now in a recession, and has been since December! Really, geeze, I had no fucking clue. I think I want to become a professional economist! Not to toot my own horn, but 6 years ago I predicted the housing and credit crisis, almost to the date it would start (I bitched about it to everyone…I have references to attest to that), and much earlier than this week I knew (along with a majority of the US) that we were in a recession. Maybe that’s half the problem, were always a day to late and react a week after that.

At this point I don’t know what to make of everything going on…I just sit back, giggle and take a swig of my beer. Citibank…oh, Citibank, God love ‘em. After the Lehman Brothers fall Citibank goes on a shopping spree buying up an ailing bank they can…whoops, were not out of money. They then run to the Government with their hands out looking for some bailout dough. Basically our tax dollars went to finance the expansion of Citibank. Now it gets even better, the IRS changes the tax code to accommodate these guys…they are now allowed to carry over the losses from the ailing banks they purchased and use them against their income! What does this do? It allows them to pay less tax dollars. This is almost as good as AIG having their extravagant corporate retreat after they receive their billions in bailout money from the government (aka our tax dollars).

This bailout cash should be going to the banks to free up capital so the banks could lend. Banks lend, people borrow, people buy, people sell, people work, people make money, economy improves. It seems like the bailout cash is doing nothing of the sorts, as far as I can see it is financing expansion. If this is the way it works I want some bail out cash of my own! I could use it to expand on some great business ideas I have…this shit has gotten way to ridiculous. At first I was not really for the bailout of the auto industry, but now upon further education I think they should receive some cash...they would probably put it to better use than the banks. The reasoning for that is this, for every 1 job lost at a car manufacturer in Detroit, 10 jobs are lost down the line (that is referring to engineers, aftermarket manufacturers, etc…basically outsourced jobs in the auto industry). When you look at a ratio like that, imagine the devastation an auto company going under can cause! All those people have a greater likleyhood of defaulting on their mortgages which further our credit & housing crisis. Those people will not have free flowing cash to spend which will further hurt retailers. They abandon their houses due to foreclosure and bring down the value of the neighborhoods they reside in. The banks bad asset list would grow and grow causing them to need more bailout dough. The crippling effect of this goes on and on, believe you me our newly discovered recession would go on much longer!

At the end of the day, what the hell do I know. Sometimes I think what the hell do they know, so I guess I’m not so bad. We are in unprecedented times, we don’t know how to handle this cause its new…and that my friends is what makes it scary. This subject I could keep going on and on about, to me economics is somewhat of a hobby (ya, I can be a real geek). Oh well, what to do…I guess keep hope that we are near the bottom and things can only improve…I hope!


8:10 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

December 01

Punishment from the Guinness & Jameson god’s…oh, but I got my new car!
I woke up Saturday morning with a hangover from hell…it was a punishment from the Guinness and Jameson god’s for my overindulgence in their fine beverages.  I spent the first part of my hungover morning searching for a car on the internet, and planning my route of dealers to visit…I hate car dealers!  1st of all, there is this dealer in Mundeline called Elite Motors…avoid them, the suck.  I was going to buy this Mercedes ML500 from them…everything set and then they started jerking around the price and adding shit in without asking…fuckem! 

Well on my way out I decided to stop at CarMax, let me tell you those guys are class all the way.  I have never had such a pleasant experience at a car dealer, they have the whole thing down to a science and actually make the process enjoyable and quick.  I just stopped to see what they were all about and drove out in a Chrysler Pacifica (which I totally dig).  I checked out a few other vehics and this one was the best bang for the buck…very luxurious.  For those that don’t know this was one of the first Daimler Chrysler cars, where they truly utilized the technology and engineering from Mercedes on a Chrysler vehicle…and damn it shows (the interior is very Mercedesesque).  I was very happy with my purchase and new car, I was also glad to have this whole totaling my car and replacing it out of the way and put to bed.

While I was having a nice experience at CarMax the dumbfucks at Elite called to tell me the great news, they were able to work out something on the price of the Mercedes…I told them to fuck off.

After I got home with the new ride, Court and Anjie stopped by with the kids, we had a nice visit until we left to go to my Mom’s for diner with the fam (last day my sis was in town).  After a fine meal of Turkey and Stuffing…again…we came home and chilled.  Did I mention CarMax is the shit?

3:01 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Sherry Night Out
Everytime my sis comes into town we usually do some sort of evening out…out to dinner, then a bar to drink ourselves silly.  Well the Friday night after T-Day was our designated “Sherry Night Out”.

Trish and myself got a sitter so were all good there, the only thing that blew ass was that Trish worked Saturday morning.  After we dropped the kiddies off at Trisha’s parents (and stopped at a car dealer to look at prospective automobile replacements for my Durango) we met my Mom, Jim, and Sherry at Pappa Joe’s for dinner.  After a pleasant meal with a good amount of beer to wash it down, we headed to Sam McGuire’s in Orland Park.  There was this 2 man band acoustic band playing their called Sean and Charlie…let me tell you they rocked ass!!  Go to http://charlielyonsmusic.com/index.cfm to see where and when they are playing and go see them, they are fantastic!  Great music, and just a whole lotta fun.  Trisha cut out earlier than us because of her work ordeal…but we hung in there until the joint was gonna close.  After a gazillion pints of Guinness and a million pints of Jameson & Coke I was pretty toasty…the night was defiantly a kick ass time.  Kinda disappointing no one else joined us cause it was well worth the trek…oh well more fun for us was had.



2:46 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Funny Shit
I added a new section to my rockin dope trip website..."funny shit"  check it out, I will update it often.


12:15 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Genius Beer chased with German Choco Cake, followed by a Turkey & 4 Christmases
Black Weds me and Jim went to our usual spot (Olde Tinley Pub) and aggressively poured Guinness down our throats one after the next (we call Guinuess Genius Beer cause it makes you smart), about four pints in Brian joined us (which was a very pleasant surprise).  I was very proud of my man B when he followed suit and ordered a Guinness himself.  It was a great time, we had constant entertainment provided by our waitress that was as sharp as a butter knife (that’s a story on its own).

After a few more pints I introduced the lads to this “German Chocolate Cake” shot Peter showed us in Galena.  I’m not quite sure what’s in it, but its clear and it tastes like you had a mouthful of cake (and it seems somewhat potent).  Shortly thereafter we headed down the street to Tehan’s which had a pretty good crowd, I think we closed the place…I was feeling pretty trashed near the end.  It was a pretty nice and relaxing evening, unfortunately for the bar biz, the black Weds crowd was pretty low…usually its hard to get a seat at Olde Tinley on Black Weds…this year you had your pick.

The next day I woke up with Guinness Head, it is a condition that arises when one drinks one to many pints.  Basically for the first 2 hours after you wake up, you feel like your head was kicked in by someone that was wearing cleats.

After those two hours passed me by I was good to go.  I helped with prepping the house for our Turkey Day guests, played with the kids, and popped loads of Advil.  When 12 hit I scooped up Meghan and we went to the Airport to pick up my sis.  We got back to the house, chilled for about another hour and then our guests came.  It was an excellent night filled with great company, great food, and good times.  This probably turned out to be the best T-Day we hosted by far, it just all went so smooth (and me and Trish didn’t kill eachother).  After the T-Day festivities, the kids went with my parents to their house for a sleep over with their Auntie Sherry (my sis).  So, kidless and needing to get out of the house; Trish, my couis Chase, and myself went to the movies to see Four Christmases…which was flipping fantastic.  I laughed my ass off pretty much throughout the whole flick...do yourself a favor and watch it.  After the movie, Chase went home and Trish and myself chilled out and watched some Ghost Hunters while snacking on leftover pie.

12:10 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 26

Turkey Week
Considering the course of the past few weeks, this week is turning out to be pretty damn good...this may be aided by the fact I only worked on Monday and took the rest of the week off.  Tomorrow we are going to host some family for the turkey feast, but not an overabundance of people like we usually have.  My back is finally starting to feel better after the accident...again I am one damn lucky son of a bitch.  I think I found the car I want to get...and oohlala it is hot, hopefully it works out; I'm just ironing out the finalities of my totaled vehicle with the insurance company.  If everything goes as planned I will sportin  a new ride by Friday (lets keep my fingers crossed)!  I just want this all settled and over with before I go back to work on Monday.  To celebrate all this good week I am going to keep my tradition of meeting Jim out for drinks at Olde Tinley Pub (its been a Black Wednesday tradition of ours for ages), its a nice crowd, not overly crowded...and we don't have to drive too far with all the amature drinkers out partying. 

Well to whom ever reads this shit...Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your families to the fullest, eat plenty, and be safe!!

3:45 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)


November 24

Hexes & Curses
I am now really beginning to think that someone put a hex on us!  It just seems like our luck has been pretty negative lately, and Tuesday morning was just another fuck you from whomever hexed us.  Tuesday morning on my way to work I managed to get into a car accident and total my truck…I hit a semi truck going 50 mph…he was at a complete standstill...how’s that for a good morning and fuck you?  I shouldn’t bitch, all and all it could have been much worse, I ended up with a goofed up back out of the mess and that was it.

I was heading to work, going east on 159th street headed to 294, as I was approaching the I57 I was being blinded by the sun and there was a hill.  As I came over the hill at 50 there was a semi that just appeared, I jerked the truck to the left luckily so the passenger side took a brunt of the collision, would have been much worse on me if I didn’t do that.  Apparently some asshole was getting onto I57, saw the traffic and jerked back onto 159th (in front of the semi I collided into), the semi had to apply his breaks and boom…there I was.  The officer told me if I didn’t jerk the car over I woulda been fucked much worse, if I was in a car…mmmm he said I probably would have killed myself, so all in all I’m lucky (considering).

Well, besides for the obvious hex we have been blessed with, I am now a firm believer in the Cahill Blue Car Curse.  My aunt swears that Cahill’s are cursed with blue cars and they bring nothing but bad luck.  As I pondered on my past accidents it occurred to me that every car I totaled in the last umpteen years has been blue…son of a fucking bitch.  New rule, no blue cars from now on, no matter how good the deal is. 

1:44 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge IL Sucks!!!!
I know they are trying to provide a good service, and their intentions are good, but they take in more animals than they can handle and are understaffed.  In my previous post I talked about how we adopted a cat their and within one week of owning her she needed to be put to sleep for having this feline temperament disease.  The cat we currently had very little contact with this diseased cat, we found out last week that she contracted the same disease!!  Thank God she is recovering from it (after hundreds of dollars spent at the vet for IV’s, medicines, treatments, etc).  We tried doing good by rescuing a cat from a place we thought were good…it resulted in a dead cat adopted from them which caused illness to our beloved Gizmo.  Bashing this place is going to become my hobby!!  P.S. I am beginning to believe we were hexed. 


11:40 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

New Pussy Passes, then off to Galena
Midweek we started noticing our new cat from the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge IL (whom I am going to make it a point to join every forum and bash the shit out of them) started acting very strange…sickly.  So Saturday morning we were off to drop the kiddies at Grammie and Grampies so we could meet Peter & Kerry in Galena for the weekend; we made a stop off with Lovey (the cat) at the Animal Welfare so they could check her out.  It turned out she has a feline temperament disease and they had to put her asleep.  Now what really pisses us off about the whole ordeal is that apparently this disease is very contagious between cats, so any other cat adopted out within the period of time this one was has a likelihood of having this disease.  We are appalled that the gave us a sickly cat, they should have monitored the cat longer before adopting out, and at the time of being notified of this took appropriate action with their existing cat stock.

After this very sad occurrence we dropped off the kids and headed for Galena (a nice 3.5 hour drive).  Usually I am only good for about a 1.5 hour drive before I get restless and annoy the shit out of Trish, but this drive was different, it was breath taking.  I realize that Galena is closer to Iowa than Chicago, but man, the topography was so different than anything I have ever seen in Illinois.  I was taken back to how hilly and beautiful the scenery was, it was one of those rare times that I wish the drive was even longer.  After the beautiful drive we checked into our hotel room at the Irish Cottage, which was an excellent place to stay.  We went to the pub there, had a few drinks and enjoyed some appetizers while we waited for Peter & Kerry.  We eventually went into town (where the shops and the touristy stuff was) which was only a few blocks from the hotel, right as we parked Peter called and said they just arrived.

We went back to the hotel, got Peter and Kerry, and then went back into town for some shopping.  We had a great time; after that we went back to the hotel pub, had a few more drinks and then we were on our way to dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes (an excellent restaurant I highly recommend).  After a fabulous dinner we went back to the hotel pub for a night of drinks and kick ass music.   There was a great band playing, the atmosphere was great, and the drinks kept coming…what more could you ask for.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel then went back into town for some more shopping…apparently we didn’t spend enough money yet.  We did have fun, went into a winery and enjoyed a great wine tasting, and spent some more money.  We then went back to the hotel and had lunch before heading home.  We had a really nice time away…it was much needed after the stretch of shitty luck we’ve been having lately (with the animals and all).

11:33 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 10

Calm weekend, although I get a little pussy and Gavin scores 2nd base.
This weekend was a rarity for us, we actually had nothing planned and Trish was off of work.  The only thing we did have a commitment for was bowling on Sunday (which we ended up skipping anyways).  Friday night Trish ended up going over to Ellen's down the street after the kids were in bed, etc to go hot tubbing with the girls on the block.  I have been feeling kinda under the weather so I just took the opportunity to be lazy and relax, it was really needed.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, got the kids all ready and we headed to Lemont to go to that Pancake Cafe joint.  For some strange unknown reason I have been wanting to go there for breakfast for weeks now.  After we were done there we went to the Animal Welfare to look at cats and dogs.  Since our beloved Slinky went missing our other cat has been in a deep depression.  All she does is sits by the door and cries, she barely eats (and thats amazing cause she's a fat ass) and she's not taking care of herself (ever since she was a little kitten 7 years ago, Slinky started grooming her, and still did until this day...we are convinced this cat does not know how to do anything...shes half a tard).

We ended up coming home with a cat (and no dog grrrrrrrr...I really want another dog), this cat was as sweet as can be until she met Gizmo (our cat) and Murphy (our dog).  This new cat named "Lovey"...gay name, but Meghan chose to keep it...so I say she was named after Lovie Smith.  First the dog came up to Lovey all happy, wagging tail, etc...Lovey's claws came out, started hissing and spitting..mmmm, I guess she doesn't like dogs.  Shortly after Gizmo came down to see her, very cautious mind you; she was exposed to the same treatment Murphy received. So, thus far the cat is wonderful with us and the children...not so wonderful with our pets.  We figured we will give her a chance, but if she doesn't start treating our existing pets any better by Weds, were going to return her.  The main purpose of this was for Gizmo, and if she's gonna be treated like this...fuggit.

Saturday night Jay and Adriana came by for dinner and drinks, it was a great visit.  While the kids were awake we had dinner and then sat down in the theater room to watch Kung Fu Panda (Which was very good by the way).  After the movie we put the kids to bed, My wonderful lady killer son went over by Adriana (Who he claimed as his girlfriend) to give her a good night kiss, then reached out his hand and grabbed her boob!  Adriana at first thought it was an accident, so we explained to her that our 3 year old is a pervert and will grab a girls boob at any opportunity.  After the kids hit the sack and Gavin got to 2nd base with Adriana we just sat around, had drinks, and chatted.  We learned a lot about Adriana and her life, she is from Croatia.  She grew up during the war and experienced more than I could even imagine, it was very interesting.  It ended up being a great night, nothing big, just relaxing with good company.

Sunday we were supposed to bowl and Trisha's parents were going to take the kids to a play.  Trisha's parents took the kids and we skipped bowling.  I still was feeling a bit blah, and it was nice to have the opportunity to lay around and do nothing uninterrupted.  Eventually the kids came home and we had a nice relaxing family night to end our weekend.



7:35 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 07

Facelift
I decided to give my website a little facelift...I get board easily. I probably will add some more changes in the near future...cheers.

8:05 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 05

President Elect Obama
The 2008 election has now came to an end…now I have to find me a new obsession!!  Well, the best man (in my opinion) did not win; but with that said, I congratulate Barack Obama in his extraordinary and monumental achievement.  While I was not an advocate for Barack, and support most of the policies and views of his contender; I think what Mr. Obama accomplished yesterday is a reflection of how much our country has evolved past the lines of racial barriers.  I do firmly think that race played a strong role in the election (for Mr. Obama’s benefit), but when you see the polling statistics of who voted for him it is clear that he was able to step beyond racial borders (that is referring to the large white population he captured).

I will restate that I did not vote for him or would not vote for him, but truly respect him and his succeeded efforts.  I could sit here and make arguments why I thought he was not the right person for the job, but what’s the point; he now is the man with the job.  I hope for the sake of our country that everything moves forward in a positive direction that will benefit the majority of the American public.  One thing to keep in mind, the economy could not get any worse…it can only go up from here.  I just hope that right decisions are made in regards to taxation, distribution and budgeting of government funds, and health / medical policies.  Beyond popular belief, socialized medicine is horrific.  If anyone has the opportunity to speak with someone that resides in a country with socialized medicine, they will attest to its subpar practices and high taxation that comes as a result (doctors are not free).  These are just things to keep in mind while change is taking place, make sure you know where you are heading and it is the right place to head.  Congratulations President-Elect Obama, you have a great challenge ahead of you and I hope you have the best interests of the American majority in your heart.

2:05 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 03

House Invasion
After an eventful and fun Saturday with the family our house was invaded by RetardBoy and his loyal sidekick, the lovely “L”.  We did the firepit in the backyard, sipped drinks, and raided by kids candy stash from Halloween.  We had a great time, despite RetardBoy’s short comings.  We were able to look beyond “beans and franks” and indulge in laughter and fun.  Woot…beans and franks, beans and franks.  (if you are at all confused by this post…just let it be.  Don’t think about it, let it be.)


2:56 PM GMT  |  Read comments(1)

Halloween...candy, beer, bonfires, and strange chicks!
Halloween has gots to be my favorite holiday of all time…its just plain old fun.  No one is breaking the bank (unless your us, who’s wife spent a fortune on decorations this year…ok, I helped), no one is stressed, its just good times.  Now Halloween day in our hood is an event, it is an event that brings lots of candy for the kids, excessive drinking for the boys, and lots of laughter and fun for everyone involved.

Since Halloween fell on a Friday this year, I took the day off.  Spent the first part of the day doing work around the house at my own pace…actually gotta hell a lot accomplished.   At about 3:30 or so (after all the neighborhood kids were home from school, etc) the fun started.  All the kids and the mothers met over by our house (there is a lot of kids in our hood) to start the Trick or Treat parade (kids going door to door, Mom’s staying back sipping on cocktails…pretty much everything in our neighborhood involves drinking).   I walked across the street to help Bill hand out candy (I had this nifty little butler guy that held a candy tray…so I just yelled across the street at the trick or treaters to help themselves) and finish his beer inventory.  Probably 2 or 3 beers into handing out candy, Court came by; then shortly after that Jay came by for a little bit as well (he wanted to parade his new G1 Google phone…yes I am bitter). 

After about an hour into the Trick or Treat game, Gavin was done (he’s not much for that kind of stuff…we had to fight him to put on his costume), so we ended up in front of my crib with Gavin so he could hand out candy to the kids.  Now Gavin is a smart little shit…girls came by he would give them a handful of candy, when the guys came by he would give them a tootsie roll.

A little while later the kids came back to take a trick or treat break, so the kids played for a bit…we continued to drink beer (ya, I was pretty toasted by the end of the night).  Everyone kinda then split off, but our fam stayed across the street.  At some point we ended up taking kids on golf cart rides since Bill brought his carts back from Indi.  After all that fun we decided to have a bonfire in Bills driveway…we did that, continued to drink, kids played, it was really a good time.  Trish and Janet took the kids back out for a little more trick or treating, we continued to deplete the beer inventory.  We were then rejoined by Court and somewhere down the line Big Bill joined us and we had some political conversation, etc.  After the kids and mom’s came back, they went inside to cook us frozen pizzas and let the kids play…we continued our drinking around the fire…believe me, its a lot more fun then it sounds. 

At about 8:30 or so Trish took the kids home for bed, I stayed over by LouLou’s for more beer and further discussion on how our countries political future looks really really shitty.  At about  9pm or so (trick or treating ends at 7pm mind you)  we heard someone across the street by my house…then we saw this strange looking girl come from in front of my house and walk over by us at Bills.  Later on I found out she came to my home looking for some candy, then after Trish gave her some sweets, she cleared out the butler in front of my house (Trish watched her through the window).  Now lets get something straight now, this girl walked across the street from my house to Bills and approached us…my street is a very quiet and dark street that backs up to horse stables, surrounded by forests, etc.  We were (at this point) 5 guys drinking beer sitting around a bonfire that we had going in a driveway.  If I was a guy, let alone a chick by herself, I would not have even crossed the street by us.  Not that were not nice guys and all, just these days you can’t trust anything…so remember 5 guys, bonfire in driveway, drinking beer.  Well this girl strolled up to us with such confidence that she freaked me out.  She then said Trick or Treat, do you boys have any candy?  Well we all kind of looked at each other with a very confused look.  She then repeated herself…I was waiting for a gun to come out or something.  LouLou then asked if she was serious (mind you this chick looked about 25 or so…so not only after hours but over age).  The girl then repeated herself again, so LouLou got up and handed her a ton of candy.   Now Big Bill with a very confused look asked her if she is a little old to be doing this…she replied by saying she is 20 and loves candy…then walked away.  Let me tell you this chick really creeped me out, and I hope for her sake nothing happened to her…she didn’t seem all their upstairs.  After that strange little occurrence, we all sat around for a few more minutes and then departed…for one, I was trashed.  Happy Halloween!

2:21 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 29

Mr. Mom Weekend
Bright and early Saturday morning Trish departed for her annual neighborhood mom’s weekend getaway.  This is one of 3 spa / getaway weekends she does annually…yes I am bitter!

After she left I had a great morning with the kids, playing, etc.  Finally I got them motivated enough to go to the store (when the kids are with me alone, they prefer just to stay in and play…ok, Im tooting my own horn).  Anywho, I took them out for a few errands, then met my Mom and Jim for lunch.  After that my Mom and Jim came over so me and Jim could work on closing the pool while my Mom kept an eye on the kids…at this point it was quite alright with me…I was ready for a break.  After the pool was done we relaxed for a little bit before we had to go over to Jay’s next door for a Halloween movie night for the kids. 

It was a great time at Jays, he had food there, beer…beer…and more beer!  With that said, the kids enjoyed watching Monster House, Gavin enjoyed flirting with Jay’s girlfriend Adriana and her friend (forgot her name), and Jay and myself enjoyed drinking beer.  2 hours and 6 beers later I took the kids home and put them to bed.  After I got them to bed, Court came over for some beers and to watch the World Series…good times, but I was pretty much falling asleep by 11:30 or so, a day with the kids is draining!

Kids had me up bright and early on Sunday morning…6:30 or so.  I was able to manage vegging in bed for an extra hour, but I had to eventually get up and feed em.  We had a nice lazy day in our PJ’s watching movies and playing until Trish came home.  After Trish got home my mom took the kids trick or treating by my gramps, so Trish and myself went and wasted an hour and 28 minutes of our life on the worst movie we have ever seen.  Do not…I repeat, do not waste your time on Quarantine, it sucks donkey ass!!!  I would have rather stayed home and cleaned the garage, scrub the floors with a toothbrush, and maybe do all of my neighbors lawns.

After we got home from that waste of time, the kids arrived shortly after.  The rest of the evening was nice and relaxing…I sat on my ass and didn’t do much as a strike of bitterness against Trish for her weekend away.



6:25 AM GMT  |  Read comments(1)

October 21

Sunday: Bikes, Boats, and Bears
Saturday morning I was a bit tired…my body isn’t used to drinking in large volumes this many days in a row (Thurs, Fri, and Sat).  In my younger years, no problem…older days, I need a break.  Trish went with Michelle and took the kids to  Brookfield Zoo for“Boo At The Zoo”.  I was going to go, but it seemed more like a “Mom’s” and kids thing, so I stayed back to go out on the bike and close the pool (rode on the bike…but didn’t close the pool).  Jim called me at about 11 to see what the plan was, he said he promised Sailmate he was going to help pull his boat out of Buhrnam Harbor downtown…with that said, Jim suggested we take the nice weather part of the day and take the bikes downtown and help him, then come home a do my pool.  This all made good sense to me…and I had very little choice considering that I need Jim’s help to close my pool.

We headed downtown on the bikes., was a great day for a ride, a bit windy, but perfect in every other way.  We got downtown at the third quarter of the Bears game, so while doing the boat shit, we were able to listen to the rest of the game, while hearing the cheers from Soldiers Field across the street. Great game by the way!!

After we were done helping Sailmate and I managed to break his turn signal on his boat trailer…he was not to thrilled…but hey, don’t sweat the petty things, pet the sweaty things…we were on our way.  We headed home, then decided to go grab dinner at Old Tinley Pub…let me tell you, they have the best burgers known to man, that I promise you!  We went and enjoyed a beer, a great burger, then headed to my house to finally do the pool (it was getting dark by now).  We started the pool process but realized we needed a few more things (namely string), so we decided to do this project next weekend…Trish, not so happy about the idea, but again, I’m depending on Jim’s help for this.

It was a great day being out on the bike…trying to grasp onto any last bit of the season I can.  After the kids  went to bed, we just chilled and worked on catching up on TiVo’ed shows…it was a great Sunday.  It wasn’t our typical “Family” Sunday…but it was nice for me ;)



9:07 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 20

Halloween Party
I spent the day with the kids while Trish worked…they were pretty difficult today, namely my daughter…good thing Gavin was in good spirits to even it out.  Besides for that it was an enjoyable day, I always enjoy having my daddy / kid days.

After Trish got home from work we did some running around and then were getting stuff ready for this big Halloween party we were going to.  About an hour before we were supposed to leave we put on our costumes and decided we didn’t dig em anymore…which was a shame cause we had a small fortune into this dumb beer keg costume for me and this beer stube costume for Trish.  The costumes just weren’t working…Trisha’s was kinda blah…not the sexy look she was going for, and my stupid keg thing wasn’t working (was supposed to actually serve liquor out of this tap contraption that covered my head…it leaked and it pissed me off).  With that said, we scooped the kids up and ran to Spirit of Halloween (place blows ass by the way) and spent another small fortune on a sexy cop costume for her, and an inmate costume for me (now between the two sets of costumes we have about $400 into this little event…ya, it sucks).  We rushed home and got ready in a jiffy…I was starting to grow my hair back so I decided to give myself a little mohawk…achieved that Robert Deniro Taxi Cab Driver look, and gave myself a hillbilly stash.  I covered my neck and head with fake tat’s, a tear drop on my eye, a little thug life on my knuckles, and I was set (looked all kinds of thug).  Trisha on the other hand looked hot as hell, low cut shirt, fish net stockings…these costumes worked.

Marilyn & Ricky, and Brian & Lilia joined us at the party…they had great costumes as well…M&R did the Greese thing, and B&L were a Pilot and hot little flight attendant.  The party was all in all a good time, the hostess (Tricia, this girl I work with) had corney games to play…that were actually quite fun for adults (innocent but adultish).  It was funny, Tricia kept telling us how her, her husband and all their friends were big partiers, etc….ummm I guess.  At about 12:00 everyone was either out for the count or left…our little group was still going strong.  The party was a good time…good people, etc; would defiantly repeat next year…but I am kinda thinking we should throw our own and go all out.

6:04 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Thursday & Friday night out with the neighbors...Lisa Lamponelli Show
Thursday night after work, I came home; chilled with the clan, then went out (my normal Thursday night activities).  We were surprisingly joined by Brian this evening, which was a very nice surprise indeed.  Was a good time, having Brian there mixed it up a bit...I enjoy a change of pace.  We had most of the normal crew out, Al, Kevin, Jim, Me, Bob M (aka Sailmate), and Brian.  A good time was had by all this evening.

Friday I was blessed to leave work early...don't ask me why, but I have really...really been needing it lately.  Work has been incredibly stressful, and the whole economy is really hurting us.  This week went from bad to worse.  First of all my bosses tax return had to get filed this week (Oct 15th is the last day for extensions...always a stressful day for us), then we had our own real estate crisis hit us.  We own the Lincoln Park hospital (ran by the Merritt hospital group), and they decided to close the doors.  That leaves us with a massive piece of real estate vacant…and the last time I checked, hospitals were not expanding by leaps and bounds.  We are working diligently to get this problem remedied (getting a new hospital group in there), but its tough…and this asset with no rent coming in is very scary.  Getting out of the office early seemed to give me a little peace of mind, but again I should be greatfull I am employed for the moment.  Anywho, I digress.  I left work, got home, cleaned up...Trisha's parents came by cause they were watching the kids; then we headed out with the LouLou's for our night out with the neighbors. 

A group of us were going to see Lisa Lamponelli (comedian if you dont know who she is...she's the one that does all the celebrity roasts...she's crude, but funny as all hell).  The concert was at the Rialto in Joliet, so we started out at this new bar that was in the downtown Joliet train station...drinks and dinner before the show.  It was Me, Trish, the LouLou's, Mick and Ellen.  This place was great, food was kinda subpar, but the drink prices were outstanding.  First of all, for Us and the LouLou's, we got 4 burgers and 2 rounds of drinks...the price....dummmm dummmmm.....$23.00...wtf?? I thought it was a mistake, until I saw Mick and Ellen were getting Gin and Tonics for $2.50 each.  After our primers and a bit of chow, we walked over to the theater for the show.  The place was jammed, I didnt realize Lisa Lamponelli had such a gay following...(let me clarify, I have nothing against gays, I have good friends that are gay so I am not being a bigot...well I can be, but now I'm not)  I thought I was in a North Side bar, I mean it was crazy.

Before the show started me and Bill got in line to purchase drinks...the drink lines were very long...and very slow.  The Rialto only employs volunteers (apparently) and thinks it smart to station the oldest, shortest, grayest, and slowest ladies at the bars.  So you end up with these nice gray haired little old ladies that move at a snails pace serving 100’s of people mixed drinks…the line moved slloowwwww.  Now while standing in line, Bill noticed that when they poured mixed drinks they were very very generous.  As slow as they were at making the drinks, was as slow as they were from tipping the bottle back in the upright position when pouring a drink.  We figured this was a benefit to our advantage, so changed our minds from beer to mixed drinks…and had a good stiff one.

The show was hysterical.  Lemme tell you, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breath…I was seeing starts.  We had great seats (13th row), and was almost in the line of fire to get insulted…luckily she concentrates on insulting Gays, African Americans, Mexican’s, Asian’s, etc…so I wasn’t so worried.  The show was worth every penny spent, it was one of the funniest 90 minutes I have ever experienced.

After the show we all walked over the the Harrah’s Casino for drinks and gambling.  Unfortunately the Harrah’s Casino sucks ass.  The place is decorated all cool, feels like your in Vegas, but there are barely any tables…all machines (that don’t pay).  Now to top off this…the beer there was very pricey ($4.50) for a casino, and they also charged $4.75 to take money out of the ATM.  Now if I owned the joint I would keep booze flowing cheap and money easy to get…take advantage of the clientele.  We hung at the Casino for about an hour or so, then headed home…regardless of the place kinda blowing, it was a good time.  It was a great start to a busy weekend! 

8:24 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 16

Final Presidental Debate - Dont bother me with the facts...my minds made up!

October 13

Da Weekend
Thursday I ended up going out with the boys, it was the first Thursday in quite a while.  It was a relaxed night out, dinner at Flossmoor Station and drinks at our usual dive.  Most of the night’s conversation revolved around the doom of our economy…the market this week was scary as hell.

Friday was nice and laid back.  After work I hung with the fam, then Trish took Meghan to the haunted hayride for Girl Scouts, and I had the opportunity to relax for a while after Gavin went to bed.  After they got home, me and Trish just relaxed and caught up on some shows, it was a great evening.

Saturday was busy as hell, but fun and eventful.  Trish worked in the morning, so I took the kids on our infamous pajama run…Meghan requested Burger King, I later found out it was due to the fact that they give toys with their breakfast kids meals…and her Burger King i-dog needed a friend…sneaky sneaky.  It was a great day with the kids, our usually playing, etc.  After Trish got home we went Halloween costume shopping for the party we have next week…we had no luck, that Spirit of Halloween place sucks donkey ass!!!  Slow, helpers suck, out of everything…a complete and utter waste of an hour on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  When we were done accomplishing nothing at this hellhole of a Halloween store, Trish dropped me off at Jims (where my bike was), and I was going riding for a few hours with Jim and Ron.  Me and Jim cruised for a while, went up to Chi-Town Harley…I needed sunglasses, and had to get a t-shirt (I was wearing a long sleeve and sweating my ass off).  This day was unbelievable out, mid-October and it was sunny and 80, fanfuckingtastic!  We eventually went to Frankfort to pick up Ron and then we headed to Kankakee.  Pretty much when we got to Kankakee and drove through town a little bit, I had to turn around and head home (our annually neighborhood bonfire was that evening).  Jim and Ron stayed out there to ride up the river, etc…so I headed back and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon.

Right when I got home from my ride we had to head to Bill and Michelle’s for the bonfire.  The bonfire was a great time, but after Tony broke out the Saki I got a bit lit.  The kids had fun with their bug hunt, the story read by Ms. Anjie, and roasting marshmallows.  The adults had a great time snacking and drinking alcoholic beverages and spiked Apple Cider.  Again most of the conversations revolved around our screwed up economy…it is scary, and everyone I know is freaked.

After we got home, me and Trish put the kids to bed and then watched that Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was cute and funny…but not as funny as we thought it would be.  But, but, but…not all was lost!!  Mila Kunis (formerally of ‘That 70’s Show’) stared in this little comedic delight and made the movie a 4 star blockbuster hit (in my own little world).  When she was in ‘That 70’s Show’, yeah she was pretty but she really didn’t do much for me…but now..she just was added onto my Celebrity Do List (Celebrities’ that I would have extramarital affairs with and my wife would possibly approve…but its easy for her to say cause it wouldn’t happen).

Sunday morning we headed out to Indiana to close up our summer retreat.  I will probably be making a few more trips back, we still have to get the golf cart, and I also want to do some fall camping…something about a chilly night, bonfire, and beer.  We got everything pretty much wrapped up there, it was kinda sad…we really enjoyed it all summer long.  We spent time with the LouLou’s, went to lunch with them, drank some beer, etc.   We also managed to get swarmed by mosquitoes and eaten alive (this was the worst I have ever seen there).  Because of this we ended up leaving much earlier than we originally planned.  On the way home we stopped at the Candy factory for the kids ,and then at the Krazy Kaplin’s Halloween Emporium to look at costumes…where we changed our minds on what we were gonna be.  Trish is going to be a bar/beer girl, and I a Keg (and the Keg costume really works)…this’ll be fun.  We also managed to spend tons of money on half priced Halloween décor (the jack up the price and then mark it half off), we actually bought an inflatable Haunted House for our front yard…very cool I must say.  We love Halloween…one day I aspire to be one of those Halloween houses that people come to see…the goals I set for life.

After we got home I did something only I can do…one of those things that people who know me would say…”only Tim”, or “fucking Tim”…yes I pulled a Tim.  After we finished unloading my truck of all the shit we brought home, I went to close the back hatch.  I slammed it down hard failing to move my head from the corner of the back hatch…which wacked my head with unnecessary force.  I saw starts, this hurt like a son of a bitch.  Trish said I shouldn’t tell people what really happened, it would prove to be a bit embarrassing…but hey, its me…people expect it.

On a final note...The Bears?? Common man so close!!!


7:24 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 09

Who's to blame for the Credit Crisis??
I was just turned on to this NY Times article written in 1999...1999! so it is completely unbiased to todays current political situation.  It pretty much tells who is to blame for the current credit crisis (and banking) in our country.  Note the name Franklin Raines...he is currently one of Obama's economic advisor's 

September 30, 1999 Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending By STEVEN A. HOLMES In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits. In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans. ''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.'' Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market. In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's. ''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.'' Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped. Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings. Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites. Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent. In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent. Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings. In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups. The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicantsrs. 

9:54 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

It's debatable - Our Future Prez
I came across this interesting article that takes some of the points stated at the last presidential debate and attaches the actual facts.  When watching the debate there is so much shit flung in the air, it hits your eyes and you cant see straight.  I think its important to see the facts clearly for what they are, not a biased view by some blogger ore media personality that has a favorite; where is Ron Paul when we need him??  Two things I do want to point out though, beyond popular belief, Obama's healthcare policy is NOT socialized medicine (which is how he markets it).  Number two, if it was socialized medicine, I for one would be against it.  The concept sounds nice, but somebody has to pay for it...that somebody is you.  I heard a radio show interviewing people from Germany where their is currently socialized medicine, do you realize they get taxed about 50% of what their earnings are?  That high tax goes to pay for everyones health costs, regardless of your health situation.  In the long run, that costs a taxpayer much more than if they had to pay for their own insurance costs.  Think about it, if a person made $55k a year from the age of 21 to 65, and half of your salary was taxed, that equates to $1.1mm in taxes!  I would bet that over a quarter of that is strictly for socialized health care...just some food for thought, now for the unbiased article checking the facts of both Obama and McCain:

McCain's plan to cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent across the board so as to spur job creation was boiled down by Obama into a $4 billion tax break for Big Oil, as if no other companies or workers would benefit.

McCain similarly cut corners with context when he accused Obama of voting for huge subsidies for the oil industry. Obama voted to strip away those subsidies and, when that failed, backed broad energy legislation that contained them.

So it went during 90 minutes of debate, a reality warp at times.

Some examples:

OBAMA: "Sen. McCain mentioned Henry Kissinger, who is one of his advisers, who along with five recent secretaries of state just said we should meet with Iran — guess what? — without preconditions."

MCCAIN: "Dr. Kissinger did not say that he would approve face-to-face meetings between the president of the United States and (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad. He did not say that. He said there could be secretary-level and lower-level meetings. I've always encouraged that."

THE FACTS: Obama was right that Kissinger called for meetings without preconditions. McCain was right that Kissinger did not call for such meetings to be between the two presidents.

In a foreign policy forum on Sept. 15, Kissinger said: "I am in favor of negotiating with Iran." He went on to say, "I actually have preferred doing it at the secretary of state level" and the U.S. should go into the talks with "a clear understanding of what is it we're trying to prevent. What is it going to do if we can't achieve what we're talking about? But I do not believe that we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations. We ought, however, to be very clear about the content of negotiations and work it out with other countries and with our own government."

___

OBAMA: "John, you want to give oil companies another $4 billion" in tax breaks.

THE FACTS: The $4 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies is simply part of McCain's overall corporate tax reduction plan and does not represent an additional tax benefit. In other words, the corporate tax reduction applies to all corporations, oil companies included. Both Obama and McCain have proposed eliminating oil and gas tax loopholes.

___

MCCAIN: Said the country has lost the sense of accountability exemplified by Allied commander Dwight Eisenhower on the eve of D-Day. He said Eisenhower wrote one letter to be released in the event of victory, which praised the troops, "and he wrote out another letter, and that was a letter of resignation from the United States Army for the failure of the landings at Normandy."

THE FACTS: Eisenhower prepared to take responsibility in the note to be delivered in the event of D-Day disaster but did not offer to resign.

The full text:

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Le Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone."

___

OBAMA: Said he would make sure that the health care system "allows everyone to have basic coverage."

THE FACTS: If that sounds like universal health coverage, it's not. Obama picked his words carefully — stopping short of claiming outright that his plan provides health care for all. He promises to make health insurance affordable but would only require that children, not adults, have coverage. Estimates of how many would remain without insurance vary. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said during the primaries that Obama's plan would leave 15 million people uninsured.

___

MCCAIN: "We had an energy bill before the United States Senate. It was festooned with Christmas tree ornaments. It had all kinds of breaks for the oil companies, I mean, billions of dollars worth. I voted against it; Sen. Obama voted for it."

THE FACTS: Obama did vote for a 2005 energy bill supported by President Bush that included billions in subsidies for oil and natural gas production. McCain opposed the bill on grounds it included unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry. Obama voted to strip the legislation of the oil and gas industry tax breaks. When that failed, he voted for the overall measure. Obama has said he supported the legislation because it provided money for renewable energy.

___

OBAMA: "We're also going to have to look at, how is it that we shredded so many regulations? We did not set up a 21st-century regulatory framework to deal with these problems. And that in part has to do with an economic philosophy that says that regulation is always bad."

THE FACTS: Some of the abuses that occurred stemmed from the 1999 repeal of a Depression-era law that separated banks from brokerages. In legislation supported by former President Clinton and Robert Rubin, now a top Obama adviser and treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, this separation was ended — allowing banks and insurance companies to sell securities.

But while regular banks were strictly regulated by the government, Wall Street banks and other non-bank institutions — many of the same institutions whose abuses led to the current crisis — were allowed to operate with less regulation.

___

MCCAIN: McCain said Obama voted to cut off money for the troops in Iraq.

THE FACTS: Despite opposing the war, Obama has, with one exception, voted for Iraq troop financing. In 2007, he voted against a troop funding bill because it did not contain language calling for a troop withdrawal. The Illinois senator backed another bill that had such language — and money for the troops.

___

MCCAIN: In a discussion of how the government could shrink spending, he said: "Look, we are sending $700 billion a year overseas to countries that don't like us very much."

THE FACTS: The comment echoes one he made in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention earlier this month, when he was talking about money the U.S. spends on foreign oil. FactCheck.org says the U.S. this year is on track to spend $536 billion on imported oil — not $700 billion — and nearly one-third of that comes from friendly nations: Canada, Mexico and Britain.

___

MCCAIN: "Sen. Obama twice said in debates he would sit down with Ahmadinejad, (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez and (Cuban President) Raul Castro without precondition."

OBAMA: "Now, understand what this means, 'without preconditions.' It doesn't mean that you invite them over for tea one day. ... There's a difference between preconditions and preparation. Of course we've got to do preparations, starting with low-level diplomatic talks, and it may not work, because Iran is a rogue regime."

THE FACTS: Obama was asked in a July 2007 debate whether he would be willing to meet "without precondition" with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba and other countries the U.S. regards as rogue nations. Obama replied, "I would," adding that it was ridiculous to think that America is punishing such nations by refusing to speak with them. Time and again since then he has been forced to defend the statement, both by Democrats during the primaries and by Republicans.

Obama has tried to draw a distinction between a precondition and preparation. He has argued that he wouldn't demand that a foreign leader give in on some fundamental issue before the two sides met to discuss the dispute. But he has said "preparations" would require diplomatic contacts to gauge whether a formal meeting would be useful and to lay the groundwork for those talks.

___

MCCAIN: "You know, we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that was a criminal issue or a paternal issue, but the fact is that it was $3 million of our taxpayers' money. And it has got to be brought under control."

THE FACTS: A study regularly mocked by McCain as pork barrel spending could help ease restrictions on logging, development and even the oil and gas drilling that McCain wants to expand. Montana ranchers, farmers and Republican leaders pushed for the study as a step toward taking the grizzly bear off the endangered species list. Former Montana Gov. Judy Martz, a Republican and a McCain supporter, said the bear had been used to block the use of the state's abundant natural resources, when all along the animal was plentiful. "If it is going to remove it from the list, it is money well spent," Martz said.

9:31 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 07

Saturday...Hikes, Movies, Fires, NKTOB (Trisha NOT ME), and lotsa Beer... long day wow!
Saturday morning after the wedding we awoke from a nice sleep at the hotel (actually I tossed and turned all night, but that’s besides the point).  We went down to eat the hotel breakfast which Jim loved and I found to be uneatable.  We were shortly joined by Brian’s family as well as the happy newly weds…it was a very nice visit which turned the uneatable food into a fantastic breakfast.  After our visit we went back to our rooms, cleaned up, checked out and left.  Me, Trish, My Mom, and Jim went on a small hike by the actual “Starved Rock”…shit those stairs are killer!  Got some beautiful pictures, then slopped through the mud, then headed home.  On the way home me and Trish ran through a Hardey’s drive through (Always wanted to try Hardey’s)…we wont ever make that mistake, we had a few bites and tossed away the food…it sucked ass.

We got the kids, went home, and chilled for the remainder of the afternoon.  Later on Trish was going to the (this is so funny) New Kids On The Block concert with Marilyn, her  daughter Caitlyn, and then Tanya down the street…they all had shirts made for the event and everything….Trisha Loved Donnie according to her shirt.  I ended up taking the kids and my Mom to Hollywood Blvd to see Beverly Hills Chuaua and have dinner, it was a cute movie.  After the flick I came home, put the kids to bed, and the Court came by for a little backyard fire, beer, and listen to the Cubs get swept.  I swore to myself it was going to be a one or two beer visit, I was fried from the busy days that just passed.  The night ended up being nice with the fire, the beer was going down well, and the Cubs were loosing….Court stayed until 1:00am or so (when our beer inventory went down to zero).  Shortly thereafter Trisha came home with no voice from screaming at NKOT with the other 30 something year old mom’s that felt like reliving their childhood…crazy lol.

8:33 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Brian & Lila's Wedding @ Starved Rock
Early afternoon on Friday we headed out to Starved Rock for Brian & Lilia’s wedding.  I myself have never been to Starved Rock, I heard it was beautiful…and what I heard was absolutely on target.  Driving into the state park felt like you were in another state, it defiantly did not feel like Illinois.  All my life I have lived approximately an hour and a half from this beautiful place and never came here, I have really been missing out.

Right when we arrived we checked into our hotel which was approximately 10 minutes from the park, then we headed to “Big Bear Lodge” where Lilia’s family had a villa for the weekend.  We pulled into the Big Bear Lodge resort, and were in awe by its beauty…we immediately decided we have to take the kids here sooner than later.  Now at this point we couldn’t get a hold of anyone that was in the Villa, and they failed to give us the Villa number…that left us driving around aimlessly.  I pulled up to one parking area to text Brian, right as I pulled up Trish saw a Villa door open…and there came Brian strolling out (totally by coincidence).  I left Trish at the villa with the other bridesmaid’s and then followed Brian to his Cabin in Starved Rock State Park.  He had the sweet setup, this cozy little cabin that was literally steps from where the wedding ceremony was going to take place, and a two minute walk from the reception…talk about convenient.

The actual wedding ceremony was beautiful, the sun was shining, the spot was scenic, it was perfect.  The only thing that was a pain in the ass was the excessive amount of mosquitoes nipping at me throughout the ceremony.  They seemed to constantly be flying in my ear, and I was trying to be as still as possible while the happy couple were reciting their vows.  At one point Marcio (Who was behind me) said, “Tim, you have a spider crawling down your head”.  Now I am terrified of spiders, and so is Marcio…and I was feeling this little fucker crawl its nasty ass legs down my shaved skull.  I whisper back to Marcio, get rid of it…hes’ like; do you want me to smash it on your head or flick it off.  I respond, flick it off…now this seems to me like too much debate for a spider on my head.  Eventually Marcio flicked the spider off my head, and all I had to do was contend with mosquitoes.

After the lovely ceremony we had picture time (and the Sox game was kicking off…had the MLB play by play going on my Berry).  When the photographer concluded his picture session, we headed over to the reception hall which was just steps away.  I really wanted to get to the bar ASAP, I was giving the “best man speech” and I am a horrible speaker…I figured a bit of liquor could help me out a bit.  Now, I am a bad speaker, but I will confidently admit; a terrific writer.  With that said, I had a great speech prepared, I was just hoping I could deliver it well enough to give the speech and the happy couple its deserved justice.   I ended up having plenty of time to down about 6 beers and one whiskey and coke, socialize, and loosen up.  By the time I had to give the speech I was doing AOK…and was able to deliver to the best of my ability.  I got the reaction I strived for, I saw some tears, I heard lots of laughs, people even clapped afterwards (which I have never seen at a best man speech), but most of all I think Brian and Lilia were proud and enjoyed it. (by the way the White Sox were loosing at this point).

The food served at the wedding was remarkable, everything was perfect as can be.  After the formal dinner concluded we all strolled over to the “ball room” for the music…and my fun surprise to Trisha.  After all of the traditional wedding dances (Bride and Bride’s Dad, Mother of Groom and Groom, Bridal Party, Choke the Chicken Dance, the Macraraina or Margartita, or whatever the hell its called) the DJ stopped Trisha from exiting the dance floor.  The DJ Said “Trisha, we would like to make an announcement and dedication to you.  We heard that tomorrow night you are going to fulfill a life long dream and see the New Kids in Block in concert (which was true…yes I went to the DJ and asked them to do this), this song is dedicated to you…and then you heard…woooowooowoowoo…hangin tough..lmfao.  Trisha was red as a cherry, and looked like she was going to kill me.  Eventually Brian’s mother and sister went out on the dancefloor to rescue here (everyone else ran from that song like it was the plague).  Trisha then forced me out on the dance floor and proceeded to inform me that any hope I had of getting lucky that evening was now gone…it was worth it lol.

The rest of the reception went great, it was such a loose atmosphere and a great time.  I met some terrific people, saw many of Brian’s family that I do not see enough (he has such a wonderful family, I love them dearly), saw friends I don’t see often…it was great.  Most of all, the Bride and Groom had a great time, they were smiles all evening…on top of the world.  If I could have wanted anything for them that night, that was it…to truly enjoy the night.

Like all good things, the night finally came to an end.  We headed back to the hotel, Trish kept good on her word and we went to sleep.  On a final note…the Sox lost, bummer.

8:09 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

September 29

Brians Bachelor Party! Sox, Philly Fans, and more!
Saturday morning I woke up feeling good about the day that laid ahead.  It was Brian’s bachelor party, and I managed to get us some stadium club passes for the Sox game.  After the game we were going to do the Division street crawl, shit I haven’t done that in a million years.  The day was beautiful and I had a lot of shit to do to prep for the night…I am kinda OCD, therefore I overly obsess about things.  Througout the day I managed to do a few family things; went and looked at a dog, got a few miles on the bike, cleaned the truck, wacked off a woody, went shopping, blew up Sally (who turned out to be a Division Street legend that night), etc. 

At about 3:30 or so the bachelor party support group started to arrive.  First Jim, then Marcio, then Brian, Luis, and Cris.  Had quite a few beers on my front porch before departing to the game (funny part of this whole scenario, I think I was the only Sox fan going…but in Brian’s defense, he is pretty much a Baseball fan).  We finally left for the game at about 4:30 or so.  Brian was kind enough to bring some porn to give us the old fashion bachelor party feel, it provided entertainment for the back seat passengers.

5:00 we arrived at the Cell (Me, Brian, Luis, Marico, Cris, Jim, & Sally).  FYI, Sally is the blow up doll I got for Brian to be his arm candy for the evening.  We tailgated until about 6:00, which we then had to bust ass to get to the Stadium Club (we had a 6pm table and I heard their strict about that shit).

6:15 we strolled into the Stadium Club looking all kinds of pimp.  The place was sweet, I have never seen anything like it (at a ballgame).  The hostess escorted us to our pimp ass table that was over looking  the park from right field, the table was 3 rows from the glass, so the view was spectacular.  We ate some amazing food (they have one of the most incredible buffets you will eat, the food….damn).  Besides for the top notch food, the staff there bend over backwards to please you.  I wanted to get Brian’s name on the scoreboard, so our waiter tried, his boss tried, and his bosses boss tried.  After they determined it was too late to get it done, the treated our table to a free desert as an apology.  The experience of watching the game from this table and view was brilliant, everyone in the group seemed to really enjoy it.  We actually never even walked out into the stadium to see the regular seats we bought…that didn’t bother me in the least.  The only thing that blew about the whole deal was that the Sox played like they were fucking (pardon my rudeness) tards, and lost the game.

9:30 (or so) we left the Stadium Club and went back to our car for some after game tailgating.  We drank beer, played music, and had good old adult film playing in the truck (of course we covered the view if kids passed…were not that much of assholes).  Finally at around 10:00 or so, the kind security guards told us it was time to go, so we departed for division street.  On the way Sally had fun sticking her head out the moonroof, and making a spectacle of herself downtown.

10:00, after stopping @ Jewel so all the ill prepared people could get cash out of the ATM, and finding a great parking spot…we tailgated again.  Our parking spot was on the roof of the Treasure Island building a block from our destination.  We sat up there and watched the view while we finished the remainder of our tailgating beer leaving nothing but ice in the coolers.  At some point between pissing a lot in front of the truck, fucking with some girl Marcio knew who’s condo window was facing the parking garage, and finishing the beer; Kevin got there to join us for the night.

11:00 ?, I quit looking at the clock, we all headed down to hit the bars.  Brian was sportin his bachelor checklist shirt I got him (of which I wish I thought of buying those when I was single to pick up women…that shirt is an immediate attention grabber).  The first bar we went into was the old Alumni Club, I think it is now called Finn McCool’s or something.  Probably out of all the bars we hit that evening, including the “legend ones” (ie: Bar Chicago, Mother’s, etc) this was the best.  The crowd there was fantastic, everyone out to simply have a good fucking time.  We drank, we mingled,  and Sally became a star.  At one point Sally joined a bachelorette party up on stage for a few dances…she appeared on a lot of different cameras that evening.   Brian also managed to check off most of his tasks pretty quickly while in Finn McCools (fyi: they were innocent).

12:30ish…I think, we left Finn McCools and strolled over to Bar Chicago.  The line annoyed us so we moved on down to Mothers.  Let me start out by saying that Mothers is not what it used to be.  I guess with these bars being big touristy joints, the crowds change a lot.  The crowd there was the “look at me, I’m so pretty” people, a lot less fun than the peeps and Finn McCools.  Sally was not as big of a hit there, but she did attract some laughs.  Also at this point Sally sprung a leak, so about every 15 minutes I was blowing her up for Brian….this seemed to amuse people.  We had a few cocktails here and then jetted.

1:30ish we ended up at Bar Chicago…now let me inform you, this place SUCKS! SUCKS! And it also SUCKS!  We had to first of all wait in line, and they wouldn’t let our whole group up at once, the split us up into three different groups to let in.  When we got in there it was dead…so obviously they were doing this so it looked like the place was jumping from the outside (making the line appear long).  In the past I had a few good times at this place, this time…nah.  They also charged different covers for different individuals.  I paid $10 for me and Brian (I was getting his covers for the night), then they charged $15 to Marcio, $10 for Luis, we were all different…what jaggoff’s.  We made the best of it there, drank, drank, drank…watched some freakish Philly Eagle’s fans prance around like a bunch of idiots, not a terrible time. 

At about 2:30 or so we left this place with intentions of either heading home, or going to another bar.  As we were walking out we saw this confrontation of Bears fans and Philly fans…the Philly fans were bold, shouting things like Bears suck while wearing their Eagle’s shirts.  I couldn’t help but throw in a few comments like, get the fuck outta here you piece of shits, and things like that.  That started a potential confrontation that was avoided by my friends pulling me away, and his friends blocking him so I wouldn’t kill him…I love me when I drink heavily!  After this little fiasco we somehow ended up in Shenanigan’s.   This place had a great crowd, very similar to the types of people at McCools…but much drunker which just made it that much more interesting.  We had a great time, Brian and Sally up on stage, watching drunk girls dancing on stage and their boobs falling out of their little shirts (wow, I love watching sluts), things like that.  It was an all around good time to close the night (good clean fun mind you, couldn’t help if if slutty girls wore their shirts to small and jumped up and down on stage).  We finally left this place at about 5:00 am when it was closing.

5:45 we made it to my house…with most people passed out in the car.  The night ended and a shit load of fun was had.  Now next week I get to make an absolute fool of myself at Brians wedding, yay! Pics coming shortly.

3:34 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Thursday & TGIF
I skipped my Thursday night out in order to preserve my liver for the events that laid ahead for Saturday.  I also planned on keeping a low profile on Friday as well, but Trisha was having some neighbor girls over for drinks and a fire in the back yard, so I planned on making myself scarce.  I had a horrible, and I mean horrible friggen day…by the time I got home I felt like a whipping post.  I literally felt sick from the shit I had to deal with, and desperately needed to lift my spirits.   I ended up going out for a nice ride on the bike for a few hours, flipped on some Tom Petty on the radio and just rode.   By the time I got back from the ride I felt like a new man, it was perfect therapy. 

After I got home the girls were just getting primed, so I walked my ass over to Court’s for some beers and to watch the end of the (fucking shitty) Sox game…wtf is a matter with them?? If I was Ozzy I would bitch smack each and everyone of them twice.   Anywho, I had a good time at Court’s, I probably could have cut it off one or two beers shorter than I did, but wtf, you only live once.

2:21 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

September 22

My Weekend: Ice Cream, Parties, Motorcycles, Movies, and more oh my!
I did decide to go out Thursday...I skipped the dinner portion of our night, but later on met the boys at Knights for some cocktails.  It was a nice laid back night...Kevin, Jim, Bob M, and I got to see Al for a short bit...I miss the guy.  Good times.

Friday was crazy at work...shit the whole week was crazy so why should Friday be any different?  By the time I got home I was a crab, I was like a chick that was irritated by her kotex...intolerable.  After we got the kids to bed, me and Trish plopped our arses on the couch and watched TiVo'ed episodes of Paranormal State (great effen show!).  That was about the extent of our exciting night...it worked for me.

Saturday I had a great time with the kiddies all day while Trish worked...our typical Saturday when Mom works pajama lazy fun days.  I took the kids on a "pajama run", this is where we all hop in the car in our PJ's and go to Dunkin Donuts (drive thru of course) and pick up breakfast.  The kids love this, its a novelty I started about a year ago and we just do it once in a while.  After Trish got home we did some running around, went to the pet store for some aquarium shit we needed, Meg got to visit her favorite bird there (which is now on sale 1/2 price...only $1,000 dollars opposed to $2,000 dollars)...this is actually a bird I would want, and I hate birds...this dude is cool.  Shortly after all of this, Trish took the kids to her Mom’s (they were staying the night there, we had a friends surprise birthday party to go to).

Me and Trish first did a few errand’s and then had dinner at PF Changs, wow this place kicks ASS!!! Absolutely loved the food, it was fantastic.  If you ever go get the lettuce wrap appetizer, whewww it is unbelievable.  After we gorged ourselves with this excellent dinner we headed over to the party.  The party ended up ok, saw a few people I don’t see to often (it was mostly Trisha’s old high school friends).  After the party we drove home to freshen up and then we were going to go back out (just me and Trish) for drinks, or whatever.  After we were home (this always happens…we should never stop home if we want a night out), my wife wanted some sexy time…who can blame her, I’m a dead sexy bitch.  So our night out resulted in us being in bed by 11:30…but it was nice..and yes worth going home early.

Sunday morn after we got up, Trish went to pick up the kids and take them to a Butterfly fest with her family (I wish I went…but I had to get some stuff done around the house).  I started to prep the pool for close…but then decided “Screw That”, I cleaned it, jacked up the heat…I can have a big hot tub for another month and then close it.  Besides, according to Mr. Weather, were are supposed to have some days in the mid 80’s by week end…woot.

After I spent hours cleaning the damn pool (I haven’t cleaned it in a few weeks due to it being too cold to swim and planning on closing up the mo fo), Trish came home with the kids and we were deciding what to do next.  We decided to take the kids to see that Igor flick…good movie!  It was kinda Tim Burtonesqe, a gothic styled light hearted cartoon that had lots of adult humor.  After the movie Trish dropped me at my parents to fix my bike (my bike was left there on the trailer after Wednesday’s breakdown).  Jim managed to find the part at a Harley dealer in St Charles IL (no dealers seemed to stock this $7.00 part)…coincidently he had to go out there to pick up a TiVo he won on ebay, and the dealer was open on a Sunday…no Harley dealers are open on Sundays…it was a sign of things meant to be.  Anywho, we finally fixed the bike and I rode the beast home.  After I arrived home I had to help a drunken LouLou with a few things (he was remodeling his bathroom and had tons of big garbage to toss), then my fam and his fam went to Oberwise for some Ice Cream.

While sitting outside eating our frozen treats (which I got effed on, I ordered a coffee thing assuming it was and ice cream coffee thing and it was a hot coffee thing…mutha effer).  I saw tons of bikes out riding, the night was beautiful.  While watching all the bikes I decided I wanted to be one of them, after we got home I called Jim and we were gonna roll on my newly fixed bike (after I got the kiddies to bed).  We had a nice ride…at about 10:30 he called it a night, I stayed out until about 11 or 11:30, by then it was so damn foggy out I couldn’t see shite.  It was a good weekend, but like all good things, they have to come to an end.



7:42 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Wednesday Night Bike Breakdown Adventure
Wednesday the weather was beautiful, sun was shining, it was warm…all of our storms have finally subsided.  I was at work and Jim called to see if I wanted to go out on the bike that evening…shit sounded like a plan to me.  I said after I got the kids to bed, etc…we’ll roll.  We decided to ride downtown to scope some possible restaurants for Brian’s bachelor party dinner.  It started out to be a great ride, took the Ryan to LSD, then jogged over to Michigan Ave, then worked our ways to Rush street.  When we started entering the downtown area my bike started acting funny.  Every time I would stop it was jumping, like the clutch wasn’t engaging…and it kept getting worse, and worse.  Right when we hit the corner of Rush and Oak, it pretty much died.  We were able to pull it off into a corner and Jim started scoping the situation.  After an hour of fucking with it, Jim found it was this one finger in the trans (a $7.00 part) that cracked and there was nothing to do unless there was a 24 hour Harley dealer open that would have this part in stock (there wasn’t).  After debating for another half hour on what to do…do we find a parking garage to roll the bike to and I ride bitch on the way home with Jim (which in that case I requested we go buy a gas can for me to carry while riding bitch…think about it), or Jim rides his bike home while I sit at the corner and wait for him to come back with a trailer, or lastly we get someone to go to Jims, grab his trailer hook it to his VW Bug and pick my ass up.  Mike next door to Jim was kind enough to help with the last option.

Jim helped me push my bike across the street to this sort of parking spot (to small for a car but would fit two bikes), then he rode his over.  Shit, if we had to wait for Mike (which would be another hour or so) we would walk around, go over to Starbucks…oh we are in the bar capital of Chicago.  We had to piss…Starbucks was too far in the wrong direction so we walked over to division and went into a bar to make pee pee.  Afterwards we decided to chill in the bar for a little bit (Jim not drinking more than 1 beer…he still had to ride his bike home).  I guess if your going to be broken down and stuck…this was the place. 

By the time we walked back to the bikes, Mike was just pulling past us (not seeing where the bikes were)…talk about timing.  Finally we got there, got the bike on the trailer and we were on our ways home.  I was grateful to have Jim with me to help figure out the problem, was also grateful he owned a trailer for the bikes, was also grateful that Mike agreed to pick my ass up, and lastly I was grateful we broke down in such an accommodating area…it could have been much worse.



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Better Late Than Never...2 Weekends ago: Poker, Halloween In September, and Noha's Arc
Thursday was my first day back at work after my vacation...I was greeted with warm welcomes and a million fire drills within the first 10 minutes of me arriving at the office (at 7am mind you).  After I got home from work I was fried and had all intentions of staying in and not participating in my normal Thursday night activities until Kevin showed up at my door and said lets go, were going out.  It ended up being a nice relaxing night out with Kevin...shit, we haven't been out in ages.  We went out and grabbed some grub then went to Durban's for drinks, there we ran into Bob M (one of the infamous Bob's) and his buddy Frank.  Kevin was so kind to buy me dinner as a belated birthday present, but only to borrow $100 from me a few hours later...lol (he did pay it back...his ATM card quit working).  It just sounds so ironic, here Tim...Happy Birthday, Dinners on me; oh by the way can I borrow the money?  It wasn't meant that way, it just sounds so amusing.  All in all it was a nice night out...good times were had and we didn't over do it.

Friday I had all intentions of coming home from work, playing with the kids, and watching a movie with my chick.  I got home, had dinner...then the phone rang, it was LouLou across the street wanting to get a poker game going this evening.  For the sake of everyone else I had to go...If I didn't they would be short a man and everyone would be SOL...the things I do for others.  So, I hung with the fam, put the kids to bed, and went across the street to indulge myself with nice ice cold beverages and play some cards.  I started out playing pretty good...was impressing myself, but then I got stupid.  LouLou's one buddy would not back down from a stand off...I should have learned that after the first time I tried bluffing him and he called my bluff.  I decided to try my luck again and lost...I was the first man down (then became the designated dealer).  At the end of the night I drank a shit load of beer, was feeling good, and only out 10 bones...hey good times.

Saturday we were debating on going to Indi for the day, it was the campground's "Reapers Revenge Weekend", they do a Halloween weekend with Trick or Treating, a Monster Mash Dance, Games, etc...all cool kids shit.  When we woke up in the morning it was pouring...we were officially getting the effects from hurricane Ike...sure in Florida we get no Hurricane effects but in the middle of our country we get a whiplash...go figure.  We were pretty much leaning on not going to Indiana until the LouLou's called and said they were going to go.  We decided we would take the kids down there for a few hours to do a few Halloween things and then head home.  We got down there and the weather was fantastic.  At home it was just storms, just a short hour drive we had to wear sunglasses (overcast but bright).  Within a few hours of our few hour visit to Indi, we decided to stay the night out there.  Hung with the LouLou’s, drank beer, kids had a great time participating in all the Halloween Events (yes Halloween in September), went to the Monster Mash Dance with the kids, and took Meghan in a haunted house (a bit too scary for her).  Finally at about 9:30-10 at night the storms started hitting in Indiana…and didn’t stop.  The next morning we had to head back so I could go bowling (1st day of our league) and Trish could go to Lilia & Brian’s Wedding Shower (reason she was missing bowling).  It ended up taking us 6.5 hours to get home! Our Indiana place is only an hour away!  All the floods and rain blocked off the expressways, side streets, it was a cluster fuck trying to make it home…again, 6.5 hours, it was insane!!  By the time we finally made it home I missed bowling and Trish missed the shower, it was horrible.  I know it could have been worse, look at the poor people in Texas who got slammed, but regardless it still sucked ass.  The rest of the day was spent in the house doing shit, but it was relaxing.  The storms kept going nonstop…we hit records of inches of rain in Chicago, crazy.




6:48 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

September 12

The Sunshine State
Saturday

Saturday morning me and the fam hopped into our gas guzzling SUV and headed to the airport to depart to the land of sun and fun…Florida.  Despite the warnings from loved ones, worried that the hurricanes were going to put us into danger, we went (I had confirmation from my parents that were down there and my sister that is was not that bad).

The second we landed in Florida we were blinded by the blazing, the weather was fanfuckingtastic.  We drove straight from the airport to a restaurant about an hour away to meet my aunt, uncle, sister, and mom for a nice dinner.  The place was great, a steak joint that had this beautiful outdoor area on the pier, overlooking the gulf.  The outdoor area had all the appropriate tiki décor with a singer in the background playing Jimmy Buffet music, it was perfect.  We had a great visit with my aunt and uncle who I do not see often enough (my couis Mikey’s parents).  The food was phenomenal (although my aunt was not too pleased with it), the beer was good, and the conversation great.  We eventually headed to my parents condo in Sarasota which was another hour from where we were.


Sunday

We went to breakfast with my Mom and sis and then dropped my Moms off at the airport.  A little bit later we drove down to John’s Pass where Trisha’s aunt works to surprise her, she had no idea we were in town.  After a nice short visit with her aunt and a little (very little) looking around on the John’s Pass Boardwalk, we had to head to Saint Pete’s airport to exchange our rental car.  On a side note, I got this incredible deal through priceline on renting an SUV from Almo; when I went to pick it up they managed to talk me into upgrading for a nominal fee (Im a sucker for nice rides).  Well, we get this brand new Nissan Xterra with only 200 miles, we were actually the first people to ever rent this truck…the thing drove like ass…the front end jerked from side to side, pulled me all over…bullshit!  They ended up giving us a Nissan Pathfinder which was ok, but not as nice as the Xterra…but it drove straight which is a plus.

After our car fiasco, we picked up my sister and we all headed to the beach (Anna Marie Island beach…usually we hit Siesta Key’s, but my sis said this was the place to be).  The beach was nice, the kids had a great time swimming, playing in the sand, and picking up seashells (some were alive to our surprise).  The beach was defiantly nice, but no where near as cool as Siesta (more silicone bouncing around on Siesta…did I say that?), but this beach was more relaxed, not as crowded…it was great.  Oh, did I mention the weather was fanfuckingtastic?

Later that afternoon after we were done frying in the Florida sun we got ice cream, then went home to chill and shower.  My sis came over later and we watched the Bears kick the living shit out of the Colts…why the hell couldn’t they do that when they played them at the Superbowl less than two years ago???  Oh yeah, we started Grossman as QB…that’s why.


Monday

We all rolled our asses out of bed nice and early and headed to Orlando for the day, a nice 2 hour ride to one of the worlds best known tourist destinations.  The day was sunny and hot…oh, yes…another day of great weather blessed us.  Once we finally got there we enjoyed the day going between Universal Studio’s and Island of Adventure (they were right across from eachother, they both share “City Walk”.  We had a great time, me Trish and our three kids…oh, Im sorry, two kids and sister (lol, Im joking Sherry).  We had hellafun, did the kid stuff and slipped in one roller coaster…the Hulk @ Island of Adventure…the shit!

Now, if you are ever at Universal, do yourself a favor and go on the Simpsons ride…holy fucking shit!  Me, my sis, and Meghan went on, and OMG was this thing crazy.  I remember as a kid going on these motion simulated rides (the ET, Back To The Future, etc) and they were cool, but you knew it was fake.  This Simpsons shit…you actually feel like you are on a real roller coaster and part of the cartoon…unflippinreal!  I could not possibly explain the coolness of the ride…so check it out.

We did a lot of cool rides, the “Dr Suess” area in Island of Adventure was unreal, it had very cool rides that were entertaining for both kids and adults.  Gavin got to meet his favorite superheroes and show them how big his guns were, Meghan got to meet Storm and that Rouge chick from X-Men…she was thrilled.  We had a great time, but when it got near closing, we were fried…tons of walking, lots of heat, we were done.  We ended up going to Pat O’Briens or some shit like that on City Walk, it was a Irish Pub restaurant joint…beer and the kids eat free…perfect.  They ended up having this piano lady playing while we were eating (& drinking), she was fantastic, I wish I knew her name.  After our bellies were full and Trisha & Sherry had the appropriate buzz, we hopped in our car and headed home to watch Paranormal State and have a few beers.


Tuesday

We woke up beat from our long day in Orlando and decided that today was going to be our “chilly chill” day.  We spent a nice portion of the morning doing jack, and then we headed to St. Armand’s Circle for lunch…Cha Cha Coconuts…I love this place.  We had a nice (expensive as fuck) lunch with some Florida inspired cocktails, then did a little shopping in the area.  At this point my sis headed home and we kinda separated for the day.  After our St. Armand’s (it is a very cool place to go, it’s kinda like the Rodeo Drive of Sarasota…swanky but with a fun flair) adventure, we went home to spend another couple hours doing nothing…which the kids were surprisingly ok with.  We set the kids up with a movie and me and Trish napped.  Did I mention the weather was great?

After our naps we washed up and went to my sisters apartment to say goodbye and all that fun stuff (oh…at this point we had some drizzles of rain.  The hurricane God’s were good to us).  After Sher’s house we went to our new favorite restaurant….Cody’s Roadhouse.  This place kicked ass…there is not even a word for how much ass it kicked, the food was terrific.  Let me tell you, this place has the best ribs I have ever had in my life…no doubt, the best, EOS.


Wednesday

We woke up, finished packing, cleaned up the condo, and headed to the airport…our trip was now done.  On the way to the airport we got blasted with some of the worst rain I have ever seen in my life (good time to hit huh?),  I mean it was insane nasty!  At first I was making fun of the Floridians (which tend to be a little…ummm slow) for driving so slow and turning on their emergency flashers…let me tell you, within 5 minutes I was apologizing and had my flashers on.  Luckily this only lasted for about 20 minutes and then we were clear sailing.  We got to the airport, boarded our plane and flew on home.  Our trip was now done, back to IL and back to the real world.  All in all it was a great vacation, the kids had a terrific time which was most important, it was nice visiting with my sis who I see so little of now days, and I was off of work.  The one flaw of the vacation….I didn’t get to go to the damn Harley store I wanted to go to (that was for Trish).  I also wanted to stop at Peek A Boo Lounge for a beer one night but Trish said no…I think she is all together to strict.

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September 02

My Birthday
Tuesday at work was nice, Marilyn gave me a a wonderful gift certificate to Starbucks to help aide in my caffeine addiction.  My coworkers took me out to a nice lunch at Senior Tequila's, where they sung happy birthday to me and shoved a shot of tequila down my throat.  It was a real nice day at work, after that day I looked into the mirror and said "I am somebody, and gosh darn it...people like me!"

After I got home from work, my Mom and Jim came over to have dinner and present their offerings to me (my birthday gifts and cake).  It was a nice visit, I got some great presents and gosh darn it...people like me!

The rest of the evening was nice and relaxed with me and my lovely wife.  I still had the weekend to look forward too (me and Trish celebrating my birthday in Indiana, more presents from Trisha's parents....yipeeee).

8:32 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Goodbye 32 and hello 33
Tuesday (8/26) I said goodbye to 32 and hello to 33, that day I watched my status of the "low" 30's begin to creep towards the "mid" 30's.  When I start thinking about it I go into shock, in two more years I will be 35...only 5 years away from 40!  My father passed away when he was 40 (and I 15), it just brings me to a whole different state of mind regarding my age.  That means when my I was 8 my Dad was my age...at that point of his life he has already suffered more than on heart attack, multiple motorcycle accidents (he did like to drink and drive), participated in a war (we was a decorated Marine that served in Vietnam), helped launch "Toys for Tots" and ABATE of IL, worked...was on disability, worked; and had a whole life of experiences and stories to share with me over tomato soup and grilled cheese as I was a young boy home from school with the flu (I remember that as clear as yesterday). 

Thinking of all that makes me wonder how my kids see me, where do I stand in their eyes?  I have not participated in a war or had experiences in those avenues of life, but I am a devoted father and have a much different relationship with my kids than my Dad had with me.  I did not question my Dads love for me, but in between the bouts of depression and war triggered anxiety there was a wall between us, a wall that was built by darkness and bordered fear at many times.  He was like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, was at times the greatest man telling me about experiences in Nam or taking me on his motorcycle for the day (without my Mom knowing), other times it was not so pretty.  I can proudly say my kids are never scared of me, but I hope I have enough stories to share with them over tomato soup and grilled cheese some day.



8:21 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 26

Short Week / Long Weekend
I took last Friday off of work, making it a nice short work week (much needed).  I spent much of the day with my beloved family and then the remainder of the day lowering my beloved motorcycle, other than that not too much else occurred.  That night after I got home for working on the bike, Court did come by for a few beers...good times.

Saturday started out with all intentions of being hecktic, that changed (for me at least).  After I spent the morning with the kids while Trish worked, Gavin was a bit cranky.  I put him down for a nap and he ended up sleeping for hours, Trish didn't want to wake him so I stayed home with Gav while her and Meg attended the various birthday parties we were invited to.  It turned out to be a pretty relaxing day for me, and I wasn't feeling to hot anyways (although I did dedicate some of that time to washing my bike).  The rest of the night was just nice and laid back, a rarity in our household.

Sunday was another day we had nothing planned, so Trish planned on inviting some of the neighbor broads over with their kids for some swimming.  Me, Jim, and Bill planned on going out on the bikes, I was dying to put some miles on the new ride.  We went out for a good few hours, ended up being a great bike ride, I didn't use any sunblock so by the time the evening hit I looked like a red raccoon.  Went out west a bit, through some nice forest preserve areas, it was a good time.  After our ride; my family, The LouLou's, and the Micky D's family went to Hooters for some dinnner (wings & beer...mmmmm beer).  I love going to that place, but I always end up feeling like a piece of meat, the way the waitresses gawk and undress me with their eyes is just so violating. 

At the end of the day it was a nice weekend, one that is rare for us (usually we have 1,000,000 places to be in the matter of two days).  I am looking forward to next weekend, were going to Indi with no kids to celebrate my BDay!



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August 21

Da Weekend
Saturday we headed down to our slice of home in Indiana for "Fairy Tail Weekend", an event that Meghan has been waiting for.  We brought Bailey down for the day / night, other than that no visitors.  We had a great time, the kids participated in a few events, I got a some things done around the trailer; including putting together a swing that was given to us by Trisha's parents...I know that they are proud, I think they thought I would never get it done.  We really had a good time, but it was exhausting with another kid!

Sunday after we got home (and a few minutes of relaxation), we had to get all giddied up and head over to Joe & Kim's for their baby's Christening party.  Party was nice, food was great, and I didn't drink any beer (I was anticipating going out on the bike later, which I never did...damn it).  After the Christening we took the kids to Rainbow Cone for their once a year multicolored ice cream treat.  Finally we got home and put an end to running around.  The only things we did for the remainder of the day/night was relax, oh we did go across the street by the LouLou's and let the kids play, and I finally had my beer.

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August 19

Nights In The Wild
Friday came not a moment too soon, with that another busy weekend.  Tonight we had our Brookfield Zoo "Nights In The Wild" dinner with Trisha's parents, we did one last October and enjoyed it, so we thought we would try one the summer events.  It is a really cool event to go to, pretty hoity toity...a dinner and drink event loaded with people from Burr Ridge & Hinsdale, or as Trisha's dad puts it "Damn Republicans".  This summer's dinner took place in the "Sting Ray Bay", they had drinks, and hors'dourves on the patio area which had a very "tiki" like theme to it.

When you get to the zoo a trolley picks you up in the front (this occurs after hours) and takes you on a little private tour of the zoo.  After the private tour you get dropped off by the bay for the drinks and hors'dourves (top shelf all the way).  Getting to the hors'dourves is a challenge, the second one of the waiters or waitresses come out, they are bombarded by a crowd fighting for the last crumb on the plate.  You would think people from the elite western burbs would have better mannerisms...umm, no.  If you are patient and wait until the hype dies down you will get yours, and the shit is good!

While your enjoying your cocktails and finger foods you can go into the bay and pet the sting rays.  At one point they had a feeding, and the guests were allowed to participate, Trisha and her mom tried it out...me and Trisha's Dad just stayed put and relaxed.

After the cocktail portion of the event comes to an end you head to your assigned table that is off to the sides of the tiki deck.  From there you mingle with the western burbs finest and eat a kick ass dinner.  While your enjoying your dinner the chef comes out and talks to you, asks you what you liked, etc.  It is really nice, but it is quite funny how the hoity toity's like to toss around little hints of their money, like "ahh we take our baby sitter on vacation with us so we can go out for drinks and dinner every night", at least they didn't call the babysitter a nanny like most of the people I know.  Now for me I enjoy it, I work with these people day in and day out, so I am used to there way of socializing (I am a half breed...white collar southsider). 

After dinner they lay out a really nice desert table with coffee.  Funny thing is, they actually had to put someone in front guarding the desert table, during the cocktail portion of the event people kept going over there and trying to sneak deserts...and they say southsiders have no class.  All and all we had a great time, good food, good socialization, and my fill of Jack and Cokes.  Me and Trish then headed home for a night without kids, it was a nice closure to a tough week.



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August 15

Thursday Night Ride
We had a change of pace for our normal Thursday night, it was a nice change of pace.  We got a good group of guys and went on a ride, went to this joint in Frankfort for dinner, etc...good times.  It was me on my1980 HD FLT Tour Glide, Jim on his 79 HD Dyna Lowride (converted to look like a road king), Neighbor Bill (aka Bill LouLou) 2004 HD Road King Custom, Neighbor Mike on his..uhhhummm (cough, cough) 197X Kawasaki LTD KZ1000, Brother Dave on his custom chopper (130" I believe), and friend Rich on his 20XX HD Street Glide Screaming Eagle.

Me, Bill, and Jim cut out before everyone else, we wanted to drink, so we thought we would exchange our bikes for cars (see, I do have some common sense).  Unfortunately on the way home Jim's bike kept pooping out, which made our 20 minute cruise a couple hour cruise.  Eventually we made it home and out to the bar, at that point it was just myself, Jim, Bill, and we were joined by one of the Bob's (Bob M.).  Later on Neighbor Mike caught up with us (still on his bike, he is not as smart as us....Kawa rider).  It was a great time, nice to be joined by Bill, nice to go for a ride, beats the fuck out of the same old boring shit.  The only thing that did suck was my Uncle Jim texted me to meet us up at the bar for drinks (happens once in a blue moon), and we weren't there, maybe next time.

Did I mention I really dig my new ride...the thing kicks ass on the road! I just can't wait to lower it...and get the radio going!


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I Now Own me a Bagger!
Tuesday after I got off of work, Jim and myself headed out to Indiana to check out this old Shovelhead Bagger I found on Craigslist.  The bike was nice, everything I wanted...a bagger, classic old Harley (with somewhat of a modern look), and rode great.  I bought her, and it only costed me $500 more than I sold my Ironhead for, cant beat that shit.  The only thing I have to do sooner than later is lower the SOB, I am barley flat foot on the ground, bike is a bit to tall for my short ass...air bag suspension here I come.

8:32 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Another Busy Weekend
Saturday morning (the morning selling my bike), I walked into the garage to see on clean spot (the rest of my garage is a fucking pig sty), the spot where my bike used to sit.  This was the only vehicle that fit into the garage, surrounded by mounds of boxes and junk, all that was left was a tiny oil stain from the small leak it had (like all old Harley's).  Today my mission starts, that spot in the garage needs filled, I needs to gits me a bike fast!

Besides for bike shopping online and playing with the kids while Trish worked, it was a pretty good morning and afternoon...relaxed for once.  I had to take advantage of this, I knew the second Trish gets home the craziness will start...one of our usual nonstop weekends.  After Trish got home we went to my parents for their annual block party, I had all intentions of just taking it easy and leaving early (the next day was gonna be spent at Great America with the Curnutte's).  After I got their and had my first sip of the ice cold kegged beer my mind changed, I wanted to stay so I could mingle and drink.  I even got so desperate that I was hiding behind one of the port-a-johns so I wouldn't have to go home.  Eventually I was found and was forced home, but tonight I could blame my excessive beer drinking on my son (who's 3 by the way) that learned how to pour the perfect beer from the tap.  Gavin saw everyone else doing it and thought it would be cool to serve everyone, he kept them coming, pouring the perfect beer (he would even pour out excessive foam off the top)...I'm a proud Daddy.

Sunday morning we got up early to head to Great America, at this point I was thanking Trisha for making me go home.  We met the Curnutte family out there and had a pretty good time, the weather was perfect.  I learned that my little Meghan is a adrenaline junky...she rode the Demon with me and enjoyed it! 

By the time we got home from Great America it was pretty late and we were exhausted, we just chilled and did nothing for the rest of the night.  After Trish went to bed I continued motorcycle hunt...getting anxious (shit, it's only been two days).

8:28 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

She's Gone :(
Last Friday a short chapter of my life closed, I sold my 1980 HD Ironhead.  I put the bike up for sale a few days ago with the urge to buy myself a bagger, something a bit bigger and more comfy.  At first I was happy the bike sold so fast, but as I saw it ride away I experienced sellers remorse, I will miss it.  In all honesty I loved that bike, but I guess its time to move on, I'm sure the new owner will enjoy it as much as I did.

A few hours after the bike rode away, I went across the street to Bill LouLou's with Court to drown my sorrows in Buffalo wings and beer.

7:47 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 11

White Wedding
For  some reason it takes a lot to shock me,  I have a pretty high tolerance for surprise and shock.  Well Tuesday evening my dear ole buddy Brian managed to shock me.  Me and Trish just finally sat down to relax after a very tough two days.  Monday night we got nailed by some nasty ass storms that turned out our power for about 20 hours leaving the house near 95 degrees at the end of the dilemma.  To top that off Trish had to get a series of medical tests that put her out of commission a bit, it was a fun two days. 

A few hours after we regained power and watched our Monday night missed episode of Weeds (thank God for on demand, without power TiVo did shit for us) my cell rings and it said Lilia (brains life partner lol…they been together forever, live together, just not married or engaged).  I answer thinking it was Lil and kind of concerned to why she may be calling, turned out it was Brian using her phone…the first thing he asks is if I am sitting down.  Well, I was laying down with my feet propped on the backrest of my sectional…so that was good enough.   On a side note, within the half a second he said are you sitting down, until the moment he told me the news, I think 100 things zoomed through my head, it is amazing how the human brain operates.  I carefully analyzed 100 different options and settled on the fact he knocked her up within a half a second…pretty impressive.  I actually think the real news was number 2 on my list (pat myself on the back).  Brian proceeds to inform me that him and Lily eloped in Colorado over the weekend.   No matter where that was on my list of possibilities, it put a shock into me, it left me speechless for the next hour.  If you knew the couple you would understand the shock, I mean they have been together for like 12+ years I think, finally just moved in together in Feb and always been kind of the anti-establishment couple (well Brian at least, Lil wanted the ring).

Brian proceeded to tell me the story of what happened, how they have been planning it for the past three weeks, and how they were going to do a ceremony in October for everyone.  I have to say it was great, I was so proud of him, I still can’t express my emotion for the situation.  I ended up skipping my normal Thursday night routine and took Brian out to BWW for wings and beer to celebrate and watch the Bears (yeah I’m a big spender).   It was a nice night out, shit we met at 8pm and left at 2am, it felt like we were only there 2 hours or so.

I am lucky enough to be part of the bridal party 1 of 4 best men (which is slick, your not forced to pick one).  The wedding is going to keep with their relationship, it will be an anti-establishment wedding, they will not conform to what others do, and it will be magnificent!  Congrats!!

On another side, when Brian and Lilia were at our house for the kids Birthday party a week beforehand, Brian kept asking to use my computer.  Well, me thinking it was a bit strange and being a nosey mo fucker, I had to check the internet history when he left.  Brian, knowing me for 28 years or so cleared the internet history before he left.  He was ordering the wedding rings, so if he would not have cleared the internet history the surprise would have been killed…I’m glad he knows his boy so well.

8:58 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 07

My Fair Weekend
After another crazy workweek concluded, we had planned to have a relaxing weekend.  It was going to be the first in a while, we were going to stay home, swim, lay low...relax.  Originally we were going to have a laid back day on Saturday (aside from the girls going to a party in the morning) and Sunday go to the Ren Fair with Trisha's family.  We heard that Sunday was going to be hot as shit, so we decided to cancel (which changed on Saturday).

Saturday my parents ended up inviting us to go with them to the Lake County fair in Indiana.  I was hesitant to go because it was cramping my relaxing weekend, but we figured it would be fun for the kids.  I have to admit I was glad we went, it was a really cool fair.  This was like a throw back in time, biggest squash contest, pig races, 3H animal show, rodeo, blue grass bands (along with other bands like the 'Plain White T's'), smallest horse, biggest alligator, games, etc.  This sob had the biggest and cleanest carnival I have ever seen at a fair / carnival type thing.  I was also expecting this fair to be a "WT" fest, but it had a classier group of people than I see at fest's by my house, maybe because this fair does not serve or allow alcohol.  It was a great time, I would defiantly go back next year.

Sunday we woke up at the ass crack of dawn to head to the Bristol Renaissance Fair for the day with Trisha's family.  If you have never been to the 'Ren' Fair, go...it is great entertainment (some people take the thing way to seriously, but it is all in good fun).  I particularly enjoy the women wearing the dresses that show half their boobs...but there is a fair share of chicks wearing those types of dresses or chain maile bikini tops that really should be covered.

My little Meghan had a great time seeing the fairy's and princesses, Gavin enjoyed the knights and fights, we all had a good time.  The highlight of the day was going to see "Gypsy Geoff" a magician / entertainer.  When the show first started Gypsy Geoff asked for an audience participant to help him through the show, he picked Gavin.  Gavin stole the show, he was hysterical!  He helped with the magic tricks, added a ton of comedy, he became an immediate audience favorite (he even helped Gypsy Geoff gather his tips.  At the end Geoff said he has never picked someone as young as Gavin, and he did fantastic.  Gavin was a little celebrity for the rest of the day, we were eating lunch and people would come up and say hi Gavin, etc.  Even this nice photographer took these great pictures of Gavin on stage and emailed me yesterday, my little man is quite photogenic. 

After about 2.5 hours into the fair I was done...all faired out.  I couldn't take the crowds, heat, people...I was done.  We ended up leaving about an hour after that so I was the crabby bitch the whole ride home (fighting construction traffic...bastards). If we would have left an hour earlier I would of said it was a great time (which it was), but that hour soured me.

All in all it was a great weekend, I closed it by going to my parents Sunday night to work on my bike.  A bit busy for my tastes, but it seems like every weekend is like this...can a guy just catch a break!  I guess I should be greatfull that it is like this and I can enjoy these things...many people cant.

7:11 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 30

Last Weekend In July Pt2 - Kids Birthday Luau
Sunday morning we woke early, went to breakfast with Tim and Sherry (Thanks for breakfast Tim!) and headed home.  The second we got home we had to dive cleaning the house, decorating, picking up the food and beer, and everything else associated with the 30-40 person party that is beginning in 4 hours.  Me and Trish kicked ass getting everything ready for the big event, but kicking ass did not go without its intense moments and sharing of “fuck you’s” “your and asshole” “you’re a bitch”; basically we reamed each other out the whole time we were getting the house ready for the party.  (side note: anytime there is a party at our house we have a huge fight and screaming match, but all is better once the party begins).

The décor looked great, and I take no credit with the exception of bankrolling the event.  I bitched at Trish all week long that she was going way to far with it, etc (it was a luau theme party with a Hawaiian dancer and all).  All we heard from people as they arrived is how great everything looked and what a great job we did (again, I took no credit).  The party was fun, the Hawaiian dancer turned out great (all thought I was excpecting something a little hotter…but again it was for the kids, not for my old perverted ass, next time I pick the dancer). 

The party pretty much went without a flaw, and most importantly the kids had a great time and got tons o great shit!

By the time the night ended I was about to die of exhaustion, this was one busy ass fucking weekend.  Never again will I plan to go away the day before a party at our house (although it did turn out ok).  Good times.

3:33 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 29

Last Weekend of July Part 1
I took Friday off of work for a number of reasons, (1) cause it was the kids birthday weekend and we had a lot of shit to do, (2) my sis came in from Florida & (3) cause I’m fucking burned out.  Trisha & her Mom were taking Meg to the American Girl Doll place to have lunch and spend a lot of money while Wes was going to watch Gavin.  This left me with the house to myself accompanied by a list of chores to get done while the family was away.  After I spent the morning with the kids and the family departed I was going to set of on my list of chores.  Unfortunately my cell would not stop ringing…work, work, work, work.  A chunk of the morning that I was supposed to be getting stuff done ended up dedicated to the place I took the day off from, the pains of being a stud at your job (which I stressed more than once, at least I have a good job so I should be grateful).  After I completed my bosses requests (for that part of the day anyways) I decided I was going to take a little nap then start my chores.  Just as I laid my ass down on my couch there was a knock at the door, it was my sis surprising me.  It was nice to see her, she came in from Florida the night before and I have not seen her since November…holy shit.  Shortly after her arrival my Mom came by (chores pushed off a little bit further now).  After a few hours into the visit (my Mom only stayed for about a half hour) I started doing a little bit of my chores while chatting with my sister and playing phone jockey (work calls throughout the day).  After she left I went outside to take out the garbage and Bill across the street kidnapped me and forced a few beers down my throat…the bastard (chores pushed off a little further).  While beer was Sam Adams Summer Ale was being forced into me Trish texted to tell me she was on her way home…oh shit…chores.   Bill kindly let me go from being a hostage, I ran in the house, vacuumed the pool, cleaned up, did all I had to do (with the exception of a few small things), showered and was done and good by the time Trish and the kids got home…I rock!
That evening my parents and sis came over for Pizza and to help decorate our backyard for the Luau Birthday Party, get the new trampoline put together, and fix our pool heater (which was an easy fix).  It was a nice evening visiting with everyone, Meg was thrilled to see her Auntie Sherry, it was a nice family night.

Saturday morning Trish worked and I had the kids, we all had a good time.  While with the kids I tried cleaning up some of the house for Sunday’s party, etc…I know exciting.  After Trish got home from work we all headed up to our little slice of hillbilly heaven in Indiana.  My sister really wanted to go there while she was in town, and my Mom has yet to see the joint.  My sis brought her friend Tim, and when we got there we were joined by the LouLou family.  We ended up having a great time, cooking out having some drinks, etc.  After dinner was over My parents took the kids home for the night so we can hang with my sister & Tim.  We ended up going over to the LouLou’s house (they had their kids so they had to hang there after they went to bed) and we had a nice fire, drank some beers…a lot of beers and had good conversation.  In between we had some golf cart rides that ended without incident (whew).  It was a fun laid back night and a good time had by all.

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Thursday Night Fight
Let me start out by saying, I am not a young punk, I do not get into fights (now days, when I was younger I was a little shit, get drunk at bars and become an asshole), I am generally a good natured person that gets along with most people.  With that said, I take my friends very seriously, they mean a whole lot to me and I will do anything for them.

Background Story:
About 2 months ago my buddy Al was by himself drinking beers and shooting pool at our favorite hole in the wall (we will leave the name of the establishment out).  At some point he ended up switching pool tables and left his brand new $500 Harley leather on a stool across the room.  Shortly thereafter some young chaps started playing pool on that table, and while playing they knocked down his leather.  Now instead of picking up the leather, they just continued to step on it and drag it around with their feet.  Al walked across the room to retrieve his coat, and they guy had a what the fuck is your problem attitude with him, no "I am sorry for stepping on your coat, here it is", or "whoops must of fell, here you go", no the response was "what the fuck is your problem".  Al having a Nepolian complex at times (especially when he's fueled by beer) stood his ground and decided he was going to defend the honor of his coat with the 6 young punks.  Now (1) I don't blame him, I am sick of young shits acting like assholes, (2) Al can hold his own, but 6 would have been a challenge I am sure.

Anyhow, the fight was broken up by some of the older gents in the bar that know Al real well, this was probably a good thing for Al in the long run.   Our favorite bartender had the young shits ejected from the bar, and eventually Al left, life went on as we know it.

Throughout the past 2 months we have seen these shits come in and out of the bar, but nothing but a few looks happened...until last Thursday.

Run Forest Run...
As I said above, we have seen these shits on and off for the past few months without incident...which is good, were out to have fun not brawl.  This Thursday ended up in a different direction, the shits were feeling froggy and wanted some action; what the fuck is it with young kids, got to constantly prove there "alpha" status...or lack there of.  We were all leaving the bar and Jim was going to drive Al to his car (he cant bring his car near the bar, thats a whole story on its own), so we all pulled out.  As I started pulling out, Jim calls my phone and tells me not to go anywhere, so I stop and look, the tall shit was in Al's face.  Apparently they walked out behind us, and when they got into their car they started making remarks to Al, nice things like "you got something to say", etc.  Well Al at this point has had a shitty past few weeks (just like myself) and this just tipped the scale.  He hopped out of Jim's car, walked over to the shits car, opened the door and pulled the tall dude out (mind you this guy is like 6'9 or something...tall!...but a beanpole).

As they were in eachother's faces about to go at it (and littler shit behind tall shit standing there all tough) I turned my truck around and pulled up next to the bicker match.  Now I have also had a horrible past few weeks, my stress level was at an all time high, and I was near the point of mental breakdown.  For the past few days I have been saying I shouldn't be out in public or else I'll end up like Michael Douglass in that movie where he snaps and starts killing everyone, well I snapped.  I jumped out of my truck, slammed the door and started screaming at the top of my lungs to the guy "you got a fucking problem you fucking piece of shit"...well the sight of me snapping must have worried him, he turned around and started running, he ran across the street and just kept going until he couldn't be seen.  I could not believe what I saw, this guy twice my height (although I probably had weight on him) ran like I was holding a gun, it was crazy.  At the sight of that I had no idea what to say...so I screamed pussy while thinking in my head...run forest run (also thinking...whewww I'm too old for this shit anyways).  I then turned to little shit who was paste white and shaking like a leaf and proceeded to ask him if he had any last words, he didn't.

The saga is over for the time being, but I doubt thats the last time we see the shits; although if I was the guy running I would not step into that bar again, I would be so humiliated.  I hate that our OMB (old man bar) is starting to become a young shit's bar, more and more every week, and there just the asshole kind.  I am personally ready to claim a new bar as my own!


http://www.tcahill.org

5:53 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 28

Batman The Dark Knight
This last Wednesday night me and my wife had a little date planned; babysitter lined up, tickets bought...we were off to see Batman The Dark Knight.  I was like a giddy kid on my way to see this movie (fine, I'm a geek), but I waited anxiously since the release of the first Christopher Nolan Batman movie (which I refer to as the Christian Bale Batman's) to see this movie.  If you have not seen the first Christian Bale Batman, "Batman The Beginning" (released in 2005), take your ass to the video store, sign into your Netflix account, do whatever you need to do and get it!  It is a great movie, not one for kids, and not one to ever be compared to the Tim Burton Batman franchise.  This movie is not full of little one liners..."where does he get his toys", etc; it is a dark thrilling spectacle that portrays (in my opinion) Batman as he was meant to be portrayed.

I digress, I am talking about the movie I saw with my chicky the other night, not the one I saw 3 years ago.  All I have to say is that very expectation I had, as well as every bit of hype that surrounded this movie did not live up to what I actually saw in the theater.  This was probably the first time I went to a movie with high hopes and the movie actually exceeded the; hands down the best movie I have ever seen in my life...no joke.  The movie was literally an adrenaline ride. you are given two hours and forty-five minutes of a pure emotional rush, it left you exhausted.  I will also admit, I thought that Heath Ledger's unfortunate death was playing a part in how the critics reviewed his role...not the case.  Heath Ledger gave an incredibly chilling performance as the Joker, it was amazing.

There was absolutely no exaggeration to the hype that surrounds this movie, it is without a doubt a 4 star flick, I cannot wait until it comes out on BluRay!  The chemistry between the actors, the performances by everyone; especially Ledger & Bale was just remarkable.  Simply put, the fucking movie kicks all forms of ass!  Go see it, defiantly worth the price of a theater ticket.

http://www.tcahill.org

2:40 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)


July 21

Rocks and Roll off the golf cart Friday
After I was finally able to depart from work,  I ran (well, actually drove) home to pack, bid farewell to my family, and head to Indi to meet the boys (Bill & Court); which from the last conversation I had with them, were about 5 beers ahead of me.  Per Bill & Courts traffic warning, and what I heard on the radio I took an alternate scenic route; one that brought me through the lovely town of Ford Heights.  While driving through this beautiful place, I realized that this is a town that just needs bulldozed and rebuilt, its a cesspool of shit.  All I saw were boarded up buildings, hookers, liquor stores, and a hazy dark matter just looming over the town (coulda been clouds, but I'm convinced the town is cloudy on the sunniest of days).  Anywho I witnessed a gentleman in a beefy pickup truck receiving oral sex from a fine young lady while cruising down Lincoln Highway through Ford Heights.  This dude was not the least bit ashamed or discrete, but all in all he had better traffic entertainment than I did.

I arrived to my humble abode an hour and a half later with a bladder full of piss, sober, and hungry as hell.  After I unloaded my shit I headed over by Bills joint where Court and Bill so kindly left all of their finished beer cans and bottles out on display like trophy's letting me know how far ahead in the drinking game they were than me.  Now usually I wouldn't give too much of a shit (I really have not been drinking all that much anymore...well, a bit more as the summer is progressing), but I had another fucked up work week, a really fucked up work day, and was really looking forward to getting toasted with my mates.  I downed a few beers quick to show my eagerness to catch up, and we all hopped in the golf cart and headed to Bosley's (this dive bar down the street that serves some pretty good food).  We all enjoyed a good dinner (besides for Court getting a bit sick on us...which he recovered after a short nap), cheap beer, good company, and some live music.

After our  belly's were full and I was finally catching a buzz we were back at Bill's just hanging by the fire drinking, listening to some music, and discussing important shit like...uh, fuck if I know, but it was important.  For entertainment we would occasionally hop on the golf cart and go for a little cruise making sure to drive like drunkin assholes, at one point we went to the gas station (but did not dare to take the golf cart, we learned our lesson on the 4th with our almost DUI incident) to get junk food and smokes.

Well later into this evening of heavy drinking, and golf cart rides Bill decided it would be a fantastic idea to all pile on to his golf cart (with me in the rear seat) and drive like a dick spinning the tires around every turn.  In my current hazy state of mind this was great fun, I was holding on to the golf cart for dear life around every corner emptying my little carry along cooler of those pesky beers.  On one of those fast corner turns, spinning the wheels of the golf cart, I must have let go for some reason (probably to have a sip of my cold beverage), and I went flying out of the golf cart, then rolling down the gravel street.  Bill and Court laughed their asses off, they apparently found it funny, but the best part of the whole ordeal was my ninja skills! as I went flying out of the cart and hit the ground (pre-rolling), I set my beer down flat on the street without spilling one drop (and it was fairly full).  The whole experience was funny, although my elbows, shoulder, and legs still hurt 2 days later...the pains of getting old.

The remainder of the night was pretty standard heavy drinking, parts are a bit foggy, but it was a late one.  I know on the way back from Bills place to mine I kinda got lost...or took the long way, and the Bill Court team beat me back to my place and hid next door.  As I was locking up the golf cart, etc they started throwing shit at me, and making noises.  Actually kinda startled me...luckily I figured out it was them before my ninja skills kicked back into action and I put a hurtin on the perpetrators.   Was a fun night (was Courts 40th, I think he had a good time), took me all day Saturday and part of Sunday to shake the hang over...still cant shake the sore bones from falling off the cart.

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July 18

Its FRIDAY!!!
Today I am going to be a naughty employee and leave work early (opps, I left early last Friday too).  Well, to be fair I put in my time, atleast 11 hours a day, plus phone calls afterwards, etc...I fucking deserve it damn it!

After work I am going to stop home and then depart for Indiana where Court & Bill will already be, hopefully not too trashed.  Its going to be guys evening out there, should be good fun...beer, shots, camp fire, conversation, good times.  In the morning I plan on getting some work done (I have a propane guy meeting me out there so we can finally get hot water), then head home for my little man's birthday.  Should be a great time tonight, I cant wait to get through the work day and get out there.


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July 14

Saturday
After enjoying the day with my kids Saturday Trish took them to her Mom's so we can celebrate our 8th year (holy shit, 8 years) anniversary a month late.  We were going to do something exciting but her monthly buddy was visiting so the obvious Sybris type options were out the window, we decided to go to Indiana.  We also decided that since romance was off the table we can invite others for a kid free night of relaxation and fun, the only ones that took us up on the offer were Court and Anjie.

We had a nice evening of cocktails, bbq, bonfire, and conversation; actually couldn't ask for more...well I could of, but like I said those options were off the table this weekend.

Court & Anj didn't stay the night, so me and Trish also had a bit of alone relaxation.  The next morning we took our time getting out of Indi, we went to a nice little breakfast buffet we found in the area, and then stopped at this cool candy factory in Merriville on the way home.  It was nice, I don't think I could get sick of going to Indiana, I enjoy my little creme de la creme (give Bill credit for that expression) of white trash summer home.

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July 13

Red Bull Gives You Buffalo Wild Wings

After I left work I took the fam to go see Wall-E @ Hollywood Blvd, the only way to roll when watching a flick.  After we got home Trish and myself had all intentions of putting the kids to bed and relaxing together for the remainder of the evening.  Well, when you live in my neighborhood its easy to fall of track and plans can change in a millisecond.  We pull up at home and the LouLou's (my nickname for Bill and Janet's family) were outside, so we walked across the street and the kids started playing while the adults chatted away.  We were shortly joined by the other Bill from the down the street, and before you knew it a beer magically appeared in my hands, which at that point I knew our plans for the night were going to be altered. 

I took a little break from the chat and beer, put the kids to bed, chilled for five minutes and then joined Bill on our front porch for some more ice cold carbonate beverages that can make you feel a little funny.  After drinking for some time and wishing I had a minibike like him to go cruising in, we were joined by Court who wonderfully brought a case of cold Lite our way.  Shortly after that we wound up across the street again starting a bonfire (in a fire pit mind you were not that irresponsible) in the front of Bills driveway.  With the lack of lighter fluid and boyscout skills (which Court does have...but we were dealing with wet wood) we doused the wood with good old $4.35 petro and the fire went ablazin (mind you hours and many beers have passed).  Somehow Court was saying how he just he had a Red Bull before he came over, then I asked if he had wings (you know, Red Bull gives you wings); Court not being on cue with my corny joke said no, I have no wings but I can go for some..."I wish somewhere delivered".  Before we knew it we were all piled into Bills Beast driving to Buffalo Wild Wings for wings, pitchers, and trivia (that cool little video game at BWW).  We downed a number of pitchers, played trivia, and stuffed our faces with 49 wings (not each), we ordered 50 but being the gentlemen we were we left the last one in case someone wanted it...it ended up in the trash.  Now stuffed, drunk, and tired we headed home to find our fire in the driveway still burnin away.  That led to a few more beers before we called it a night.

May not sound like the most exciting adventure to some, but for us it was a fun ass night...a night I swore I was not going to drink and was just going to lay low with my woman.

http://www.tcahill.org

July 11

TGIF

DEC 21 2012 THE WORLD WILL END...Send me your money and you will be saved!

Golf Cart DUI

July 07

Fourth of July Weekend 2008

This year the fourth weekend was a blast...but now, on Monday I am feeling the repercussions of my actions.  We departed for our joint in Indiana late Friday morning, for me most of the day there was setting up things, finishing up my tiki bar, and ironing out the lighting situation on my ride (golf cart).  While I was busy handling all of that (with visits from my friends...Bill & Janet's family and friends), Trish and the kids went to the beach, participated in activities (root beer drinking contest, crafts, etc).  While doing this I felt a little poopy, against my better judgment I went out on Thursday night which caused me to drag a majority of the day.

Later Friday evening me and the fam had a kick ass dinner at this little dive Chinese joint by our place (I mean this placed rocked, probably one of the best I have had...even beats out ChiTung, which if you are from where I am from that is the best).  Shortly after our return from dinner, we participated in a golf cart parade with the kids.  Basically we filled our coolers with beers (most important step), then decorate our golf cart with glow sticks, then we follow the parade throughout the park while drinking beer (the kids didn't do that, they just waved and threw candy out at the people watching...Meg loved this).

After our parade event we parked our carts and watched some fireworks, then we brought the kids home for bed.  Me and Trish started ourselves a nice cozy fire and enjoyed a relaxing evening drinking a few beers (and watching the remaining fireworks shows from our cozy spot).  Just as Trish was deciding to turn in for the night, Kevin and Bill rolled up in their cart wanting to go out and play (actually go hillbilly watching...they do crazy things around there when their drunk, and have some beer).  This night ended up being a late night, a 3:30 am'er, and was fun; but the most interesting aspects of this night deserves a blog entry of its own to give it proper credit (look for it...its a story all right).

Saturday flew by faster than you can imagine.  We had our friend Caren come up and join us for a bit, shortly after she arrived Trisha's Mom, Wes, and Cassie came.  We grilled out some lunch, had some drinks, was a great time.  Between all of this the day was filled with misc activities, visits from our friends, beach time for Trish and the kids, etc.  We also participated in a park poker run (myself, Bill, Kevin, and Dana), Dana won.  Not long after the poker run Trish and the kids went on a hay ride, and Jim came down to hang (at this point our other guests already left).  I took Jim around  the park on my cart, we visited Bill & Janet's crew, and grilled some dinner.

Shortly after dinner Jim left (eat and run...lol), he rode up on his bike so drinking wasn't an option for him, he probably wanted to get home and do some of that.  After Jim took off we went to Bill and Janet's, from there we took the kids up to the fun night at the front of the park...this consists of a roped off dance area, a dj, and a lot of hillbilly's in golf carts (its tons o fun).  Wow, I guess I am now one of the hillbilly's in a golf cart (gulp).  After the kids were pooped out from dancing, (Meg danced her ass off) we went home and put them to bed.  Me and Trish stayed up for a while by the fire, but it was an early night after that.  We all pretty much blew our party wad the night before and had no reserves left.

Sunday was a relaxed wrap up, then headed home  for a lazy day of laying around the house.  All in all it was a kick ass weekend, the kids had a great time, we had a great time; couldn't have made it a better fourth.

http://www.tcahill.org

July 02

Say good bye to June and Hello to July

Well, to end hell week as I so kindly call it, the family and myself departed to our humble abode in Indiana.  Well, Saturday after Trish got home from work, etc we went up there to hang with Bill, Janet and family (our neighbors in IL and IN) and buy ourselves a golf cart.  We went out there on a mission to procure a golf cart before the 4th of July Holiday weekend...which with Bill's help we were very successful.  We are now the proud owners of a 2004 EZ-GO electric golf cart (a slick green in color), with a sweet ass top to protect our heads from the elements and some bling bling on the ground (cool chrome wheels....ok, hubcaps, but they still are bling bling).  Now on the 4th we will be rollin in our IN hood in style...oh yeah.

Other than those highlights our weekend ended with some hanging with neighbors, drinks with Court & Jay, watching the White Sox put the Cubs over their knees and spanking them like a red headed step child, and some pool maintenance (yes in order to have this lovely pool that is so nicely heated at 95 for the family and neighborhood to use, it needs to be maintained).

As Sunday came to a close I was quite depressed at the fact I had to go enter the world of finance and stress the following morning.  The only thing that seemed to keep me sane from the thought was an ice cold Miller Lite and the sweet thoughts of a short work week due to fireworks day.  Go White Sox!!!!


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June 27

Hell Week

I shouldn't bitch, actually I should be thrilled I have a good job...but I am in burn out mode.  Realistically I think I have seen my children a total of 15 minutes in the past 3 days, and am way the hell behind on things I need to do in my life (ie: bills, errands, drinking lol).  I have just been putting in too much time at work (which I need to do), I have like 40 hours in the office in the past 3 days, plus working at home when I get home (after a little break)...I am just fried.  I just wanted to take a moment out of my morning to bitch


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June 24

Long weekend

Well since I was off of work on Friday I whooped it up a little more than usual Thursday night.  A few more beers than I would normally drink followed by a few shots I usually wouldn't drink.  I really cant complain, it was a good time Thursday night; dinner at Floossmoor Station with Jim, Bob, Bob, and Kevin, then drinks with Jim, Bob, and Kevin (we lost a Bob on the way).

Friday for me primarily comprised of work around the house; cleaning out half of my garage and finishing up the pool for the block party on Saturday (which came a bit early this year).  I did spend a lot of time with the kids and got a lot of work done, a fairly productive day.  That evening my Mom was so kind to offer to watch the kids overnight so me and Trish were really able to finish cleaning things up for the next day.  In all honesty I don't know how we would have gotten everything done if she didn't watch the kids.  After our work was done we relaxed and started watching season 2 of Weeds.  Oh...I got my new projector that day...full 1080p, so shit on blueray looks fanfuckingtastic!  It is almost scary how good the picture quality is.

Saturday was our block party (kinda happened early and last minute, only weekend we could agree on).  It was actually a great time, much more laid back then prior years.  We didn't have as many visitors as usual, we had my parents, and Jakie & Jim (girl from Trisha's work and her husband)...that was it.  We did end up combining with Bill across the street and just used my driveway for both groups, that worked out great.  Was a hellagood time, but man drinking from 10am till 2:30am is rough (I did pace myself well), took me until Monday night to feel not so sluggish, must be getting old.

Sunday was more or less nice and relaxed, the only thing we really had to do was go to this little event at Tin Fish for an hour.  Trish had some neighbors over swimming, I did a little odds and ends around the house and then just relaxed.

Oh, a final word for the weekend...White Sox, next week!

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June 19

The Week Almost Over....F'n A

Ahhh today my last day of work for the week, I am taking tomorrow to get some shit done around the house.  In actuality this week (especially being a short one) was not bad, somewhat uneventful, but not bad.  Monday was me and Trisha's 8 year anniversary...holy shite, we have been married for 8 years, wow time fly's.  It feels like it was just a few years ago I was standing at the alter with her unable to even say my vows because of being so choked up (ya I can be a softy), and Monday was 8 years, 2 kids, and 3 houses later (damn).  I would not change a minute of anything, it has been great.  Tuesday we had my parents watch the kids so we can go out to a nice little dinner for a celebration (we plan on doing something a bit more within the next month depending on our schedules which are crazy as ever).  We ate at Isabella's in Tinley Park...that place is great, we don't go there often enough...If anyone that is reading this ever wants a nice quaint Italian diner with unbelievably good food, go there! you will not regret it.

Well as far as now, today...I just want to finish up the day and launch my weekend!  Tonight I am going to go out...first Thursday in a while (although I met the boys for one last Thursday...just one though).  Thursdays have been a bit tough with commitments and work, kinda glad to take advantage of this one, its been a while and much deserved!

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June 16

Fathers Day Weekend 2008

While being a very busy weekend (as usual, seems like these days weekends that are not busy are far and few between) it was pretty damn good. Friday night we had pizza with my Mom and Jim as an early fathers day celebration, was a very nice visit. Afterwards the night was more or less relaxing, our neighbor Michelle came over to visit Trish, I played my Assassins Creed game (which kicks ass if I may say so myself) and then I crashed pretty early (for me at least).

Saturday morning I hung with the kids while Trish worked, got a few things done on our pool (getting it ready for swim time...yes I am a little behind), did some house cleaning and worked on cleaning the garage out a bit. Our annual block party is hitting us next weekend, which is about a month early (to me it sucks...but oh well, it will still be fun). With that said, cleaning the garage up a bit is important so no one kills themselves stumbling through the garage drunk trying to get into the house to take a wizz. The kids were a great help in my cleaning expedition, and surprisingly let me accomplish a lot more than I thought I would have. After Trish got home from work we headed over to her parents house for an other fathers day, day before fathers day celebration...dinner. Was a beautiful day out, so I took the bike, a very nice ride! After a good time at her parents infused with some hardcore political arguments with her Dad (heated but I enjoy debating, and so does he which I learned), we headed home to put the kids to bed and watch some TV. We just started watching the TV show Weeds (we rented season 1 through netflix...on BluRay, the only way to watch a movie) and started it. This show kicks ass...it is a dark comedy of sorts, and I love it. After about two episodes Trish crashed and I went over to Courts (our neighbor) for some online poker, and beer...yes I live an exciting life lol.

Sunday I was woken by my kids bearing fathers day gifts...was great! After a nice morning of being treated like the king I am we had to go to Meghan's dance recital. Now when I say dance recital, some people may picture a little thing in a school gymnasium or in the rec center of a park district building...mmm no. My wonderful wife insists we send Meg to this private dance school that she loves so much (which I do admit is pretty nice)...they have their recital at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet (which is beautiful) with tickets sold through ticket master...yes we have to pay to see our daughters dance recital. It ended up being really nice, and Meg did a wonderful job considering the stage fright she was suffering beforehand. The older girls (which their "performance" dance group are nationwide dance competition winners) were really cool to watch. After this ended we headed to hooters for some Fathers day wings and beer (I thought it would be crowded as all hell...it wasn't). We then went home where I proceeded to plop my arse on the couch and relax...which didn't last too long, I had to fiddle with our movie projector cause I have become anal with picture quality. The night finally ended with watching more episodes of Weeds...and relaxation.

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