Life is change.

SO MANY HAPPENINGS......

Wow, its been a while since I blogged and it seems that so much has been going on lately. We've been so busy with work, birthdays, friends, family, school, and so on and so forth. So lets see....where to begin? I'll just give you a chronological recap of some of the highlights.

First off, Dad and Aldo arrived in town last week. We got to see them Monday night after they got in when we were all over at T's birthday party. It was a good time and great to see everyone. Didn't get to spend a lot of time with everyone since it was week/school night and we had to get the kiddos home early. We saw everyone again on Friday when we went to my Aunt Diane's house for a cookie baking bash. The kids and I picked Sarah up from work and headed over after grabbing a quick bite at Burger King and winning a few free burgers in their Indiana Jones game. Had a good time with everyone but again had to head out somewhat early cuz we were so tired and J was starting to feel kind of icky. We were supposed to see everyone again on Saturday, but weren't able to make it (more on that in a bit) which was too bad. We would have liked to spend more time with everyone but stuff happens. Dad and Aldo left today (unless plans changed) so they are probably on the road right now. So when you guys get home safe tonight and read this, it was great to see you again. We wish we had gotten some more time but we'll hopefully see you again soon and we loved being able to hang out while you were here. Love ya!

So Thursday was FIELD TRIP DAY for the kids. Both Ashley and Jaden had big all-day trips with their classes. J was heading to the zoo and Ash was going bowling and then ice skating. Sarah and I both had the day off (well Sarah did have an extra cleaning job lined up for later but was off from her regular gig) so we each went along with one of the kids. Sarah went with J to the zoo and I went with Ash bowling and skating. We headed over to the school bright and early and got ready to head out. I noticed right as we were getting ready to board the bus that my phone was dead so I had no contact with Sarah for pretty much the rest of the day. Luckily we all survived with no incident so that was good. Bowling was fun....skating, not so much. I decided not to skate even though Ash and her friends were begging me. I figured it would be easier on my old bones to watch others eat it on the ice rather than taking part in it. And man, there were some serious wipe outs. Several heads cracked on the ice, many falls and a few hurt limbs (hands, elbows, arms, legs, feet, etc...).....definately not something I wanted to do. But the kids had fun and after a couple freezing hours of spectating it was all over. We boarded up the bus and headed home. Sarah had a move out clean to do that afternoon after their trip so J went with Grammie during that time and they both got home later in the evening. We were all so tired we just headed out and grabbed some dinner at the Gallo Giro and then came home and crashed.

Friday day was pretty uneventful. J had no school but Ash had a full day and Sarah and I worked. Took Sarah to work that day and picked her up as I mentioned so we could go to the cookie bake. After that we got home and all went to bed.....so tired.

Saturday was fun but super crazy. First off, it was "Bro's Day" as I think Sarah mentioned in an earlier blog. Since I had to leave around 10am, Sarah had to get up early to go get all the supplies for her potato salad and cake that she was making for her mom's birthday party the next day. After she got home I took off for the day's festivities. First stop was Starbucks so I could get a bagel and my morning cuppa joe. Then it was over the to movie theater to meet my buddy Jason and watch the new Indiana Jones movie. The movie was awesome! It had a couple of far fetched moments that I thought were a bit over the top and one truly horrible groan-inducing part that should never have seen the light of day. It was so bad. George Lucas officially now has some of the WORST ideas in screen history. What happened to you man?

Anyway, after the movie we headed into downtown Meridian and hit this place called Andrew's Rib Shack for lunch. Jason recommended it and said it was awesome. Sarah and I had actually tried to go there before but it was closed so I was excited to try it. We walked in and were greeted warmly, and while we were trying to decide what to order, one of the counter girls gave us each a huge rib to sample. It was the special that day and it was SOOOO GOOOD!!!! I decided to get that and Jason had the pulled pork sandwich. Grabbed a couple of brews and our food and headed out to the patio to sit outside and eat. Good food, good weather, good friends and good conversation.

After that we parted ways. I had to get down to Garden City for my haircut and made it just in time. Our friend, who also does our hair, is going on maternity leave and that was the last chance until August that she could cut my hair. Seeing as how I was already pretty shaggy, I didn't think I could wait that long so I squeezed the appointment into my busy day. After the cut, I had to run a couple errands before we were supposed to be out to Caldwell for a family gathering at my grandma's house. However, J had awoke that morning and was not feeling well at all. He actually woke us up crying in the bathroom cuz his stomach hurt so bad. So he and Sarah were going to be skipping the party and it was going to just be Ash and I. I was really pressed for time and was already going to be late but we were still hoping to make it.

First stop was Circuit City. We had finally received our stimulus check from the government and I was going to pick up Sarah's new digital camera. We had been researching them for the past couple of days and were pretty set on the one we wanted. I ran in and found the camera she wanted but they didn't have it in the color she wanted. So it was off to Best Buy instead. Both stores were having awesome camera sales that ended that day, and Sarah wanted her new camera for her mom's b-day party on Sunday so I had to get it then. BB had the camera in the color we wanted, but when I actually got hands on with it I was not impressed. So the hunt began for another one. I had actually scoped out a few models just in case of this very situation. I hopped on the phone with Sarah and we started figuring out the next best one....me in the store and her at home researching on the internet. We finally decided on the right one (which she loves btw) and I was on my way again.

Next stop was Walmart. Jaden has been saving his money and his savings jar was full so I had promised him that he could get some toys that weekend. Well, now that he was sick he was all worried that he wouldn't be able to get his toys so I told him I would pick up his stuff when I was out. Also had to get some cream cheese for Sarah that she had forgot. Got to the toy section and talked to Jaden on the phone to make sure he still wanted what he originally decided on. Of course, that turned into me giving him a complete rundown of everything in the toy aisle and him changing his mind several times before finally deciding on his original purchases. I grabbed him a Batman mask, an Indiana Jones action figure and a fake switchblade knife. That's my boy!

Last stop on the way was to get gas. So much fun. I pulled in, put the usual amount in (which usually fills us up) and drove out with barely 3/4 of a tank. Love gas prices. The prices had actually increased $0.06 from when I drove by the same station eariler that morning. Gas.

Finally I was on the way home. I had called my dad a bit before and let them know I was running late but still planning on making it out. They said come on out, food was waiting. So I was racing home and my cell phone rang. Looked at the caller id and it was work. Great! I was on call that weekend and it was just my luck to get ringed up for an escalation. They explained the issue and I knew I would have to look into it when I got home. It wasn't something I could just have them do over the phone. I was hoping I could fix it quick and then head out again, but no such luck. I ended up working on the damn thing for over an hour. By the time I finished and called my dad again, they were packing it up already. There was no way I could make it out by then which was a bummer, but as I said, stuff happens.

Sunday was pretty leisurely, for me anyway. J was still sick so I stayed home with him while Sarah and Ash went to Sarah's mom's b-day party. They had a great time and I saw the pictures before they were deleted (story for another time). J rested most of the day. I had to do a little work and then I sat down to watch a movie and relax. Dave called and a bit later and said that they and my Dad and Aldo were all wanting to come over for dessert that evening. He was having them over for dinner that night and since they were just down the street they were going to stop by. So I whipped up some brownies and had Sarah get some ice cream on her way home. Since company was coming I figured I better mow the lawn then too. I was originally planning on doing it the next day but I had time so I got on it. The problem was, I was out of lawn bags and I only realized that after I had already mowed about half of the front lawn. So I had to mulch, but the grass was so tall already that it just left enormous chunks of grass all over. Looked shitty but at least it was done. I'll go back and mow it all again later. Sarah and A got home and everyone showed up a bit later. We gave Dad and Aldo the tour, had some dessert, visited a bit, then everyone took off.

Monday we were all off for the holiday so we decided to go out and do some shopping since J was feeling all better. Sarah wanted to get her patio set so that was the focus for the day. We headed all over. First stop Lowe's where we found a cool set for a good price, but decided to keep looking. Fred Meyer, Walmart, Joes, Target....nothing else had what we wanted. We broke for lunch at Whitewater and decided to just go back to Lowe's and get that set. Had to go by Walmart first to get some stuff, then loaded up and headed back to Lowe's. We got back to the store and started getting everything we wanted....table, chairs, umbrella, umbrella stand. We were carting the stuff up front and trying to figure out how to get it all home. We decided I would have to make two trips. First me and Ash and the table,umbrella and stand...drop that off....come back for Sarah and J and the chairs. The girl helping us said that if we split the purchases up into several transactions, each transaction of $50 or more would get us $10 off. Cool! Bought the table first then loaded it and had some room still so I went back for the umbrella and stand. Got the umbrella but they were out of the stand we wanted. I had a dude check inventory and they were on order but he could give us the floor model at 10% off. We took it up front and the cashier had a heck of a time figuring both the 10% and the $10 off but we finally got it. Loaded up, drove home, unloaded, dropped off Ash, threw a pie in the oven and headed back. Found Sarah and J, got the chairs and went out to the garden center to check out figuring it would be faster. We were only behind two other groups in line, but naturally the lady currently checking out had a cart full of flowers that weren't marked. It took the cashier forever to figure out what to do and finally sent the lady back to see if she could find tags I think.....whatever! After waiting for about 15 min we headed back inside. We got in line behind some lady and her daughter that were checking out and again, register drama. WHAT THE CRAP????? They finally got their crap sorted out, we checked out, loaded up and headed home. Unloaded, got dinner ready, it started raining so we couldn't set up the patio stuff or eat outside. We watched a movie with the kids, ate, they went to bed, Sarah and I built the patio stuff in the garage then moved it out back when the rain let up then crashed in bed ourselves. LOOONNGGG weekend man.

Anway, we're already almost to another weekend and even though this week was short, it already seems like so much has happened. But that's a blog for another day friends.......