dinner

spaghetti shop is close to work, and i had to get something to eat because i didn't go to the grocery this week. i usually will take a Bologna and cheese or pbj but i had the pbj for breakfast and the Bologna for lunch. this pizza was ok. i was hoping for something like what they have at subway but its not that good. im kinda cracked out on cough syrup and cold medicine right now. my head feels sort of like there is an electric current running through it.

back to work

i just feel like going to sleep some where. ugh... having a cold sucks ass.

Crow Smear

On the way home from Otter Creek a huge crow flew into my car. I swear I did not try to hit it! Now it left a big smear on the hood of my car.

Possible 3rd choice

This one may be a possible if I can see any info online about it. Its a Retro RR150RT Roadrunner i-scooter. Its the least expensive of the lot.

2nd choice for a scooter

This may be another choice when it comes time for me to get my scooter. Its an RC-150z by Bandit Motorsports. I've heard several good things about the company and they seem to be all over technical support. Also the do all the assembly of the scooter and thoroughly test it-and drive it, before they re-package the vehicle and ship it to you. It may, for that reason, be a cut above the Roketa I'm looking at.

Logan gets into AP!

Logan has been chosen for the Advance Preparatory Optional Program! It says "The program combines relevant curriculum, a variety of powerful teaching techniques and creative school organization to promote academic excellence in each child. I am so proud of the little guy! This weekend we are going backpacking at Otter Creek. Lexie is with the Girlscouts camping so Logan and I are going to use one of the "walk-in" camp sites. We are taking a tarp, our sleeping bags, and food...and that's about it.

Weekend (a real one!)

This weekend was really nice. Friday night I called in sick to work
(my second job). I went out to get coffee with my sister Patti, and
my girlfriend Theresia. T and I stopped at a pizza place and got this
pizza with whole wheat crust. I liked it more than her—it had a
coarse crunchy crust. Then we went over and sat with Patti at Heine
Brothers and listened to the music. It was nice to just have a while
to relax. Theresia and I went home late, and we watched an episode of
Heroes season 1. That show is really cool! We went to bed and in the
morning, we BOTH called in sick!

We spent the Saturday together running errands and just goofing off.
Neither one of us had done that in so long—we both work two jobs—it
was very refreshing. We went to this seafood place and got an oyster
sandwich which was ok. It had cole slaw and thousand island dressing
on it which I didn't care for too much, but I swear—the French fries
at this place were the best I have ever had anywhere! After that, we
went over and I showed Theresia the exact model of scooter I want to
get. They are asking $1800 for the one I showed her, but you can get
them elsewhere much cheaper. That was the only place I know that had
one they could show. There's a picture of it on one of my blog posts
last week. After that we went back home and had a nap!! Another
indulgence that neither one of us has had in a while on the weekend.
We watched some more Heroes (actually finished it) and then I fixed
supper—boneless fried chicken.

Sunday we split up—she went to work, and I called in (again!) and went
to work: on the kids bedroom! I got that mostly done but still need
to re-arrange it some. I took the bunk beds apart and made them into
singles. They don't have as much room now, but I cleaned up and threw
a lot of crap in the dumpster, plus I know that the less room they
have to clutter, the better off their room will be. Theresia came
over after she got off work and we hung out for a while—watched a
movie called "Little Trip to Heaven". It wasn't that great. She left
to go get Rachael, and I finished working on the room as much as I was
going to.

The kids came home, and we talked. I asked them what they would think
about riding the bus home on Monday, Thursday and ever-other Friday.
I called the bus depot and found out what time the bus gets to their
stop…it's 5:11! This is because they go to the depot first. On those
days, I would be able to come in a little early or take a ½ hour lunch
and leave at 4:30pm. I would get home before them, and have dinner
started. It would really give us a lot more time together through the
week. I spoke with Theresia and Patti about it when we had coffee.
They both said if I had an emergency and left late, or got stuck in
traffic, that they could go get the kids and wait with them until I
got home. It would only be a matter of minutes. Plus Theresia's
daughter lives across the parking lot—she gets off at 4:30 (so does
Patti). And Theresia's sister Elisabeth is pretty close too, That's
4 people to cover me in an emergency so I think that would work.
We're going to try it for a couple weeks starting next week.

Lex at her locker

it took her a little while to get the hang of a combination lock, but its old hat now. she's such an awesome little 4th grader!

Lexie's Teacher Ms. Napier

Ms. Napier said Lexie is doing good this year staying on task and with reading but especially with writing.

Logan's Teacher Ms. White

She said Logan is doing good.

Roketa MC-16-150

This is the 150cc gas scooter I want to get next spring. It is NOT one of those little 49cc jobs they sell at Pep Boys. This is a full 60 MPH vehicle that has to be licensed with the state and insured. It is street legal. They have them a couple places in town. The cool thing is they are inexpensive, cheap to insure, and the damn things get up to 80 miles to the gallon! I could drive it anywhere but the interstate, even the 2nd street bridge over to Indiana. Feasibly it could pay for itself in a year if I could (would) be able to pick up the kids from school on it. Realistically I can save a ton of money on gas by driving it back and forth to work just on the days they have visitation with their mom. I think it will also help fill the hole in my heart that Judy left. :-(

cauterization

the doctor used this device to cauterize my finger. i have to keep it wrapped for several days.

my finger

i hurt my finger about a month ago and i keep re-injuring it. it would not stop bleeding so I came in to see the doctor.

First Edition of the Wolverine Comic!

Theresia got this for me and gave it to me Sunday. That was our 2 year anniversary of dating. Isn't she the coolest most bad-ass girlfriend ever?????

orange dreamscicle?

i made this from diet orange soda and Bailey's. it tasted 1000% better than it sounds.

Grilling...charcoal

I'm still not 100% comfortable with charcoal yet. It takes more effort to start, and it takes more time to get to a point where you can cook on it. My girlfriend Theresia told me she was bringing over sirloin steaks because they are on sale for $2.99 a pound at Meijers. Here she is now, so I guess I'd better get cooking!

Bryce and his mom Lassi

She seems like a nice lady. Bryce minds her pretty good.

Bryce's Birthday Party

Lexie and Logan are having a good time right now at the Birthday party. Now if I could get Lex to mind me and not try to use the little ladder to jump in the pool, then we would be in good shape. Bryce's mom indicated i'll probably be the only guy here. That's ok, I'm used to that.

scouts meeting

they are teaching them the law of the pack.

Logan's First Cubscouts Meeting

they get play time starting out.

coffee with my sister!

i'm excited! i get to go have coffee with my wonderful sister tomorrow at my favorite coffee shop!

macaroni and tomatoes/weekend

my sister Bonnie who we saw when we went to florida used to love this stuff. it has been forever since i had it so i made some yesterday for lunch. i added a couple things. Bonnie always just did macaroni, a can of chopped stewed tomatoes and some milk. i added a little olive oil, some garlic, and some spices. also i chopped fresh tomato instead of canned. the kids ate it, but picked around the tomatoes. they did not ask for seconds. thats ok. i have lunch for the week then! we watched the rest of Heroes season one yesterday, played in the outdoor pool for several hours, read books, did laundry, and some housework. no big labor day cookout; but i think we had fun. i have very little family here-- my sister Patti who is working, raising a son, and taking courses online; and my brother Mike who has two daughters, a son, and a couple grandkids who he pretty much raises together with his ex-wife (who he lives with). My family has their own lives... I really don't have any friends as such. I give all my time to a job, my kids, and a girlfriend, so I don't have any friends who I see on a regular basis. Charlie, my friend who I worked with called me to get together Sunday while I was working to get together on Monday for breakfast, when I had the kids. Sometimes i wish I had a bigger family or more friends, but I pour most of my time and effort into Lexie and Logan and making their lives as good as possible. Lexie asked "Aren't you supposed to have a cookout on Labor day?" and I told her I would just cook in the kitchen since it was just the three of us. If the pool had not been open, i was gonna take them to Otter Creek...

Star News

I got this letter from one of Lexie's teacher's this past weekend. It says:

"The class has made so much progress in the past two weeks! All of
the students are starting to get a handle on the daily routines of a
fourth grader. We have been working on building a writer's notebook
during our Language Arts time. In Math we have worked with many
different ways to make patterns using numbers, shapes, blocks, and by
clapping our hands. In Science we have studied many of the scientific
processes that scientists use. In the coming weeks we will be working
on functions in Math, food webs and chains in Science, poetry in
Language Arts, and creating groups and centers for Reading.

I greatly appreciate all of the cooperation from the parents and
families at home. Just a reminder, homework is due the day after it
is assigned or your child will not receive credit. Please encourage
your child to complete their homework each night. Also, if there is
not a name on the assignment, no credit can be given. Reading logs
are due on Friday and your child will receive a new log to begin
working on over the weekend. Agendas are only required to be signed
on Friday, but feel more than free to check your child's agenda each
night. All of the fourth grade teachers use the agendas as a form of
communication home. I will try my best to write a small note in each
child's agenda sometime during the day on Friday. I ope all of you
have a great week!"

It sounds like the teacher Ms. Nappier has everything in hand.
Lexie's main teach is Ms. White, so I don't know if this applies 100%
to her or not.

annoying!

oh my god! this woman was checking out like 1000 items and then her anoyying daughter came up and started rummaging through thins so i couldnt tell what was and was not rung up! i wanted to slap this woman!

jennifer!

yeah! jennifer is on today! she's just a kid and she likes to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible.

headed to work

the supervisor yesterday sucked. i have to remind her about breaks lunches and pickups. the worst is probably the pickups because if i see so much cash in the drawer it will hardly close, then customers probably see it too. if you saw some of the customers you would know what i'm talking about. the words thug, gang, and felon come to mind...

Creative Hotwheels Construction

Logan made this construction out of Hotwheels track at his grandmothers house. he is really creative. they are watching Spiderman 3 with mommy right now.