im looking forward to six months from today, because it will be a really great day...
together again
this weekend i had a good time. on thursday diana came to see me. we headed down to merrillville because i had to get fitted for a tux for a wedding coming up that i am in and the closest mens wearhouse is down there. while we were down there we stopped at the book store and used movie shop (i actually left without buying anything!), and then checked out burlington coat factory so diana could look for a new winter jacket. she didnt find anything, but i did! and its cool... we tried to go out to eat but both of the places we wanted to go were gone! they both folded over the past month or two! crazy. so instead we just picked up a pizza and went back to my place and watch the season premier of 'the office' and boy was it a funny one!on saturday i was up by her for the day. we went out for lunch together, and miranda had the same lunch break, so she came with, which is always fun. after she was done with work we went to go see 'mamma mia!', which wasnt as bad as i thought it would be (my thoughts are here), and then we went out to eat at fridays. it was great to spend some more time with her. im trying to get as much in as i can because i wont see her next weekend. poor me.
an expanding family
the family is expanding! this seems to happen pretty regularly and without warning, but here it is: another 'poke it with a stick' page! youd think id be out of stuff to write about, i mean with the eight pages that are already updated (semi)regularly, but you would be wrong! ive already got this page, a page for movies, music, critiques, an image gallery, a list of my dads wierd words, a strange tribute to craig ferguson, and a page for other random stuff. im sure i can squeeze in one more!this new page is a bit unusual, so let me explain: recently ive decided (well, diana has decided for me...) that i need to clean out my second bed room so that when she moves in after were married there will be some room for her stuff. makes sense, right? well, the problem is that i am a bit of a pack rat. i figure that this is the motivation i need to get over that, so im taking the steps necessary to start throwing some old stuff away. part of the reason i keep all that old stuff is because it has sentimental value to me. each of the things ive saved reminds me of a part of my life and a story that goes with it. i like to look back on all of it from time to time and remember the stories. i figure a better, space saving way to do this would be to just write the stories here so that i can just peruse the website whenever im feeling nostalgic, instead of unnecessarily keeping a room full of junk! so that is just what i have done. i have been cataloguing the different items i have, and then throwing out a lot of it.
the new page, called 'odds and ends', is there so that i may still have the story to go along with these items, but i no longer need the items themselves. sounds like just further evidence that i have too much time on my hands, huh? oh well. if your interested, feel free to check it out!
settling in
this week marked my first week in my new classroom. over the summer our school did some construction and built six new rooms. the plan was that we would move it at the end of the summer, and the middle school would fill up those six new classrooms. unfortunately things didnt go according to plan. the construction took a bit longer than expected, and so we had to be in temporary rooms for the first several weeks of the year. this week, though, we finally got to move into our new rooms! it has been great getting used to the new area and figuring out how best to use the space. my room isnt completely done yet, they didnt have enough lockers when they ordered, so i was stuck with no lockers in my room. they say they will be done next week, so im still waiting for that final transition. the kids have been really good this year about dealing with all the craziness and everything thats been a part of the temporary rooms and moving to the new rooms, so thats been a huge blessing! im still working on decorations for the place, but i know soon everything will be as it should.ouch!
earlier this week i was walking into my house, wearing sandals, and accidentally biffed the screen door pretty hard with my foot- ouch!!! it was looking pretty bad, it swelled up a bit so i put some ice on it.
it still hurts a bit, but now ive got batman on the case! last time i got groceries i figured i should get some band aids, and i found a box of totally rad batman bandages! score! im sure the dark knight will fight off all the pain and it will be healed in no time.
moving time
on friday diana had the day off so she came over with poco. i had been waiting a couple weeks but i got to give her a gift that ive had for her for a couple weeks now, and she was thrilled! (if you are wondering what it is, i explain here)friday night i had a faculty/board social to go to, and diana came along. we have this every year and its just a chance for us to socialize and get to know the rest of the people working hard to make the school better. one thing that made this one good was the fact that our schools addition is finally complete! they built six new rooms over the summer and we finally got the ok to move into them! ive been stuck in a really tiny room so far this year, so i was thrilled to hear that i get to move out and into a nice and shiny new room! after the dinner everyone helped out with moving the different things from the old room to the new one. it was a bit of work, but really great to finally be in the new room! ive got a lot more work to do on it, putting up decorations and stuff, but the kids are going to love it- i know i do!
(pics)
wii babysat
after diana and jill left, tim and i took the kids outside to play. almost immediately jackson fell and skinned his knee (again). he went back in and cuddled with papa and watched tv. tim and i watched the girls as they played on their toys and road around on their bikes.eventually we went back inside, papa went home, and we got the kids ready for bed (ok, tim got them ready for bed...) jackson and i played a little wii, which tim joined in soon after. when jackson went to bed too, then tim and i did a little wii playing of our own. im still not very good, and tim doesnt play very much, so we were an even match.
when jill and diana got back we packed up and headed back home. she said that she had a good time and is starting to feel quite comfortable around my extended family. she jokingly said 'i dont really fit in with them' 'why?' i asked. 'well, im not blonde haired and blue eyed!' she exclaimed! 'no problem, blonde is overrated'.
the kids
eventually diana and i made our way over to tim and jills. after a brief walk through of rivertown mall, and nearly falling asleep there, we figured we would try and catch a few zzzs. both us of us were tired from getting up so early and the long drive. we stopped over and soon found our way downstairs to the pair of couches in their basement, so we laid down- oh so comfy! i slept for about a half hour, but then i got up and went back up stairs.
by now the kids were all up from their naps too, so we played for a while. about 15 minutes after i came up diana came up too. we were both quite grateful for the little bit of rest. the kids were ready to play, and we werent about to disappoint them! jackson and tweets had gotten some fun new hats that they wanted to show off, jackson had a spiderman one that looked hilarious when pulled over his eyes, and tweets got a cute 'hello kitty' hat. my dad came over for a bit to see us and the kids. we played inside for a bit with them for a while and watched their crazy acrobatics.tim brought home some pizza that we all shared, and then the girls had to head out to the wedding shower.
downtown holland
after lunch we gave jill a call, and it just so happened that she was in holland with the kids right then. they were heading over to a dance store to get a few things. tweets is starting a dance class and needed some tap shoes (yes, its as cute as it sounds...). we met them at the dance store and saw tweets trying on her new stuff. after the kids messed around for a bit, we then walked around downtown holland for a little while and checked out all the little shops. the kids sure love to touch everything and be a general nuisance! nothing was broke, so we figured it went well.after jill and the kids left diana and i continued our walk. we really enjoyed the extra unexpected time together and the beautiful romantic setting.
lunch with mom
when we were finished with all the stuff we needed to do, we then went straight up to grand rapids. we called my mom to let her know that i had gotten the day off and made plans to meet up with her in holland for lunch. my mom got to show off her work to diana, and then we went to the truck stop/restaurant right next to her work and got to spend some time with her chatting and enjoying the extra time we hadnt planned on!
say ahh
my cousin is getting married soon, and his soon to be bride was having a wedding shower. my mom thought it would be a good idea for diana to go, as a way of getting to know the family better, and so that they could get to know her better. the next shower, after all, is going to be for her, so it made sense. it being on a monday meant that i would have to race, straight from school, up and get diana and then zoom all the way to grand rapids.but plans changed. for the better! because i didnt have school monday, i could now head over as early as i wanted! i was there in time to go with diana to her dental appointment. this has been something of a sore spot for her for a long time. she is getting some work done that she has needed to since she was in grade school, so its good that its getting taken care of, but it hasnt been very easy going. it seems that her dentist is very much a 'glass half empty' kind of guy. every time she goes to see him he sees things improving, but then immediately tells her that it could still go horribly wrong. diana has a tendency to fret about such things, so this is not exactly the kind of thing she needs to hear. we are just making sure that we focus on the good news and hoping to have this behind us by the time the wedding comes.
labels
periodically i try to update this site, keep it fresh. i recently finished the latest update. ive spent a bit of time going back through old posts and labeling each of them to fit into different categories, and i finally finished! i dont know exactly who will care or why, but i figured i might as well try and organize this whole blog thing just because.there are a lot of different categories like 'my family', 'the guys', 'my girl', and many more. if you have any interest in checking out the fun and craziness of my california trip this past spring, well now there is a category just for that! wondering what comic conventions are like? well there is a category for that too! feel free to take a look around, the categories are all listed on the right side of this page right under the blog archive.
oh, and dont forget to keep checking the other 'poke it with a stick' contents listed on the right at the top of this site!
line up, two by two
sunday i headed back home. diana was back from detroit, so i got the chance to see her again! hurray! i needed to make it back home though, so i only got to see her for a little while. we went out for dinner and got to catch up, but soon after i was back on the road. this was especially difficult due to the weather: it had been raining nonstop for the past three days- and really hard! as always happens on the highway by my place due to some really stupid construction crews, the highway was flooded. and i mean flooded- there was at least five feet of standing water! this made for a rather lengthy drive home. i know some of the back ways to get around by me, but it seemed like everyone else did too because the line up on all the back roads was blocked solid! finally, after two and a half hours, i got home.the reason i needed to get home is because my neighbor and renter tony was moving out today and i needed to get back to get the keys from him and say goodbye. i got to see him off and warned him of the road closings on the highway.
then, around 10:30 pm i got a call that i didnt expect: it was rick from work saying that it was cancelled on monday due to flooding!!!
fridays... again
saturday night i headed back over to aarons, jeffry lee came by too, and we headed over to the mall. rexy was at fridays waiting for us, so we had a seat and chilled. while there we met up again with freddy and had dinner. after we were done, we went to go see a movie, babylon a.d., and then went back to aarons for the night to sit and talk and generally hang out. a good time was had by all. well, except for the part where we saw a really crappy movie...officer chad
saturday afternoon dad pulled out a dvd that he wanted to check out. it was the video from the last time they went to go visit chad. it was of his graduation from officer training in the army. i wasnt able to go, so it was pretty cool to check out.to be honest, most of it we fast forwarded through, we just wanted to see chad step up and receive his bars.
tricks of the trade
on saturday all the kids were over. tim and jill had tickets to go see the tigers play the white sox in chicago, so my mom and dad watched the kids for the weekend. we got to play all afternoon, which always seems to include the kids wanting to take pictures with my camera (see their handy work here). at one point it was nice and quite, both jackson and tweets sat down and watched movies. not together, mind you, tweets watch on the tv, and jackson watched on the portable dvd player. this is quite a nice way to cut down on sibling arguments.
as evening came we went to costco for a few things, i got a big huge container of cashews and a new fall jacket. i was walking around the movie section with jackson and he spotted a box set of four dvds of hot wheels movies. they were cheap, and he asked my mom if he could get it. she said maybe. heres where i stepped in. i figure its my job as an uncle to give my nephew any good advice i could about life, more specifically, about his mema (grandma)... i picked him up and whispered in his ear 'ok, heres how you make sure you get it: go up to mema and say 'you look beautiful today!' it works every time!' he didnt take my advice, but he got the movies anyway. i guess the moral of the story is that he is a lot cuter than me! maybe i should be taking advice from him...later we went out to eat with the kids at red robin, a favorite of mine. it was great to spend time with the kids and play around with them! they get to be more and more fun every time i see them!
house party!
this past friday aaron had a big house warming party at his new place. a month or so ago aaron bought a house (congrats to him!) and figured he should invite everyone over for a big 'i got a house!' party. diana went to visit her friend lissa in detroit for the weekend, so i went over to celebrate solo. i got there about 8:00pm and the party was already in full swing. he had invited a few friends from his work, the guys, and his family. they were all chilling in the garage and outside, he had a grill going and they had just finished eating when i got there. we hung out and had a great time!through out the night his whole family stopped by, mom and step dad included. kevin and his wife were there and i got to talk with him again, which was nice- it had been about 5 or 6 months since i saw him last. a lot has been going on for him too- he got married, bought a house (about a mile from where aaron is now), and he and his wife are expecting a child! he is quite happy and content, a place i had never seen him in before, so it was really cool to catch up with him. aarons sister and brother in law stopped by for a while too. i had not really ever talked to john, so it was great to hang out and chat with him- he is a really great guy! i also got a chance to spend some time with a freddy, aguy that aaron, jeff, and rex have been hanging with a lot. hes pretty cool too, and he is a car guy too, so that leaves me out of even more conversations...
after many conversations, mix playlists, and multiple roamings around the house, we finally called it a night around 3:00am. it was certainly a blast, and i hope aaron buys another house soon so we can do it again!its not knitting!
many years ago, back when i was in college, one of the strange fads that went around campus was crocheting. for some reason we all thought it was really cool and decided to learn how to do it. we would sit around in the lobby of the dorm for hours every night and crochet and talk. i decided to join in. sounds kinda girly, huh? well, that was exactly why i joined in- i got to just chill and talk with a room full of girls!as it started to catch on i went to see my gramma brink when i was visiting home. she used to crochet all the time, so i figured if im going to learn from somebody, i might as well learn from a master! she thought it was quite silly that i was even interested, but she showed me anyway. my reason for learning was two fold: it was to be used as a socializing activity at college, and i figured i could teach it to students as an art teacher. i did teach it for the two years i was an art teacher, so it was worth knowing just for that.
the hardest part of crocheting (which is really easy) is keeping the ends straight. many times i would try to make something and the edges were terribly uneven. so i started making stuff that didnt have edges- like hats! years ago i made a stocking cap out of some nasty colored yarn, which i really loved, and ive been wearing it in the winter ever since.
a few weeks ago diana decided that she wanted to learn how to crochet. she went out and got a crochet hook and some pink (who would have thought?) yarn. i showed her the hat i made and still wear (she thought it was a pretty nasty color too) and wanted one for herself. we sat down and i taught her how to do it! it was really fun to see her poke around with the hook and eventually figure it out. she has been picking it up and trying her hand at it periodically since then. the only problem, she says, is those pesky edges!biker food
last night diana and i made plans with her friends miranda and levi. i drove over after work and we stopped at their house. we decided to go out to eat at a restaurant called 'legends' about a half hour away. we spend the night talking and laughing. the place was pretty cool, it was a motorcycle themed restaurant, and the food was great! afterward we hung out for a bit. one of the great unexpected bonuses of being with diana is that i also get to spend time with her cool friends! miranda and diana are really good friends, she will actually be standing up as a brides maid in the wedding. and levi is fun too, he and i have gotten to hang out before, we went to go see 'hancock' a couple months ago.
unexpected
diana pulled a fast one on me! i always take a special joy in surprising her with unexpected visits and little gifts, but wednesday she got me! i was walking out of school at the end of the day, not really paying attention to anything, and walked to my car. i opened the back seat to put my backpack in, and i saw out of the corner of my eye that someone was sitting in the passenger seat! i came to my senses and quick looked to make sure i was getting into the right car- then realized it was diana! she had driven down and surprised me! i was quite shocked- and very happy! we went to my place and talked for a bit, then we went out to eat. i continually smiled throughout the night because i was so excited about getting to see her when i didnt expect to. soon after dinner she had to head back home, but it was a really great surprise!(more pics)
goodbyes
unfortunately, every weekend has to come to an end. monday night we went with the family out to eat at russo's restaurant, its a cool little place that used to be a small bowling alley, but was converted- but the kept the old bowling alley floor! we enjoyed our final hours with the family, but the time finally came when we had to go back home. we said our goodbyes and thanked them for the really great time we had.diana and i drove back to her place, complaining about how the weekend was too short, even though it was an extra long one with labor day off! after saying goodbye i had to take that sad drive back to my place all alone. march seems so far away- i still have to wait seven months before i dont have to say goodbye to diana...
lost and eventually found
it was just a matter of time. monday was my day to be a total idiot. i had brought home a bunch of laundry and was planning on doing it at the sandy pines laundry mat. as i was getting ready to go start it, i figured i would put on my swim suit, that way all my shorts could be washed. as i was emptying out the pockets of the shorts i was just wearing i pulled out my wallet and thought to myself 'i dont have any pockets, now where do i put this so i dont lose it?' i continued to get the clothes together. just as i was about to leave i realized i needed some money for the washers and dryers. so i looked for where i put my wallet. i guess i didnt figure out where i should put it so i dont lose it, because i lost it! i retraced my steps about a million times, tearing apart the laundry basket and the couch over and over again. how could i be so stupid?!? i had never lost my wallet before, so i was also very angry at myself. at least i knew it was somewhere around the trailer because i hadnt left there since i woke up. after about three hours and a lot of frustration, i finally found it. it was in my car up by the shoulder seat belt. how did it get there? i dont know, but i was not at all pleased about it. take a look at the picture for this post, would you have spotted it? i sure didnt...
labor day grillout
sunday evening all my parents friends and their kids came over to the trailer for a big labor day grill out. its always fun to see them, growing up we spent every summer out there, so i got to know many of them well and we would spend countless hours riding around on the carts just messing around. its kind of strange to see them now, with wives and children. im a little late to the wedding game, but its always a joy to show off diana to people i know.the grill out was a great time, i think there were about 25-30 people there! the food was great, and someone even brought deviled eggs (my favorite)!!!
at the end of the night diana and i went over to tim and jills trailer and hung out with them, brent and missy, and adam and lindsay fischer. we spent the night sitting around the campfire telling stories and laughing a lot. mostly at adam...
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fish in water
sunday afternoon we all went to the water park at sandy pines. this time though, i was prepared: i bought a swimming suit and joined them in the water! soon after we got there diana was feeling adventurous and decided to take tweets down the water slide! yikes! it was a little faster then she anticipated, because when she came down she went under and took in a lot of water. she didnt feel so well for a little while after that...jackson and i swam in the pool and played a strange little game of fishing for people. he caught everyone! you always have to be careful when you make up a new fun thing with the kids, because they are going to want to do it about 800 times... after an hour or two of fun in the sun, we were sufficiently pruney. it was time to go, but not before we all got a yummy ice cream cone!
sunday morning
sunday morning we got up on time (actually a bit early because im dumb and dont know what time things start...) and headed out to sandy pines to join the family at church. the sermon was good and the preacher used many big words, which i especially love... its a bit more difficult to pay attention to the service when the baking sun is shining down on your neck and you have a squirmy three year old on your lap, but i tried to make the most of it.when we got back to my parents place the kids came over and we played around with them for a while. avery was having a rough weekend, so we took extra effort in making sure she was happy. mom and dad played on the ground with her a bit and everything.
soon dinner was ready, and we all dug into the tacos my mom and sister had prepared for us.
lets talk
saturday night diana and i headed up to grand rapids for the weekend. we didnt leave from the piano bar until around 11:30 pm, and we still needed to stop at her house to get some stuff. we were both really tired, so i asked her if she would be willing to stay up to make sure i was awake behind the wheel. she stayed up, and boy did we have a great discussion on the drive home! it was one of those amazing relationship building talks where we get to be totally honest and vulnerable. its talks like this that prove to me again and again just how much i love her, and am continually amazed that she loves me just as much!
piano man
saturday night dianas friend jordan was in town. diana worked with her for a couple years, but she recently moved down to indiana. she and jonathan came up to visit family and firends, and diana and i met up with them to celebrate. we met them at a new place in michawaka called 'bar louie' which is a nicer end bar and grill over by university mall. there were about 10 people in the party and we had a great time. diana and jordan were busy chatting and laughing the whole time!after we finished eating we all decided to go to a dueling piano bar called 'rum runners'. i had never been to a piano bar, so i didnt know what to expect. it was a really fun time, the two piano players would take requests and play all kinds of music. most of what they played everyone sang along to except me. for some reason i guess i dont know the songs that 99% of the rest of the population knows by heart. im out of the loop. the best part was when someone payed the guys to play the michigan fight song, which lead to another person paying more for them to play the notre dame fight song, then the first guy came up again and paid even more for the michigan song... this went on for about a half hour and was hilarious! the piano guys made about $150 total from those two songs! it was a great time, afterward diana was really sad to say goodbye again to jordan. she will be back in a couple weeks, and visits fairly often, so we will certainly see her around again!
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(more pics)
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