Archive for the 'Family' Category

It’s Been Six Years Dad

Dad

So much has happened over the course of those years. Your family has grown, you have two more Granddaughters and there is finally a Grandson on the way. The girls are all so big now. Chris went back to school, graduated, and got a good job working in the operating room at U of M. You’d be proud of all he has accomplished. Wayne has been teaching martial arts and helps others learn the value of self protection in terms of both self defense and the confidence it can instil in them. Along with meditation and finding balance in their lives. He too has come far and achieved much. As for me, I continue to work for the same company as I was the last time we spoke, but I have slowly moved up. Learned new skills and become more valuable to the company, even gotten certified on one of my vendors hardware. Mom’s doing good too, she misses you more than anyone, but she knows you’re always with her. She keeps her head up and continues to help and put others before herself, sometimes to a fault, just like always. You know, typical Mom. Don’t worry though, she gets out and has fun too. She’s gone to the casino a few times recently and really enjoys the time out. Not going to lie to you Dad, there have been hard times too, for all of us, but we make it through. We stick together and help each other when and how we can, just like a family should. We think of you everyday, sometimes at the oddest moments and for the oddest reasons. But it’s those moments that I know your still here, watching over us, and that makes the sadness a little easier for me to bear…. We miss you and we Love you, Dad….

Four Years Shaving

So I just realized that yesterday also marked four years since I got my new shaving paraphernalia and began wet shaving. After four years I am still using the original 10 blades that I purchased (I still 4 brand new blades that I have yet to use) and the original Omega shaving soap (about half left)! The badger hair brush never got used because I ended getting my Grandfather’s old shaving brush from my Mother (it was her Father’s) and so I have been using that. I am happy to say that after four years I am very happy with my decision to change to this method of shaving. Not only have I saved a lot of money on disposable razors and shaving cream, but I also have a lot less razor burn and general skin irritation after I shave. I still get some irritation occasionally and because of that I am thinking about purchasing an Alum Block, but we will see. I would recommend to anyone that they make the switch to wet shaving though, I think it is much better.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Melissa_BDay_Sundae_taken_with_InstagramToday is a very special day, it’s Melissa’s 31st birthday! So today we decided to do what ever she wanted to, and it started with breakfast at Ihop. Of course while we were there I took the liberty of letting our waitress know that it was her birthday. Of course when she gave us the option of a Sundae and a song I agreed and requested it, because I thought it would be funny to have the staff serenade her (read: embarrass her), and I was right! She did enjoy the sundae though, as you can see. :) After breakfast we went over to Target to do some random shopping and pick up a few items Melissa wanted. Later after spending the day relaxing after shopping, she decided she wanted to go to the Quarter Bistro for dinner. Dinner and dessert were delicious, just as we have come to expect from the Quarter Bistro. All in all it was a very nice day.

Happy Birthday Melissa, I Love You!

There Goes the Fourth Tooth

Got an excited phone call from Kylie this morning. She was all excited to tell me she lost her fourth tooth this morning while brushing her teeth! We knew her tooth was loose but none of us thought it was loose enough to come out yet. This morning though while Kylie was brushing her tooth with her spinning head tooth brush, her tooth feel out and into the sink! She was very excited and called for Mommy to show her what had happened. At first Mommy wasn’t sure why Kylie was so excited and yelling. She told Kylie she needed to be a little quite because Aunt Sissy was still sleeping, but then Kylie was able to show her what was so exciting! Though Mommy said it was kind of concerning to see Kylie standing at the sink with her mouth bleeding, until she realized why she was bleeding. Then it was an exciting surprise.

Kylie and Her New Bed

Tonight was the first time Kylie got to see her new bed. When we got home I tried to prevent her from seeing the frame to her old bed hiding in the corner, but because she is so super observant I had no such luck. At first she wasn’t sure what it was, but as she got a little closer she could see all the pieces and realized immediately what it was. She looked at it and said “Hey, wait a minute, what am I going to sleep on?” and before I could even answer her she was on her way to her room. I was able to get my phone out to catch a quick video of her reaction and if you want you can view it here. Needless to say she loves the new bed and is very excited about it.

[EDIT: 03/31/2012]
As you can see from this picture she had no trouble sleeping on her new bed last night at all!

Leather Levers

Earlier this week I realized the chrome on my levers is flaking off again! I say again because this happened before, though I apparently didn’t write about it. Back in 2009 the levers were replaced as part of a larger overhaul do to some damage and they were replaced with a set of Kuryakyn’s that were supposed to be very good. My 2009 riding season was rather short (due to said service) and everything seemed fine, then came the 2010 riding season and all seemed well. Until mid way through the season, when I swear the levers felt odd. Every time I checked, and others checked for me, they looked fine, so I let it go. But then in the beginning of August while out for a ride it felt like I got a splinter in my finger, when I stopped to check I did have a splinter, a chrome flake splinter! The chrome plating on the lever was indeed peeling off. I ordered some replacement levers from Nicholson’s and waited for them to come in and in the mean time I just rode wearing my full finger gloves. By the time the levers came in the riding season was just about over so I decided to wait to put them on until the 2011 season. Chuck was nice enough to install the new levers for me during the off season and they felt and looked great all season. Now this year I get the motorcycle out, the earliest ever I might add, and after riding it home for the first time I once again feel like the levers are pitting and flaking! When I checked it turns out they are. At this point I am thinking that maybe I just have a high acidic level to the oil in my skin. Maybe? In any event I have decided not to order a third set of levers, instead I have ordered these leather lever covers. I purposely chose these because there are no long tassels, I am personally not a fan of them. So now I need to wait for them to arrive and hopefully they look good when I put them on.

Her New Bed Arrived

Kylie’s new bed arrived today and once the Gardner White delivery guys finished setting it up, the new bed takes up almost the entirety of the free space in the middle of her room. I think this will be just fine though as Kylie prefers to play with her toys in the living room anyway. Not that there isn’t any space left in her room though, there is still some. In any event the bed looks really good and I think Kylie is going to enjoy it and be very surprised. Now we just need to go purchase some new sheets for the bed. I am thinking her first set will be pink, Kylie seems to like pink and I think it will look good against the black bed frame. I can’t wait until she comes and sees her new bed!

Fine! She’s Growing Up.

I finally broke down today and succumbed to the realization that my Little Bit is growing up, both in terms of age and height, and finally purchased her a new bed. Up until now when she came to spend the night at Daddy’s she has been sleeping in her toddler bed, but recently it has been becoming very apparent that she has out grown this bed and needed a bigger one. We had looked at beds over the weekend via various websites and today after work I went over to Gardner White and picked out a bed for her from their Kenny Collection. Kylie had seen this one and liked it, so I choose the panel headboard with the storage foot board. Here are a few stock images of the bed.

In addition to the bed itself I also picked out a new mattress and, even though this bed frame does not need it, a bunky board as well. I decided on the bunky board because it will give a little more support to the mattress, and considering Kylie will be on this bed for a long time to come, I want her to be as comfortable as possible. The bed is going to be delivered and set up tomorrow, so the plan for tonight is to take apart her old toddler bed and rearrange her room to make space for the new larger bed.

Early Ride and Some Disapointment

Today marks the earliest I have ever been able to get the motorcycle out for the season! Today and the rest of the week are supposed to be beautiful and I am looking forward to being able to ride again. After picking the bike up from Chuck’s and riding home, Melissa and I decided to ride down to Sidetracks for dinner. When we got down there I also did something that I had never done before, I backed the motorcycle into a spot that was part of a line of motorcycles. It was a pretty neat experience to be part of that brotherhood, to look back and see my bike in a line with others. Of course this is also when I had a chance to verify something that I was dreading, the chrome on my levers is flaking and pitting again! I am beginning to suspect that I may just have a high acid level in the oils in my skin. It’s the only sane conclusion I can come to. Not sure what I am going to do at this point, but I really don’t want to replace them again if they are just going to flake again!

Two Planets, One Kylie

Tonight I had an incredible opportunity to show Kylie not one but two planets in the sky at the same time! While this month is a great time to see all five visible planets, due to the hours and positions of their viewing relative to our location I was only able to show her Venus (on the right) and Jupiter (on the left), and she was amazed by them. After seeing these we then had an hour long conversation (some of which she was in the shower) about the planets, gravity and orbits. She was so excited about them that we read two of her planet books before going to bed, one each about Uranus and Neptune. It was an awesome hour! The only way this could have been better is if I had the time and space to have set up our telescope and looked at them through it, perhaps next time. Click the picture to view it in the gallery.




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