We're Making Progress

Over the weekend, we took our potty training up to the next level.  Kasia got her first set up real big girl underwear on Saturday.  They're cute with pictures of the Little Mermaid all over them.  Kasia was allowed to wear them around the house so long as she went to use the potty when she had to go.

We made this very clear.  If she had to tinkle, then she had to tell us and we'd take her to the potty.

But Kasia, she's a big girl now.  She doesn't need the help of her parents.  So when she felt the need to go, she went to the potty and did it all by herself.  Mommy and Daddy were not needed for her to use the potty.

Next time, though, we're going to have to make it clear that she has to take the underwear off before using the potty.  Alas, we took it for granted that she knew this. 

Next time we'll know better.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I meant to write this sooner, but I've been a bit under the weather lately. As I'm sure EVERYONE knows, my birthday was... um... two sundays ago? The 14th of September. It put me well into my thirties, and I'm still going strong.

So what did we do on such a monumental day? Well, I mowed the lawn and then in the evening we went to Lonestar Steakhouse to gorge ourselves on steak. We sat under a deer head the entire time, and it was kind of creepy.

Kasia seemed to enjoy it though. She kept reaching up and petting it and telling us that it was "soft." Indeed, it was very soft. Creepy, but soft.

My real birthday treat came later in the week. On Thursday the 18th, Kara and I drove up to D.C. for the evening to see James in concert. It was like a dream come true for me. I've been listening to their music for 17 years now, and I thought I would never get to see them perform live. My hopes were especially dashed back in 2002 when they broke up. Luckily for me though, they decided to get back together and do a tour of the US.

The show was at a small club in downtown D.C. and was sold out. We got a good place to stand and had a great view of the whole stage. James came on around 9:00pm and then played for the next three hours. It was amazing. They put on a fantastic show, and it was definitely worth the wait.

Here's a clip of the boys exiting after their encore. Note the trumpet player in the dress. He actually was able to pull it off and not look weird.

After the show, we went and grabbed dinner at Denny's. I haven't eaten out at one in the morning since... well, since a long time. It was kind of cool.

The next day, we stopped off at IKEA on the way home and picked up a few essentials for the house. Of course, we stopped at the restaurant for some Swedish meatballs.

Then over the weekend, I came down with the flu. It's been knocking me down pretty hard, but I'm slowly getting better. The bright side is that it waited until after I saw James before it decided to hit me. There is some good in this world, and that's proof of it.

So anyway, I'm beginning to feel better now, and so it's time for me to wish myself a big happy birthday! It was one of the best.

You've Got To Be Kidding Me!

This is absolutely ridiculous.  John McCain, war-hero, Senator, and now Republican Presidential candidate was on the television show The View the other day.  You know The View, don't you?  It's the show where Barbara Walters and her gal pals discuss the important issues for women.  It's also the show in which resident idiot in charge Rosie O'Donnell claimed that George Bush planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks.

Well, Rosie O'Donnell is gone and Whoopi Goldberg has now taken over as the celebrity idiot.  Wasn't this woman once a comedian?  Is it just my imagination or has she not done anything even remotely humorous since the mid 80's?  Anyway.

John McCain was asked the question as to what kind of judges he would appoint to the Supreme Court.  "Strict constructionist judges" is how he replied.  Like deer in the headlights, they just stared at him.  Then he explained that he would nominate judges who interpreted the Constitution in the way the founders intended it to. 

To this, Whoopi Goldberg goes off and asks, "Does that mean I have to worry about being a slave again? Because the founders believed in slavery. "  My head hung in shame.  How is this woman a celebrity?  How is this woman on a television show?  I hung my head in shame.  But it got worse.

Then, to make it worse, the audience applauded as though they too were afraid that "strict constructionist" judges would put African Americans back in the fields.  My head hung lower in shame.

Then Barbara Walters and the other white women comforted Whoopi and said that they would protect her.  Again the audience applauded.  This is just pathetic.  But to make it even worse, John McCain answered all this by saying, "Good question."  What have we come to? 

I think this is a good reason why Sarah Palin should probably not appear on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Something Strange is Happening

Like most men in America, I was excited for the beginning of this year's football season.  I was ready for yet another year in which my teams that I want to win inevitably fail me somewhere down the road.  That's why I'm so tremendously freaked out by what happened in just the first week of football.  To recap:

• The Carolina Panthers (the underdogs) win against San Diego with a last-second touchdown pass.
• The Chicago Bears (the underdogs) beat the Indianapolis Colts and made sure the Peyton Manning and crew weren't going to have a perfect season.
• The Green Bay Packers (the underdogs) defeat the Vikings at Lambeau without Brett Favre.
• Brett Favre (age 38) comes out of retirement and leads the Jets to victory.
• Tom Brady hurts himself and is out for the season.  Bad for Patriots fans, but good for everyone else.

Now I know that it's still the beginning of the season, but isn't it odd that every team that I wanted to win this week ACTUALLY won?  This is too great a phenomenon to be left to chance. 

Where Is FEMA?

 

Tropical Storm Hanna has gone, but in its wake, we live with the devastating damage.  It was like a war zone at our house.  The wind was furious, and the damage was severe.  We lost a shingle off the house.  As if THAT weren't bad enough, our neighbor's drain spout got knocked off.  I have a hard time even talking about it, that's how horrible it was.

The sad part is that once again, George Bush has failed us once again.  FEMA is no where to be found.  No trailers, no trucks with bottled water, no portable generators to help us get back on our feet.  We need FEMA down here now, and we need them to put this shingle back on our roof!

What's that?  You say we should just do it ourselves?  We shouldn't wait for some government organization to come and do all our work for us?  But that would be un-American.  Maybe if I make my story a little sadder, a little more depressing, I can make it on to CNN. 

Did I mention that it was a REALLY nice shingle that fell off?  My heart is broken.

He Brought Down a Tiger!

I think that in this year's political debate, there's one thing that needs to be remembered.  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently took down a tiger in order to save a pack of journalists.  A tiger.  Why are our politicians debating the intricacies of health care or raising the capital gains tax?  I want to know which candidate, if the situation should arise, could take down a tiger. 

Which candidate has the knowledge of firearms to take down a wild animal?  Hmmmm.....

She's Coming Right For Us!

With all this talk of hurricane Gustav slamming in to New Orleans, it appears as though a much more sinister lady is making her appearance much closer to home. Ms. Hurricane Hanna is rearing her ugly head, and it's possible that she may hit anywhere between Miami and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The Outer Banks? Why, isn't that where we live? Indeed, it is.

Now everyone, here's what you need to do. You need to stop donating money to these "victims" of Gustav and start sending money to the potential victims of Hanna. We are much more vulnerable than the people in New Orleans were. Besides, they already received a boat load of charity. It's our turn now.

So, during this holiday weekend, we ask you to search deep within your hearts and deep into your pocketbooks and give graciously to the soon-to-be potential victims of Hurricane Hanna.

Thank you.

She is Just Kasia

Kara has taken the plunge and attempted to do something that I have to admit, I was to scared to try.  She and Kasia broke out the finger paints and created art.  I don't want to brag, but she is a natural.  Her paintings, err.. rather her "work" is astounding.  She sees the world in colors and shapes that the rest of us can't imagine.  She is a great artist.  She will be known to the world only as "Kasia."  

One-name artist have always fascinated me ever since I met the marine life painter Wyland in Orlando years ago.  Somehow, I had snuck in to one of his showings were a bunch of know-it-alls were sipping champagne and patting themselves on their backs for how much they appreciated art.  There was one guy in particular who was very vocal about his appreciation for Wyland's art, and as it turned out, the guy was his agent.  Out of curiosity, I asked him what Wyland's first name was.  

"He has no first name.  He is just Wyland!  Like Madonna or Cher!"  he told me in a very thick French accent.  He was very adamant that Wyland was just Wyland.

A little while later, I noticed that there was one guy hanging out in the corner who looked like he didn't belong.  Instead of wearing a suit and tie, he had on jeans, a t-shirt, and a really bored look on his face.  I went over and talked with him for awhile.  As it turns out, he was Wyland.  Great guy.  Really down to Earth, unlike Madonna or Cher.  So I asked him what his first name was.  "Robert," he said.  Apparently his agent never asked him what his first name was, otherwise he would have known that it wasn't just "Wyland!"

So, while Kasia may have a middle and a last name, in order for her to be taken seriously as an artist, we're going to ignore everything but her first name.  

SHE IS KASIA!  Like Madonna, or Cher, except more down to Earth and a lot smarter.

I Love My Digital TV!

Anyone who has visited our house probably knows that we are too cheap to pay for cable television.  We rely solely on a set of rabbit ears in the garage to help us pick up local television broadcasts.  The problem is that since we live in the boonies (or the chums, as some affectionately call it) our reception was never that great.  We could get a fuzzy version of Fox or a slightly static-y picture on NBC.  If we moved the antenna just right, we could also pick up ABC and possibly PBS.   CBS was a station that we have heard of but have never actually seen in our house.  

Digital television has changed all that.

We finally decided to go out and get the digital converter box so that we could see what this digital television stuff was all about.  Holy cow, does it make a difference.  We finally found CBS and it comes in crystal clear.  We have ten different PBS stations now.  In total, we have gone from getting 5 channels to 25 channels, and they all come in with crystal clear quality.  Truly unbelievable.  We can now watch television like most people and still be as cheap as we were before.

I have to admit though, I'm going to miss our daily routine of me in the garage moving the antenna around while Kara would shout, "Still not good... still not good... wait, it's a little better now.  Try to keep it there!!"