the leak returns

sometimes being a landlord isnt too bad, but then there are times when it sucks. recently i got a call from our renters that there was a problem with the shower. this is nothing new, the tub faucet over on that side of the duplex has had problems before with leaking. this time it wasnt leaking though, it was the shower head. or so they thought. they told me that when the pulled the tab to make the water go to the shower head it wouldnt go, so i went over there to check it out for myself. turns out the little knob that directs the water to the shower head had busted and needed to be replaced. so i went to the hardware store and got a new faucet head to make things better. after a bit of work (and a faulty caulk gun) i got the new one working. one problem though: the leak is back. you know, i really should have listened to my dad when he said 'you can fix anything, but when it comes to water, get a professional!'. i think i will take that advice now...

a yummy alarm clock

diana is not a morning person. thats ok, though, because i am not either. this is usually fine for her since she has a job that doesnt start very early in the mornings. most days she doesnt have to get to work until 3pm, which is just the way she likes it! unfortunately though, on saturdays she has to be to work by 9am. that is not her favorite thing in the world, to be sure. in fact, most weeks she begins to dread this early wake up by wednesday and begins worrying about it three days in advance. i decided to use a little trick i learned from my brother in law tim: on saturdays he gets up and makes cinnamon rolls for the kids to keep them happy. i figured this might work for us too- and boy does it ever! we now have a tradition at our house: saturday morning i wake up with diana and whip us up a batch of tasty cinnamon rolls to help her early morning go a little better! she's still annoyed with having to get up early, but at least he has a happy stomach! the way to a man's heart is food? hey, it works on women too!

here's lookin at you kid

diana's step sister, alanna, and her son have been staying with diana's mom and david for a couple weeks this summer and it has been a lot of fun getting to see them. we have been able to stop by there a couple times during their visit. we went back once more to say our goodbyes as they both head back to boston. her little boy, tavish, is so cute! i know diana's mom and david really loved having them stay for a while. now that they are leaving though, diana and i are sure to feel some pressure: 'oh, it sure was nice having a baby around again... maybe its time to have some more grandkids...' great, now we are going to get the pressure from both sides of the family! yeash. thanks, alanna...
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his mom

on a friday night i was just hanging around the house with diana and i got a call from my old pall matt! he and i worked together for a few years, but he left a couple years ago and moved his family to ohio. he and his wife kim were our special guests at our wedding, but it had been a while since i last saw him. turns out he and the family were in town for a long weekend. he gave me a call wondering if i wanted to stop by and catch up. certainly! it was already about 10pm, and diana had to work the next day, so i went alone to see him. we went out to a wings joint and got to talk for an hour or two! it was really cool to be able to see him again and catch up on whats been going on in his life. he works for a ministry called hearts to hondurus and travels down there a lot to help out. pretty cool! anyway, sounds like things are going great for them in ohio (but we really miss him here...). it was really awesome to see him again, and i'm sure it wouldnt take much to convince diana that we need to take a little weekend trip to ohio soon so we can hang out again!

through the gate

the stargate con was a blast! as you can see from this picture i didnt let the fact that i was there alone deter me from having a great time (and no, i have no idea who that guy is...). everyone there was so friendly and eager to talk- maybe they are like me and dont actually know anyone else who likes the show and this is their only opportunity to talk with people who share their love! what ever the case is, i found myself chatting it up with a bunch of people there and hearing their different takes on all things stargate. (on a side note, i must say, i was quite surprised by how little the fans of the show actually know about the show! i seemed to be the only one there who had any knowledge of the actors and other behind the scenes info. although, now that i think of it, maybe that just means that i was really the nerdiest person there... oh, the truth is ugly...) check out some of the pictures from the convention: the actors, the merch i got, and the rest!

shanks a million!

i wasnt sure what to expect at a stargate convention, i went in blind. turns out it is a lot different than the comic book convention. comic con focuses entirely on the books and merchandise that goes along with them. the stargate convention was focused instead on the guests that were there. i arrived around 10:00 and went in and got a day pass. i wandered around and found the room that had the booths selling stargate stuff. turns out there isnt that much stuff, the merch room was pretty small and only had about 5 sellers in there. one sold clothes, one sold books, one sold cds, one sold toys, and the other sold photos and posters. pretty simple. around 11:00am the main hall opened up and they had different guests and speakers lined up for us to see and listen to. there were a few actors from the shows themselves who where there to share stories and answer fan's questions, joe flanigan and david hewlett from stargate atlantis were first. there was also a writer who came up and talked about stargate comic books, dan shea from the show was there to share some really funny stories, and a time for feedback on the newest stargate show which just finished its first season. later they had an auction and another actor, michael shanks from the original stargate sg-1, come and shared. it was a great time, and a lot of fun to get to know the actors and hear some of their perspectives on the stargate fanchise.

a new level of nerdy

first of all, lets get this out of the way: i am a nerd. i believe ive been pretty up front with that. proof of my nerdiness comes from loving comic books, science fiction, and movies too much. just look at my last few posts about going to the comic convention for the 10th year and you will agree that i am a nerd. well, this weekend i turned that nerd dial up to eleven! (that reference? more proof of my nerdiness...)
on august 28th i went to another convention, one that is even more nerdy than a comic book convention. i know what you are thinking, 'is that even possible?' the answer is yes. oh, yes! this weekend i attended the chicago stargate convention. i've been a stargate fan for a couple of years now, and i have become obsessed. dont worry, i know full well that it is a pretty lame show. i would agree. but that just makes me love it more!
in the spring i heard that there even was such a thing as a stargate convention, and i knew that i must attend! i have been saving my money ever since so i could go. what will come as no surprise to anyone is that i went alone. i could not find anyone else who was willing to go with me to this event, so i went by myself. and boy, did i have a great time! it was a full day devoted to nothing else but glorious stargate fun! i got there around 10:00am and stayed until 6:30pm and enjoyed every single moment!

back to school

i knew it had to come, but did it have to come so quickly?!? its time to head back to school again. we started on august 25 this year, and it always seems to catch me by surprise. one of these years i'm going to be prepared for it, but this was not it...
getting ready for school involves many things, among them is getting my room ready for the year. i always try to come up with some good wall decorations for the room. ive done many different themes, none of which ever have anything to do with what i teach... i've had video game characters, animated cartoon characters, and even superheroes! well, this year i decided to change it up and actually do some decorations that have to do with what i teach. i took a bunch of different bible stories and verses and created a room filled with images to keep the kids interested even when they get bored with my talking! i think they turned out pretty good, now i just need to get everything else ready for them...
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end con

a trademark of comic con weekend is that particular odor that seems to permeate the house that next morning... as each of us got up we made our way to the living room and made ourselves comfortable. the guys didnt have any real deadline to be home, so we took it easy and just enjoyed the slow morning. around noon diana headed out to visit her mom; her step sister and her new baby were in town and diana had planned to stay there for a couple days to see them. the rest of us had a lazy afternoon and enjoyed the time together. round about 3:00pm, the guys decided it was time to head back home. we had a really great time this weekend, and i know everyone is already looking forward to next year!
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in the p'zone

after the comic con we headed back home, but the fun had just begun! as is our tradition, the night of the con we each get a p'zone from pizza hut and watch a movie at the house and unwind. diana, after finishing up her big day at work, was up for some p'zone love too! we each unpacked our comic con loot and shared what we had gotten, reading comic books or playing with our new toys for a while. then we ordered the food and picked it up. when we got back we decided to watch 'outlander', a fun vikings vs. aliens movie thats basically a retelling of beowulf (which i reviewed here). the guys loved it and diana didnt seem to mind it either! as we were eating we seemed to have a little pest at our feet waiting for his chance to get in the p'zone along with the rest of us...