June 29

Beer, White Sox, and ripped shorts...another day in the summer of me
The summer begins…outings, events, excessive over consumption of alcoholic beverages, dog house with wife…ahhh, gotta love the summer.  The week was insane, between work, house work, pool maintenance, and self serving masturbation; I was freakin beat by the time Friday arrived.  Trish had arranged to go to the “NKTOB” (wow I cant say that without laughing) concert Friday night, so I was going to have a few of the neighbors over for a “couple” beers.  Trish ended up not going, but I still had the boys over for a bonfire and beer.  Our couple turned into about a case & a half, we had a kick ass time…much needed on my part.

Saturday morning I had to wake up bright and early (with a monstrous beer hangover) and mind the children while Trish went to work.  Luckily the kids chose this day to be particularly good…made it a very tolerable morning considering my head felt like I was jumped beat down by 10 guys the night before.  After Trish got home from work I was off with Jay to the Cubs / Sox crosstown classic (a first time attendance for me).   (side note:  Thanks Unc, great time!!)

Jay and myself arrived a bit early, since we had time to kill and somehow miraculously ended up with a  cooler of beer in the back of his ride…we tailgated.  A few beers later (and not eating at all yet) we walked to the stadium to watch the Chicago White Sox whollop the Cubs (ok, not whollop, but a kick as game and they won).  We met up with my Uncle Jim and his buddy Eldon, great company!!  After we were done drinking $7 plastic bottled lites and watching the Sox win, we went out by my uncles car for some post game beverages.  After we finished the last of their beer supply we headed back to Jay’s ride to work on what we had left (until the nice security officer kindly asked us to dump out the remainder of our beer and leave…prick).  We went straight from the game to one of Jay’s friends houses in Homewood , there was a little crosstown party going on.  We continued our drinking of carbonated beverages but also thought it would be a great idea to add Tequilla into the mix…mmmmm not a good idea the next morning.

A few beers and a couple of Patron shots later we headed to one of Jay’s other friends houses to continue the party…as my coherency started evaporating we ended up moving onto Blarney Stone (apparently the people that owned the house we were at wanted to go to bed…we weren’t ready).  We had a kick as time at the stone, saw a few peeps I knew, etc…good times.  As my coherency really started to slip we ended up going to Durbans.  For some reason I thought it would be a fantastic idea to bypass the front door and hop the back fence directly into the beer garden…why deal with all those people, silly cover charges, etc?  Jay, being the gentleman he is wanted me to go first (he actually knew that this was going to result in something not good and funny…me the klutz I am sober, trying this drunk).  Lets just say I ended up with numerous bruises, cuts, and scrapes, as well as a ripped pair of shorts (its Monday and Im still feeling like I got the poop-snot beat out of me).  After our adventure at Durbans ( and many drinks later…I didn’t care about walking around with ripped shorts) we went to White Castles to kick our bowel movements into high gear and went home.

The next morning I woke up with a worse headache then the previous morning and Trish smacking me in the head with a magazine.  Needless to say she wasn’t thrilled with the fact that I went out drinking from 2pm to 2am (granted I do not do this a lot)…she felt much better after hitting me in the head with a magazine.  Also I didn’t text as much as usual, and the last text she received from me went like this: “so im burnd sub”…trying to say im so sun burned.  After a morning of feeling like dog ass, we headed out to Bloomington to join the Connolly’s for the Fionn-credible BBQ…had a kick ass time and I stayed away from anything alcoholic.  I suppose this weekend was a great precursor and liver prep for the upcoming 4th of July festivities.



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June 25

I have been slacking...way too much!!
Wow I fell way behind, I hate when that happens…easy to happen when its summer and busy.  With that said I am going to skip the past few weeks and just start at this last weekend.

My Saturday was pretty much devoted to housework: lawn, trimming, working on getting the pool ready (finally), cleaning  up pool covers, bla bla bla.  I had a few hour break in the afternoon when we went to Trisha’s fams for an early Fathers Day BBQ which was a real nice and tasty visit (food was out of this world), but after that it was back to house work.  My day consisted of 3 or 4 showers (I lost track), good food, and lots of work.  After my 4th and final shower of the day, me and Trish took the kids to Red Robbin’s for some dinner and then back home for a family movie of Goonies…which the kids didn’t seem to have a whole lot of interest in (whats a matter with them…the movies a classic!!!!)

Sunday I woke up to breakfast in bed, mounds of kisses from the kids, and praises from the wife…ahhhh fathers day.  I enjoyed my hour of appreciation because the rest of the day was going to be about everyone else lol.  We had Gavin and Meghan’s dance recital at the Rialto which was spectacular (Gavin was grease lightning, Meghan was Marry Poppins), then after that a nice Fathers Day BBQ at my moms (that pretty much sums up the day).  Other then they business, my beloved family blessed me with a wonderful Fathers Day, I am blessed to be the father of two wonderful, beautiful children and a husband to a beautiful wife that I love with all my heart.



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June 01

Father, sun, and son bonding
I love short work weeks…by the time Friday came it felt like Thursday, gotta love that!  I had nothing really planned for Friday night, Trish had a demonstration / party thing at Marilyn’s so I was taking responsibility for our offspring that evening.  When I got home from work I ran into Jay next door who invited me and the kids over for a movie night which worked out quite well.  We watched that Paul Blart “Mall Cop” Flick, ended up being a pretty good movie.  Meghan seemed to enjoy it, but Gavin lost complete interest within the first 30 minutes.  All in all it was a nice evening…very relaxing.

While Trish was working Saturday morning I took the kids to Indiana, there was no sun going on at home; so I figured what the fudge, maybe some sun in Indi.  Sure the hell enough, there was sun in Indi…yippie.  After Trish was released from her Saturday imprisonment of work she met us up there to share in our sunshine.  The LouLou’s went up so we hung with them for the day, enjoyed the sun, drinks, then went to “The Rodeo” for dinner.  Later on in the evening we had a little bonfire gathering at our place, the kids played while us old folk enjoyed some icey cold beverages.

Sunday morning Trisha and Meghan headed out early, they were going to the Mary Poppins play downtown.  I decided me and Gavin would stay up by the lake for the day…a little father and son bonding; fish, hang out, etc.  We had a great time.  By the time 4pm hit we headed home, no fish were caught but I got a kick ass sun burn!



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May 29

Memorial Day Weekend 09
Early Saturday morning, me and the fam packed up both cars and headed to our little slice of Hillbilly Heaven in Indiana.  This was our official “opening” weekend as well as the 1st weekend in our newly purchased trailer.  We pretty much dedicated Saturday to working, we had to unpack, do lawn / landscape work, clean, power wash, and many other ball busting tasks.  Luckily Trisha’s parents came down for the day to give us a HUGE hand. Trish and her Mom occupied the kids with the beach and other activities while me and Dad did work…lots of work (but well worth it).   After Trisha’s parents left we took the fam to a local diner for dinner (way to friggen exhausted to grill), then took the kids to the Saturday night DJ dance party at the front of the campground.  After grooving to tunes of Lady Ga Ga and Billy Ray whatever his name is, we headed back to our place to roast some marshmallows.  It was a real nice evening with just us, after the kids went to bed me and Trish just hung out by the fire, had a few drinks, and just simply relaxed while enjoying the beautiful night. 

Sunday began fairly relaxed, nice time with the family, took the kids on numerous golf cart rides, set up lights, re-configured my bar area, etc (important stuff).   By early afternoon the Curnutte clan joined us for the day, Marilyn and Trish took the kids to the beach for some family friendly fun while me and Ricky participated in the annual “poker run”.  We lost the poker run, but managed to get fairly trashed…by late afternoon I was more than half in the bag.  Shortly after the poker run and a few other activities Harley Jim arrived to hang for a while.  Was fun for him, but not so great…he rode his bike up and couldn’t drink (while we were all drinking pretty healthily).  We were later joined by Caren, her brother and her brothers wife, we had a regular party going on by this time.  By now I was in no condition to BBQ  so we ordered some pizzas and called it dinner (note:  I did BBQ ribs for lunch).  The night went on with  the booze flowing, bonfire firing, kids roasting (marshmallows)…was a kick ass night (although I was probably too drunk for my own good).

Monday was much more relaxed, we had breakfast as a family, went and did some crafts together…basically just enjoyed the country air.  Michelle, Jordan, and Jack popped by for a visit late in the morning, shortly after their arrival the rain kicked in.  After a little of this and that we packed up and headed for home.  All in all it was a kick ass Memorial Day weekend!!






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May 18

Last 2 Weeks in a nutshell (pt 2)
Since we decided to buy our new summer home…ok large camper / trailer, I took the liberty of listing mine on Craigslist…I didn’t expect such an overwhelming response!  I had arranged to show the trailer to this girl Tuesday evening; Harley Jim also agreed to come with and help me transport my golfcart back to Indi.  That evening in a nutshell: Picked up Golfcart in Blue Island, finished installing stereo system (gots subs and all g), loaded golfcart on trailer and headed to Indi, got to Indi and met girl who was interested in my joint, girl agreed to buy joint (gave me half the dough…woohoo), unloaded golf cart, went to local pub for dinner and beers, headed home, got home and watched the Fringe season finale with my bride.  The thrilling part of all this…I sold our place!!!

Thursday came, I didn’t go out due to Trish attending Nicole and Tom’s wedding rehearsal dinner (she one of the readers).  Friday I took off work to take care of some odds and ends and go to Nicole and Tom’s blessed day.  The wedding was great aside the fact it rained all freakin day!  I behaved myself   throughout most of the wedding, but at the very end the cheap wedding booze took its toll and I turned into instant cocksucker…made Trish aggravated and regretted rail booze (as usual).

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early with a splitting headache and had the fun privilege of setting up our garage sale at the ass crack of dawn!  Hosting a garage sale with a huge hangover is absolutely NO fun…ZERO fun…quite painful!!!   I did manage to get through it, and at the same time kissed Trisha’s beautiful ass all morning for the annoyance I was the previous evening.

Later that afternoon me and LouLou headed to Indiana, the girl who was buying my trailer was coming to pay the rest and pick it up, and we arranged for the new one to be brought over.  I unpacked my place, of which I highly underestimated the amount of shit we accumulated throughout the past year, it was as bad as packing up a freakin house!  The girl came and picked up her new summer chateau  and shortly after mine was brought over…it worked out perfect (nothing EVER works out this smooth for me).  Me and LouLou decided to stay the night out there and celebrate by getting totally shitfaced beyond coherency.  We had a great time…but woke up feeling like an elephant just jumped up and down on my head.  After we dragged our asses out of bed we hooked up my new casa de la summer to the sewer system, visited a local car show, ate shitty burgers, looked for LouLou’s cellphone he lost during our evening of non-coherency, did a little unpacking, then headed home.  It was great to get home to the family, but at the same time it was great to see them go down the street for a birthday party so I could fit me in a little nappy nap.  Good times!!




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Last 2 Weeks in a nutshell (pt 1)
Im gonna start by backing up two weeks here (not last Thursday, but the Thursday prior).  Thursday was a continuation of work madness, I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon with lawyers and sit it court…oh so fun.  It actually panned out not to be as bad as it could have been, but nevertheless it still was stressful.  Friday was an extension of the Thursday madness and I was quite relieved when the day came to an end.  After work we had to do some store runs and then ended up having an impromptu driveway bonfire across the street at LouLou’s pad.  It ended up being me, Trish, the kids, Mr. & Mrs. LouLou and their 2 kids, and Court.  It was a great time, overconsumption of alcoholic beverages, kids got to play, adults chat…good times.  For some stupid reason, bonfires at LouLou’s end up leading to Buffalo Wild Wings…I don’t know why, but it happens almost every time without fail.  After the kids and wives retired for the evening; Bill, Court, and myself jumped into Trishas stylin Town and Country and went to BWW for some pitchers of beer and boneless wings (we really did not need more beer, but they offered it to us and we said yes).  Aside from shoving wings and beer down my throat, the remainder of the evening ended up being a blur…yes summertime has arrived (neighbors, friends, and drinks).

Saturday morning I woke up with a wee bit…ok a BIG hangover.  Trish went to work and I had our offspring…we played in the backyard, then I did some lawn work, etc.  After Trish got home from work, we all packed up and headed to Indiana to open up our place for the season and scope out a new place someone had for sale.  Shortly after we got there, the LouLou’s arrived (the decided to come out for the day as well).  The LouLou’s took our kids and me and Trish proceeded to rake and bag 23 bags of leaves…we get a butfuckload of leaves!!  We also fitted in time to take a gander at this nifty fifth wheel trailer for sale (as I like to call it…a new summer home or cabin…sounds much nicer than trailer).  We immediately fell in love with the trailer, it was much larger than ours, the master bedroom was on a different level (which was neat)…ok, three steps up, but it adds character, the bathroom was huge, it had a cute little living room and a cute little eat in kitchen.  2 seconds after walking into the door Trish started whispering to me…”I want it, I want it, I want it”…I spoil my love, what she wants she gets.  We made an offer, they accepted and then we headed to hooters for dinner.   Note, the Hooters in Merriville Indiana sucks donkey ass!!!  Really does.

Sunday morning I got up bright and early, scooped up Meg and went and picked up breakfast for the fam…it was Mothers Day!  We had a real enjoyable morning together, when the afternoon hit we packed up and went to Trisha’s fam’s to celebrate MDay and Trishas Dad’s Bday…had a great time relaxing and visiting.  Later that afternoon we left there and went to my Mom’s to celebrate Mday and visit…had a great time there and stuffed our faces with more food.  By the time the evening hit we were wrecked, it was a busy, nonstop weekend!  The important thing is everyone had fun, and Trish had an incredible Mothers Day…she deserves it, she is an incredible wife and mother!!!



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May 05

1st weekend in May...wow the year is nearly half over!!
I skipped my Thursday night out (again) due to the workday I had laid out for Friday.  Friday was planned to be crazy; a meeting  at my office at 8am, a meeting downtown at 10am, and then another meeting downtown at 1pm…all meetings very very stressful (gotta love lawyers).  I was required to be sharp and on top game for these meetings, therefore I didn’t need a Thursday night hangover fogging up my brain.  By the time this day came to an end I was burned on so many levels…I just wanted to go home and collapse on the couch, which is just what I did.  The rest of my Friday was pretty chillax, Trish took Meg to a girl scout thing, I hung with my little man…that about wraps it up.

Saturday morning we all woke up bright and early with nothing planned for the day (which NEVER happens at our house), low and behold the day was friggen beautiful!  Since the current economic conditions of our country are equivalent to a used port-a-potty next to Lindie’s Chilli at the Taste of Chicago, we have made the decision to cut back on a few things…since Trish had to get rid of our cleaning lady, I had to get rid of my lawn dudes (note that hiring lawn peeps was Trisha’s idea from day 1).  I yanked my lawnmower out of my shed (where it has been sitting for the past 5.5 years) put some oil and gas in her and she started right up…I mowed my own lawn for the first time in ages…and actually enjoyed it.  After I was done I rolled my hog out of the garage and started polishing her up for the summer…this day rocked in my book.  We took a family walk for some lunch, we chilled, kids played in the yard…was perfecto.

Saturday evening we had planned to attend a bowling benefit for Kid Rizo’s sister.  I have known her since I was 5, she is like family to me; so we were really excited to go to the benefit and offer any support we can.  I really wish I could have done more for her.  The amount of people that attended the benefit to root for her was amazing, she is truly a wonderful person and it was nice to see the people she blessed with being part of their lives pitch in during her time of need.  Besides for being an event for a great cause, it was a really good time…I got good and liquored up.  We hung with my Mom and Harley Jim…Sailmate stopped by and donated some cash and had a drink or two with us, then shortly after one of my Mom’s friends joined us.  It was a great evening.

We woke up Sunday morning to another beautiful day, we enjoyed the morning and then all hopped in the car to head down and visit the Connolly clan in Bloomington.  We had a great day with the Connolly’s, the kids had a blast, it was great seeing them and our Godson.  We went to the zoo by their house, then went for dinner at Peter’s pub, then went back to their house a bit, then headed home (got home at about 9ish).  It ended up being a great weekend!



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April 24

Feeling Like a Sunday Morning
Sunday was pretty chillax.  I woke up without a hangover, and felt pretty damn good.  I met my sister at Bob Evans for some breakfast, then headed back to the condo and napped.  Later in the afternoon, I went to my sis’s house, we walked around her subdivision (she showed me her pool, etc), and just hung out…had a great time.  We then went to Two Seniorita’s for dinner…hence the best Margarita story on Saturday.  The food here was great, very odd Mexican food.  I had a stuffed pepper, stuffed with beef, grapes, almonds, etc…was a great combo of spicy but sweet.  We had a great dinner, then went to a little toy store so I could buy the kids souvenirs.  After that we called it a day…the rest of the evening was just chillaxin at the condo.  I did manage to go for one last topless cruise, but a quick one, I was beat down dead tired.

Monday morning I woke up, drove to Tampa, hopped on an airplane and came home to cold, rainy Chicago.  I would take Cold rainy Chicago any day!! I was very happy to see my wifey and Gavin…I missed them tons.  I couldn’t wait until Meg got out of school so I could see her as well…great trip, but great to come home.  Sherry, thank you for a spectacular weekend…I had a great time with you and cant wait to do it again!  I miss you and Roxy tons!!!  Dino, thanks man, you were the shiznit!!!!  It was a great pleasure meeting you and hanging out, I look forward to doing it again very soon.




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Saturday: Florida, Sun, Hooters, Flatbread, alcohol, and scotch…winning mix
Saturday I woke up feeling like a semi truck ran over my head.  It has been a long while since I drank like that, I actually have not been drinking too much…been on a health kick.  I rolled out of bed, popped some Advil and sat on the toilet to take my morning wiz.  Yes I sat like a girl, my head was spinning and pounding too hard to stand.  I eventually made it to the coffee pot and put in enough coffee for 12 cups but only made 5 (I like my shit strong).  I finally noticed my sis was trying to get a hold of me, apparently I overslept…me oversleeping, wow!!! Vacation accomplished lol. 

I got showered, stopped at this department store and bought a tank top for the day, then went to my sisters to meet her and Dino.  We drove down to Channelside in Tampa, this is a really cool area, its where all the cruise ships port, so theres tons of restaurants, bars, and shops.  After fighting a fuckload of traffic we finally arrived at our destination (thanks for GPS, Sher and Dino were no help…jk guys).  We had a long overdue lunch at the Channelside Hooters…great hangover grub!  After our lunch we browsed some stores, I almost broke down and bought an Affliction t-shirt (fucking $100 for a t-shirt), I refuse to buy Affliction because everyone is wearing it, bit it was a kick ass Black Sabbath one!!  I texed wifey for her opinion, she saved me by calling me a sellout, instead I purchased 2 novelty tees for $30, one that says I love MILFS, and one that says Masturbation is not a crime…brought to you by the Porn Industry (my maturity is showing).  We actually had a great time scoping out the area, etc, but we were beginning to get thirsty.  We saw a rooftop bar called Margarita Mammas, it overlooked the port where the cruise ships were departing from, sounded good to me.  Note: up until Sunday this place served the best Margarita I ever had, but Two Senioritas in Sarasota beat it out Sunday.

We enjoyed the bar for a number of hours, good conversation, there was a great guy playing guitar and singing…sun shinning, it was perfecto!  The atmosphere was totally “Florida”.  We finally departed and headed back home for a little naptime (which didn’t work for me), cleanup, and chillaxing.  At about 10pm I picked up my sister and we met Dino at this place called Urban Flats for a late dinner (I think we finally ate at 11 or so).  Urban Flats was fantastic!!!!!  Did I say it was fantastic???  We just ordered a bunch of shit and all ate whatever was on the table.   The restaurant over served us liquor during out dinner…remind me to sue them.  After our dinner we went to this bar called “Smokey Joe’s” in downtown Sarasota, nice little bar, relaxed.  We had some cocktails and played “Erotic Photohunt” don’t ask, very addicting game. 

After a few drinks here, we walked down the street to “The Gator Club” very interesting nightclub with a “Scotch” bar upstairs.  We had a great time, I enjoyed a fine scotch, Belvienie 12 year doublewood (courtesy of Dino), it was fantastic.  As the Gator Club was closing, Dino found himself a chicky, so me and my sister headed home.  We were both not drunk, just a nice buzz…made for an easy Sunday morning.



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Friday, Florida, Sun, Tapas, Drunkeness...sounds like a good day
After having enough of this DAMN Chicago winter, I hopped on a plane Friday morning and flew to Florida to visit my sis.  It really wasn’t as spontaneous as it sounds, but nevertheless tons ‘o fun.  I went solo (ie: no wife or kids) for a long to hang with my sis and her buddy Dino.  In the late afternoon I walked off the plane with clogged up ears and my carryon luggage into the hot Tampa sun…it was refreshing as all hell.  I took my shuttle to the car rental joint where I prearranged a convertible (yes I went all out for myself), but they only had blue.  I refuse to drive a blue car, blue cars are nothing but bad luck for me (it’s a family curse…I have totaled every blue car I owned and drove).  I walked my ass back into Alamo and asked for something else; they looked at me like I was a freak but brought me out a freshly cleaned white convertible.   I loaded my luggage; sunk into the nice black seat and hit the button to drop the top…I was off.  After a beautiful ride through Tampa and crossing the sunshine bridge, I worked my way to my parents condo in Sarasota.  I unpacked, got settled, and headed out to my sisters new townhouse which was a short 5 minute drive away.  I was greeted by Roxy who I want to take home (Roxy is her dog…she’s awesome), got the grand tour (her place is really really cool, gated community, overlooks a little lake, nice digs).  We then headed out to Ceviche (a kick ass tapas restaurant) to meet her friend Dino for dinner. 

We met Dino on the rooftop bar of Ceviche while we waited for our table.  The rooftop bar was great, it overlooked downtown Sarasota which is like a tropical version of the Gold Coast…ok maybe a bit smaller, but all the same very nice.  I enjoyed a great Spanish beer, I wish I remembered the name of it!  It was a dark beer, real tasty, and it left a sweet taste on your lips after every sip, it really kicked ass!  After about 2 beers our table was ready, I continued mass consumption of this beer throughout our dinner.  On a side note, this was my first time meeting Dino besides for being mutual Facebook friends with my sis, he was a real cool cat.  We clicked immediately, made for a great weekend.

Now the dinner at Ceviche was to die for, we just kept ordering different items throughout the evening while enjoying alcoholic beverages…was a perfect non-family type dinner.  I really recommend this place, it rocked!  On one occasion our waiter walked by and my sis called him, and he just walked right past not hearing us (she wanted some more bread or something), and she said jokeingly: “Hey asshole”.  Within seconds he was at our table asking if she called him an asshole, pretty funny, Im sure we had hock in our food after that.  The waiter took the situation quite well, we all played if off as a joke and enjoyed the evening.  By the way, Thanks for dinner guys!

After our dinner we went back up to the rooftop bar for a few more drinks, then headed to this bar Dino frequents called Legends.  Legends was a typical pub / bar atmosphere, something Im used too, except you can smoke unlike in IL.  This bar made the mistake of over serving me pints of Guinness…them bastards.  Dino ended up knowing just about everyone in the bar, we mingled talked and got completely toasted.   I ended up in conversations telling Cubs fans that the Cubs sucked, etc (tons of Chicago sports peeps in Florida), I also took the soap box and began explaining to people what I would do if I was president…yeah I was pretty drunk.  After we closed down Legends and were kindly asked to leave, we walked down the street to this elevator in the middle of a strip mall.  Yes elevator; it was like restaurant, vacant storefront, whatnot store, elevator, what not store, etc.  The elevator was the passage up to this bar on top of the strip center, Dino apparently knew some peeps that ran it afterhours, but you have to know them to get in.  He made some phone calls, his boy wasn’t there…we ended up calling it a night.  Believe me that was probably the best choice!  I popped the top down and dropped Dino off at his car and Sherry off home, I really don’t quite remember the whole endeavor, but I did wake up in the condo bed (whewwww that was a good thing).



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April 16

Easter Weekend






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March 24

Out with Vegas Joe and old friends...then a nice weekend with the kiddies
The weekend actually started to roll itself out on a positive note Thursday evening.  Vegas Joe and his wifey Sara were in for the week, so we designated Thursday night as the night for all the old friends to get together and do what else?…drink.  We ended up choosing Oliver’s as the place to be; nice bar, good atmosphere, nice crowd, fun, can always get a table, and not too loud where you cant hear anyone talk.  Trish and myself procured a sitter for the evening (thanks Wes) since it’s been nearly 2 years since Trish has seen either Vegas Joe or Sara.  We were joined by Al, K-Dog, Harley Jim, April & Dr. Jeff and ComCast…was a great crowd of people that do not get together often enough.  Was a really good time!!

Friday after work I picked up the fam and we met my parents out for our Lent traditional fish fry.  My mom had this great idea of trying out a new VFW fish fry in Midlothan, upon entrance I felt disgustingly dirty.  The atmosphere resembled that of a soup kitchen, and I am referring to the clientele and the food served…I had trouble swallowing the cod.  Now Harley Jim on the other hand will eat anything, after his first plate (of this all you can eat fish fry…key word kids, all you can eat) he went up for seconds and they were out of fish.  That was probably due to every senior citizen in the joint packed 2 to-go containers each with as much fish as they could fit after they completing their dinner, desert, and coffee.   With that news in mind, HJ went to get some desert…they were out of that as well.  After we got home I felt like I needed to shower 3 times to get the soup kitchen feel out of the pours of my skin…the rest of the night was dedicated to a little chillax and settling of the disgusting shit I ate.

Saturday Trish worked, so me and the kids enjoyed our Saturday tradition of PJ’s and playtime.  They  ended up going next door to play with Bailey for a while (giving me a little R&R).  The rest of the night was pretty much chill chill, Bailey came over and had a sleepover with Meg…Gav was a little sad because he wanted to be part of their sleepover.  Was a pretty low key, nice day.

Sunday came, we ended up going out to breakfast with Jay and Bailey which is always enjoyable.  Jay let us know he wanted us to attend his future wedding (next year) in Croatia…we are seriously considering it.  After breakfast Trish had to head out to a wedding shower, and the kids and I took our activities outside in the back yard (the day was beautiful).  Eventually I relocated the kids to the front so I could wheel out the motorcycle and start polishing while they play.  Within 10 minutes of wheeling out the bike and starting to polish, I was across the street with a beer in hand while the kids played with Matthew.  We were joined by Mic for a little chit chat, Court stopped by for a bit, Tanya brought her girls over for a little playing…felt like summer in our hood.  After Trish got home, we packed up the kids and went to Chesdan’s for some kick ass pizza…ended up getting one to go for LouLou who was very appreciative.  That was then the end to a nice weekend…and the beginning to a sleepless night that left me groggy as hell all day Monday.  Work week here I come!

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March 16

The Irishman and his very un-Irish St Paddy’s Day Weekend
This weekend I think I boycotted every southside Irish tradition (not on purpose), I really didn’t feel like dealing with the huge crowds and amateur drinkers…must mean I’m getting old.  Friday after work I met Trish and the kids at a memorial service we had to attend, after the service I took the kids and headed home, Trish headed to Pheasant Run for one of her annual girl’s only spa retreats.   While in Burbank for the memorial service I took the kids to visit their uncle at work “Stadium Liquors”…hey two birds with one stone, beer run and visitation.  As I was checking out with a case of Miller Lite in hand (Court was going to stop by for the evening, so I stock up on economy brew, as I so often refer to as “volume beer”) my brother in-law so kindly informed me that for $12.00 (cheaper than my case of miller), I could get a case of a Blue Moon variety pack; that was a no brainer. 

After I got home with the kids, we hung out, played, watched a little tele, then I put em to bed.  Shortly after the kids were out Court came by to help deplete my newly acquired inventory of Blue Moon.  Was a good time, watched some of the Purdue B-Ball game (he’s a former Boilermaker so he wanted to watch…by the way, wtf is a boilermaker?), then we flipped through the TV and just chatted while watching various shit.  Near the end we caught the last half of “Casino Royal” which I have never saw…it was excellent, and Ava Green is a new chick on my list of possible celebrity extramarital affairs.

The kids woke me up bright and early Saturday morning, this kinda sucked cause I was dealing with a Blue Moon induced headache.  After a few Tylenol and a half dozen cups of coffee I was rearing to go.  Me and the kids had a great day of playing, spending time together, etc…was a ton of fun.  At about 1:30 or so, I packed up the kids and hauled them off to Trisha’s parents who were so kind to watch them for the night so I can have some Daddy time.  My daddy time consisted of a little workout, a short nap, a shower, watching the first half of Casino Royal, and getting prepped for a my non-Irish bar St Paddy’s weekend outing.  Me and my friends made the decision to avoid the amateur drinker infested Irish establishments we frequent.   With that said we headed to Hooters for dinner and then “Impulse” formally Pappa T’s to see Blackened…a kick ass Metallica tribute band.  Dinner was me, Harley Jim, LouLou, and Al (I really have to get a nickname for him so I could avoid using real names).  After dinner we headed to Impulse, we met up with Sailmate and one of his buddys.  Shortly after we were joined by Kid Rizzo and then April swung by to join the partay.  The band kicked ass, I mean they sounded like Metallica to the “t”…although they did have a jacked sound system.  K-Dog joined us about halfway through the show, shortly after LouLou departed to rest up for the SouthSide Irish Parade.  Good times indeed.

Sunday was a pretty laid back day, after Trish came home from her weekend outing (with the kids…she swung by on got em on her way home) we went outside to hang with the neighbors.  The weather was great, everyone was out…I love our neighborhood when the weather is good.  Later on in the afternoon Kid Rizzo and Preggers came over and spend the rest of the day with us.  Was a great time, the only bad part was they brought Lucas (their dog) and at one point Lucas tried to take one of my dogs treats away and my dog nipped her in the ear…I felt terrible.  It was a nice relaxing Sunday spent with great friends, nice way to end the weekend while everyone else I knew were at the South Side Irish parade getting their drunk on (and I was not one bit envious, I must be getting old).



7:41 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

March 10

Spring Cleaning
I wont even address the workweek I experienced, lets just say Friday was a great relief.  After work we joined my parents for our weekly Lenten tradition, this time we went to Oliver’s Bar and Grill for their fish fry (blew my healthy eats streak), it was good chow.

Saturday morning Trish worked, so me and the kiddies joined Bill LouLou and Matthew at Home Depot for their monthly kids thing (first time I heard of this).  You go in, they give the kids a Home Depot smock, they get the “project of the month”, this time it was little wooden racecars on a wooden track (which you decorate with home depot stickers), then you find a workstation and build the project (you just get a shit load of wood pieces, half ass directions, glue, nails, and a hammer…oh yeah,  Home Depot stickers).  The ordeal was pretty friggen cool, when its done your kids have a nifty little toy they built (actually I built lol) and get to keep their smock.  We will be joining Bill and Matthew next month to build a birdhouse.  If you have kids I highly recommend checking it out, its free and fun for the kids.

The  remainder of the day was gloomy, rainy, and just all together crappy, so after Trish got home from work we decided to do a little “spring cleaning” and begin cleaning our loft out.  We have this extra bedroom that was initially an office, then we opened it up as a loft (opens up to the lower level of the house).  After converting it into this neat loft area, we thought it would be a smart move to use it as a “store all” (sarcasm).  Since there is a “knee-wall” that concealed the ground level of the room from the lower level of the house, we were able to pile it with shit and no one could see it from the lower level…that’s just what we did.  The room consisted of 2 old TV’s an old futon, tons of shit, and our little home “network” closet.  Within the day we made a huge dent in cleaning out the room, it can soon be used as something more suitable then storage, an extra bedroom / sitting room / tv room.  It is a really cool room that we let go to total waste.  After we were done with our cleaning efforts we packed up the kids and went to LA Café for some delish Mexican food…Olay!

Sunday we bowled, which really sucked cause I really sucked.  Within our process of cleaning out the loft on Saturday, we were moving a lot of our “junk” to our attic.  While tossing shit up there a box came down on me and I snapped my back in a really awkward position…so yes I am blaming my bad bad bowling performance on a back pain.  After bowling we did some more cleaning of the loft, played “Family Game Night” on the Wii (cool game…all the classic board games on it), and chilled…the weather still sucked donkey dick.



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March 02

I'm going to Key Lime Cove, I'm going to Key Lime Cove...
Thursday night came and I was ready to have a few, it was nearing one of the most stressful workweeks I have yet to endure.  I joined Harley Jim, Sailmate Bob (who is moving to Vegas in July…that fugger), and Jaggerbomb Mike for some drinks at our Thursday night establishment.  The night was good, I managed to knock back a few and mask the woes of my stressful workweek. 

By the time my body digested the fermented beverages consumed that night I was sucking down a Starbucks in preparation for a (pardon my French) fucked up day.  In my previous paragraph I state that this was one of the most stressful workweeks I have yet to endure, well this fine Friday was one of the most stressful days I have yet to endure.  I couldn’t even begin to describe what I went through that day on not only a professional, but an emotional level.  Although I did negotiate my ass off and accomplished a huge feat that protected the pocketbooks and moral of my fellow workmates (golf clap).  After I finally left the office, I picked up the fam and we met my folks out for our Lent tradition…fish fry (I ate tuna salad…keeping healthy).

The next day we headed to Key Lime Cove for a weekend of mobs of people, kids pissing in pools, and an interesting re-enactment of Caddyshack (but it wasn’t a BabyRuth).  If you have never been to Key Lime Cove, I am sure you have witnessed the commercials that so strategically burn their theme song into your head for the remainder of the week.  Key Lime Cove is an indoor waterpark and hotel in Gurnee…the place is actually pretty freakin cool.  They have all the fun of an indoor waterpark, the humidity of Florida, and they serve booze.  We had a great time swimming, floating around in the lazy river, baking in the hot tub, flying down waterslides, and keeping tabs on my beloved children.  Near the end of our swimming adventures for the day is when we witnessed a replay of one of the most monumental scenes in Caddyshack.  The kids were in the kiddy pool, adults surrounding its perimeters ensuring the safety of their little ones when out of no where a brown log plopped up and started floating on the pools top like  toy boat.  In the movie Caddyshack the brown log turned out to be a Baby Ruth candybar someone dropped into the pool, this my friend was a real piece of shit.  Yes, one of the non-potty trained children in the pool decided to shit where they swim.  You should have seen how fast the people evacuated the pool, you would have thought Jaws was attacking, it was quite humorous from the sidelines.   

Later that evening we went to dinner in the resort, took the kids to the arcade, then let the grandparents take responsibility of our children so me and Trish could grab a drink or two.  Later on we all met back in our room (which was a nice suite by the way) and drank more booze while playing Uno.  The next morning after we stuffed our faces with the breakfast buffet we let the kids go swimming for another hour or so.  After that we were all watered out, did a little shopping, then retreated for home.  Twas the end of an enjoyable weekend and the beginning of yet another stressful work week.





3:08 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

From Farm and Fleet to Gibsons...my am i a cultured SOB
We were really looking forward to Saturday, we had a sitter designated and an outing planned with the LouLou’s.  After depositing our offspring with my parents, we hopped in the LouLou’s 2007 Ford Expedition EL (really what is the point of saying that other then…it sounds like it belongs) and rode off to the Hillbilly Mecca…the Rosemont RV Show.  Actually after checking out all the campers, pull along RV’s, drivable RV’s, and Park Models, Im not exactly clear to why I refer to it as the Hillbilly Mecca.  The shit there was as nice as my house, and some case nicer…and I have a pretty nice house.  I mean, this one Park Model we fell in love with could only be described as “Rock Star”; leather furniture, stainless appliances, 2 lofts, a LCD TV around every corner, 2 bathrooms, I mean this shit was pimpolisous.  The part of this whole ordeal which I wasn’t aware of was my wife had the intentions of convincing me to purchase something like this for our Indiana place.  While this is all fine and dandy, I had a prior arrangement to have an addition put on our Indiana casa de la redneck for the amount the taxes were on one of these new deals.  I was almost suckered into to doing it, luckily I came to my senses and said lets think about it…shit with the economy the way it is I’m afraid to buy anything substantial.

After we were done touring the luxurious potential residences of the redneck world we headed out to dinner.  With dinner we went from one extreme to the next, we left the land of farm and fleet and had a dinner at Gibson’s.  The dinner was excellent, that’s all I could say about it.  After dinner we went back to the LouLou’s casa for drinks and some shuffleboard (mind you we have been drinking this whole day).  The day / night was grand, but holy hangover Sunday morning.



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February 18

Valentines Day Weekend...White Castle fine dinning
Last week at work was nuts…I was happier than a pig in poopoo when the weekend came (poopoo…that word makes me giggle).  Midweek Meg caught the flu, by Friday evening it was handed off to Trish, then by Saturday Gavin caught it…argghh, made for an interesting Valentines day.  Thursday night after work and the kids went to bed, I ended up meeting Harley Jim out for a nice dinner at Jenny’s in Frankfort (twas um, best filet I had in ages).  After fine meal, we went to our Thursday night usual and had a few drinks, I was home nice and early. 

Friday evening after putting the kids and my sick wife to bed, I departed from my sick house and joined LouLou for a few drinks at this new bar that opened in my hood…House Of Brews.  Bar was ok, it kind of resembled a basement...really not much else to it.  It actually kind of reminded me of a downtown or northside bar that has bands, kinda Metroish?  We did have a good time, but I drank in excess, for some reason the beers flowing through me faster than the bartender could bring them…I think it was my way of coping with the past week.  After the first band finally started we ended up leaving and headed up the street to Beggers for some food and more beer.  We had a few brews at Beggers, munched on a few appetizer, then took a pizza to go back to LouLou’s to eat and have a couple more.  We had a good time, was a nice unplanned impromptu night…I originally was going to stay in and fast for a blood test (which I failed to attend) in the morning.

Saturday was a nice Valentines day with really nothing planned but our fancy dinner at White Castle lol.  Yes, White Castle.  For the past few years (since we find it difficult to find a babysitter on V-Day) we have been taking the kids to the home of the sliders for their little Valentines Day shindig.  You have to make reservations, you heard me right, reservations.  When you arrive there is a hostess that seats you, the place is decorated in the essence of a grammar school Valentines Day party…actually kind of “cutesy”.  A White Castle employee acts as a waitress and presents you with a menu, and then they serve you.  The kids find this fun, to tell you the truth we find it fun too.  It’s a nice way to enjoy this holiday as a family...loose atmosphere and killer shits afterwards.  You know what they say, a family that shits together…lol, ok that was a bit much.

Sunday was pretty chill, chill; Gavin and Trisha were still getting over being sick.  We ended up taking the kids to see Coroline…mistake.  While I thought the movie wasn’t bad, defiantly had some good drugs behind the scenes to create it…it was a little much for the kids, scared the crap out of them.  I have been dealing with the repercussions of this film for the past 3 nights now!



7:49 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Daddy Daughter Dance and Taxes
Friday after work (Friday February 6th Im referring too, Im still catching up on my blogs here) I had a very, very important date.  It was the annual daddy daughter Valentines Dance me and Meghan attend each year.  We get dressed up, I try to get out of wearing a suit and tie; but she dictates what I am to wear…she has it preplanned in her head, down to a dress shirt with a pocket so she can stick a flower in it.  After we get dressed up and take a few pics, we head to the dance.  We check in, get our pictures taken, enjoy some punch…then shes off to play with her friends and I hang out with Bill that lives down the street.  Near the end of the dance we spend a little time together for the balloon drop, and then we depart.  I then take her someplace for ice cream or pie, this year it was ice cream (this was the best part of the date for me…was just us).

Saturday came, Trisha worked, I got a remote start installed on my car (which was kind of counterproductive seeing the day was 60 or so), and then finally chilled.  Later on that evening Trisha had a girls night out planned, so after I got the kiddies to bed I worked on our income tax return…which was quite depressing (I have already made the executive decision to amend it).  Sunday we bowled, I sucked…worse than usual (I actually have been doing pretty good lately), and the day ended.  Good night!



7:28 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

February 12

I hate falling behind…blarrgggggg!!! Quick catchup
I hate falling behind on my blog, I just have been so friggen busy lately and all my free “writing” time has been pre-occupied with a new little pet project of mine (I will have to delve into that later).  I have to learn not to neglect my online baby!!  Well the last time I updated I went to Metallica…hell ya!  The Friday after that monumental event Trisha went out with the neighborhood chicks, I just stayed home with the kiddies and worked on tax shit after they went to bed…oh fun, taxes!

The next evening (Saturday Evening) Trisha’s parents babysat and we joined my parents for a lovely dinner at Mike and Amy’s.  Mikey just completed their kitchen which was out of this world, really he should do kitchen rehabs for a living.   He actually built all the cabinets from scratch and they were by far some of the nicest and most well thought out cabinets I have ever seen.  This kitchen looked like it belonged in a magazine…unfriggen real.

The following day was Superbowl Sunday!  In a nutshell, Trish and myself went to Gaelic Park with Brian and Preggers, my parents, their neighbors, and some folks from our bowling league.  We had a great time, I did pretty good with pool winnings for once! And Guinness was included with the open bar…God Bless America.



12:56 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

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!





3:09 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)