Mice and Men
As usual, time just keeps slipping by. There are a couple of things that I thought I should put in here.
I had my day off on Friday. My wife and I spent some time together and went to TGI Fridays for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised when the bill came out to just $10 plus some tax. They had neglected to tell us that our meals were only five dollars each. Had we known that, we may have gotten an appetizer and/or drinks. Instead we saved a little bit of money (but gave a bit bigger tip than normal). What was kind of interesting was that my wife was looking forward to some fries and was going to steal them off my plate. While she was gone from the table I ordered, and not knowing about her plans, I decided to order a bit more healthy and got a salad instead of fries. She was a bit disappointed when she heard about that. I guess, even when I try to do the right thing, it is wrong.
I did some laundry on Friday because I knew that we would be going to Pam and Anne's house sometime on Saturday, but that wasn't set. The kids had a practice in the morning, and then in the afternoon we headed out to their house. After arriving there, we gave Anne a birthday gift (that we had picked up Friday) and then decided to go to a movie. We saw the second movie of "A Night at the Museum". It was an OK movie, but I didn't feel it lived up to the first one (sequels rarely do).
When we arrived back at their house, we had some dinner. They had steaks and they were quite good. Then our part came up. We were going to make some peach ice cream with our Vita Mix. I had forgotten the tamper so I tried to use a spatula instead. I ended up putting it too far into the blades and the top of that spatula got eaten up PDQ. We threw that out, and it was decided I shouldn't try again. Instead Pam paid for us to have Marie go out and get some custard. It was actually quite tasty, but it cost Pam too much. We felt a bit bad about that.
On the way home from Pam and Anne's house, we called up my wife's parents. We told them that we were thinking of going up to the cabin for the long memorial day weekend. They were to decide if they wanted to go up with us or not. We worried about how we would fit all of us in the car along with supplies (there would be seven in our car that seats eight). We decided that if we each only took up a change of underwear and a jacket that we could fit all in. Of course there was some bedding for the four of us, with the hope that there was enough up there for Rod, Margaret and Melanie.
Sunday morning came, and we talked with them a little bit and then went on over. Everybody went minimal, and along with our roof rack, we got everything up there that we needed. When we got to the cabin, we found that it had been infested with mice. We didn't see any, but we saw all the droppings from them. There was also a leak in the pipes going to the back yard that we needed to get a handle on. Duct tape didn't work at all. We did some cleaning up and then my wife told her mom and dad to take it easy while we went shopping for supplies and food. It took awhile to get what we needed, and then we headed back.
Arriving back at the cabin, we found that they had cleaned up. I went out to fix the pipe in the backyard (jury rigged) and while I was out there, there was some arguing going on between my wife and her mother about how they weren't supposed to do anything because of the possibility of hantavirus. Well, I was glad I was outside because it got pretty heated in there. My father-in-law was also upset that we didn't have any creamer for his coffee nor did we have pickles for the sandwiches. He had wanted to bring up food, but we really didn't have the room to bring that up.
After fixing the pipe and helping with some cleanup, we relaxed for a bit. Then, we decided to see how the bedding was on the hide-a-bed. It seems that the mice like that hide-a-bed. All of a sudden we had more mouse poop around the cabin. More cleaning, and then I headed to the store because we needed to get some ice. My mother-in-law was in the car crying because of her fight with my wife. I told her we were going for a drive. I heard her all the way down and back crying about how she didn't do anything to warrant what had happened between the two of them. I will not take a side. I told her that what was in the past should be left there, and we could start all over and get along if we didn't bring this up again. That ended up working and there was harmony in the cabin again when we returned (not that there weren't a couple of little issues).
We did have a meatloaf that Margaret had brought up. It was cooking in the oven when Nathan and Colin (his son) showed up. That was a surprise. We hadn't planned on that. Nathan didn't like the fact that we didn't have any butter for the potatoes, so he went down to buy some butter and a little bit more milk because I thought we only had enough milk for the ones that were up with us. He couldn't have dinner without having butter. I mean the butter was nice, but none of us thought it was essential. Oh well.
The meatloaf came out of the oven and it was still red. So now we were concerned about Ecoli. We microwaved it and it kept coming out more red each time. We never did figure out why. My son joked about dying of hantavirus, ecoli, or microwave... what was our choice? We also joked a bit about Rod's obituary reading that he died because of mouse poop.
Dinner went well, and nobody had any problems. We played a few games and then Nathan announced that he and Colin were going back down. Some were trying to tell them to stay, but they were set upon going down. They hadn't come prepared (which irritated me a little) nor had they contributed anything (Rod gave the money for the butter).
We set up our cots and Melanie slept on the couch (she wasn't going to get into the bed). Rod and Margaret slept in their own bed. I think we all had a pretty comfortable sleep, although we decided there was good use for earplugs because of the snoring that goes on. In the middle of the night my wife put Lizzy with me and then a bit later came and got her back to help keep her warm. I stayed warm all night.
Monday was a nice day. We slept in a bit, had breakfast, and then headed out to Cascade Springs to wander around there for a bit. My daughter and I stayed together for most of that, and we looked at a few snakes. I told her that although I knew they wouldn't hurt me, I didn't want to try to hold one. I am a bit afraid of them. Going back to the cabin, we had some lunch and then kind of relaxed for a bit. We finally packed up (I had done some packing before we headed to Cascade Springs) and came on home about 5:00. We did stop to get gas and to grab some ice cream on the way down.
My daughter texted all the way down the canyon with my phone and one of the people she was texting was right next to us. She didn't know that at first, but figured it out just before we got off the freeway (and saw them) and they stayed on the freeway. Of course she had also spent some time Sunday as well as part of Monday doing this texting. It would be interesting to know how many text messages she did.
Today, I had to go to work. There were a couple of minor problems at work, but they were taken care of in good order. I had to go to Waddell and Reed to see about the $130 we have invested there (I know, last of the big spenders). I talked with the guy for a bit, and we aren't going to do much, but will probably just take the money and run. The guy I talked with was a nice guy, and who knows, maybe one day I'll do business with him.
I picked up pizza on my way home because my wife and daughter had to go to the Dentist in order to get my daughters retainer fixed. Then, tonight, my daughter got to go to the Taylor Swift concert that we had given her for her birthday.
We picked up Kiera and then headed downtown. We dropped off the girls and then found some parking for us. We went to where the concert was to see if they had a parents room, and they said, not for this concert. My wife and I spent a couple of hours wandering around the Gateway mall. We spent about the last hour watching TV in the Will Call area of the Energy Solutions Arena.
At the end of the concert, my daughter found us (through the use of the cell phone) and we headed home. She and Kiera had a great time and said it was a good concert. We were glad for that.
One other thing that I want to mention is that there was a Supreme Court ruling today in California on Proposition 8 (defined marriage as between a man and a woman), and it came down saying that the voters did do it right in amending the state constitution so that marriage is between a man and a woman. They also decided that the 18,000 who had been married in same sex unions while that was legal would also stand. So, of course there were some protests today about that.
Well, that's about it.
I had my day off on Friday. My wife and I spent some time together and went to TGI Fridays for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised when the bill came out to just $10 plus some tax. They had neglected to tell us that our meals were only five dollars each. Had we known that, we may have gotten an appetizer and/or drinks. Instead we saved a little bit of money (but gave a bit bigger tip than normal). What was kind of interesting was that my wife was looking forward to some fries and was going to steal them off my plate. While she was gone from the table I ordered, and not knowing about her plans, I decided to order a bit more healthy and got a salad instead of fries. She was a bit disappointed when she heard about that. I guess, even when I try to do the right thing, it is wrong.
I did some laundry on Friday because I knew that we would be going to Pam and Anne's house sometime on Saturday, but that wasn't set. The kids had a practice in the morning, and then in the afternoon we headed out to their house. After arriving there, we gave Anne a birthday gift (that we had picked up Friday) and then decided to go to a movie. We saw the second movie of "A Night at the Museum". It was an OK movie, but I didn't feel it lived up to the first one (sequels rarely do).
When we arrived back at their house, we had some dinner. They had steaks and they were quite good. Then our part came up. We were going to make some peach ice cream with our Vita Mix. I had forgotten the tamper so I tried to use a spatula instead. I ended up putting it too far into the blades and the top of that spatula got eaten up PDQ. We threw that out, and it was decided I shouldn't try again. Instead Pam paid for us to have Marie go out and get some custard. It was actually quite tasty, but it cost Pam too much. We felt a bit bad about that.
On the way home from Pam and Anne's house, we called up my wife's parents. We told them that we were thinking of going up to the cabin for the long memorial day weekend. They were to decide if they wanted to go up with us or not. We worried about how we would fit all of us in the car along with supplies (there would be seven in our car that seats eight). We decided that if we each only took up a change of underwear and a jacket that we could fit all in. Of course there was some bedding for the four of us, with the hope that there was enough up there for Rod, Margaret and Melanie.
Sunday morning came, and we talked with them a little bit and then went on over. Everybody went minimal, and along with our roof rack, we got everything up there that we needed. When we got to the cabin, we found that it had been infested with mice. We didn't see any, but we saw all the droppings from them. There was also a leak in the pipes going to the back yard that we needed to get a handle on. Duct tape didn't work at all. We did some cleaning up and then my wife told her mom and dad to take it easy while we went shopping for supplies and food. It took awhile to get what we needed, and then we headed back.
Arriving back at the cabin, we found that they had cleaned up. I went out to fix the pipe in the backyard (jury rigged) and while I was out there, there was some arguing going on between my wife and her mother about how they weren't supposed to do anything because of the possibility of hantavirus. Well, I was glad I was outside because it got pretty heated in there. My father-in-law was also upset that we didn't have any creamer for his coffee nor did we have pickles for the sandwiches. He had wanted to bring up food, but we really didn't have the room to bring that up.
After fixing the pipe and helping with some cleanup, we relaxed for a bit. Then, we decided to see how the bedding was on the hide-a-bed. It seems that the mice like that hide-a-bed. All of a sudden we had more mouse poop around the cabin. More cleaning, and then I headed to the store because we needed to get some ice. My mother-in-law was in the car crying because of her fight with my wife. I told her we were going for a drive. I heard her all the way down and back crying about how she didn't do anything to warrant what had happened between the two of them. I will not take a side. I told her that what was in the past should be left there, and we could start all over and get along if we didn't bring this up again. That ended up working and there was harmony in the cabin again when we returned (not that there weren't a couple of little issues).
We did have a meatloaf that Margaret had brought up. It was cooking in the oven when Nathan and Colin (his son) showed up. That was a surprise. We hadn't planned on that. Nathan didn't like the fact that we didn't have any butter for the potatoes, so he went down to buy some butter and a little bit more milk because I thought we only had enough milk for the ones that were up with us. He couldn't have dinner without having butter. I mean the butter was nice, but none of us thought it was essential. Oh well.
The meatloaf came out of the oven and it was still red. So now we were concerned about Ecoli. We microwaved it and it kept coming out more red each time. We never did figure out why. My son joked about dying of hantavirus, ecoli, or microwave... what was our choice? We also joked a bit about Rod's obituary reading that he died because of mouse poop.
Dinner went well, and nobody had any problems. We played a few games and then Nathan announced that he and Colin were going back down. Some were trying to tell them to stay, but they were set upon going down. They hadn't come prepared (which irritated me a little) nor had they contributed anything (Rod gave the money for the butter).
We set up our cots and Melanie slept on the couch (she wasn't going to get into the bed). Rod and Margaret slept in their own bed. I think we all had a pretty comfortable sleep, although we decided there was good use for earplugs because of the snoring that goes on. In the middle of the night my wife put Lizzy with me and then a bit later came and got her back to help keep her warm. I stayed warm all night.
Monday was a nice day. We slept in a bit, had breakfast, and then headed out to Cascade Springs to wander around there for a bit. My daughter and I stayed together for most of that, and we looked at a few snakes. I told her that although I knew they wouldn't hurt me, I didn't want to try to hold one. I am a bit afraid of them. Going back to the cabin, we had some lunch and then kind of relaxed for a bit. We finally packed up (I had done some packing before we headed to Cascade Springs) and came on home about 5:00. We did stop to get gas and to grab some ice cream on the way down.
My daughter texted all the way down the canyon with my phone and one of the people she was texting was right next to us. She didn't know that at first, but figured it out just before we got off the freeway (and saw them) and they stayed on the freeway. Of course she had also spent some time Sunday as well as part of Monday doing this texting. It would be interesting to know how many text messages she did.
Today, I had to go to work. There were a couple of minor problems at work, but they were taken care of in good order. I had to go to Waddell and Reed to see about the $130 we have invested there (I know, last of the big spenders). I talked with the guy for a bit, and we aren't going to do much, but will probably just take the money and run. The guy I talked with was a nice guy, and who knows, maybe one day I'll do business with him.
I picked up pizza on my way home because my wife and daughter had to go to the Dentist in order to get my daughters retainer fixed. Then, tonight, my daughter got to go to the Taylor Swift concert that we had given her for her birthday.
We picked up Kiera and then headed downtown. We dropped off the girls and then found some parking for us. We went to where the concert was to see if they had a parents room, and they said, not for this concert. My wife and I spent a couple of hours wandering around the Gateway mall. We spent about the last hour watching TV in the Will Call area of the Energy Solutions Arena.
At the end of the concert, my daughter found us (through the use of the cell phone) and we headed home. She and Kiera had a great time and said it was a good concert. We were glad for that.
One other thing that I want to mention is that there was a Supreme Court ruling today in California on Proposition 8 (defined marriage as between a man and a woman), and it came down saying that the voters did do it right in amending the state constitution so that marriage is between a man and a woman. They also decided that the 18,000 who had been married in same sex unions while that was legal would also stand. So, of course there were some protests today about that.
Well, that's about it.
posted by Craig's Blog at 11:55 PM
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