Top hat to scotty

I forgot to mention the Warlord and I had a heavy session of Monopoly yesterday. We played two games. The first one, he beat me. Then, I evened it up in the second. We've played a few games in the past and he's the only person I can play who, A.) Doesn't get mad at me; and B.) I don't get mad at him for winning (He is named the Warlord for dominating at games, after all).

This is a huge development. I can get pretty, um, interested in the game. I was the top hat in the first game and the scotty dog in the second. He was the dude on the horse both games. But, we just started playing the game on the original board with top hats, dogs, etc.

I own the Classic "Star Wars" trilogy version of the game, so we are usually in that universe. Here's where I'm impressed by the Warlord: he has the same "Star Wars" set, but his is the limited edition.

LIMITED! Ha, but it's opened, so he just lost like more than half the value on that.

But, both his and my versions still have my favorite Chance card of all time: "Let the wookie win. Pay $50"

Recovery

We're back from the trip. It was very nice. Among the highlights: Walker met a new friend, the Element fits one dog great and everyone there seems to be doing well. Unfortunately, Yvonne is now sick with a cold and I'm frantically drinking vitimin C.

On the way home, I was nailed speeding. The ticket is for 13 over the (70 mph) limit, but I know my cruise was set for 85 or 86. The trooper was nice. It was all said and done within 3 minutes. This is my first ticket in several years, so I feel like my number was up.

Defensive driving online, here I come baby! I called the judge's office this morning (somewhere east of Abilene and west of Clyde) and the woman told me any tickets handed out over the weekend won't be in the system until Friday, Dec. 1.

Good ole' Texas time.

On a side note, the wall is going to be adjusted a little before I post photos. I know I haven't posted photos of anything lately. My camera is out of batteries. That's my only lame excuse.

Hey you turkeys

We are venturing into West Texas for Thanksgiving. Hopefully, the cowboys will win another game like they did on Sunday.

I just started watching Berserk and love it. I'm looking forward to the next disk.

Battlestar is frickin Awesome with Tigh returning to reality. Cylons galore!

Have a safe holiday.

Another brick in the wall

When we moved into this house, I began the path of landscaping. If you read this blog around the time we moved here, you'll noticed the topic shifts severely to yard work. As part of our move in, we had some major work done on the yard, which including a retaining wall. It ran from our alley, around a corner and to the end of a bed. From there, it was grass and a steep ass hill.

But the grass was having trouble rooting because the hill was so steep. Limestone rocks flushed out of the soil during heavy rains. Before the wall, soil washed down across the sidewalk. With the first retaining wall, soil washed out around the end of it.

So, saturday the Boneshakers and I finished the wall. Two slabs of stones were delivered. 288 stones in all. 20 pounds each. And right away it wasn't easy. We hit a large limestone boulder in the initial stages. After bending my garden mattock trying to chip at it, I went at bought the Pick Axe of Destiny.

Among the silly things said by various Boneshakers during the work:

"There's GOLD in these here hills!"-Warlord
"HULK SMASH"-Shaman
"Takin' a break here, boss."-Ronan
"Take a break and pick up a shovel."-Shaman
"You stupid rock! You killed my father and now you're coming for me!"-Warlord

Following and during one break from the work, Yvonne (aka, the Assassin) made food for us. A great lasagna for dinner with cherry pie and ice cream.

Sunday, we were sore all over. I still have to back fill it with soil. But the wall is done and now I don't have to worry about the ground shifting around. I might tweak a portion of it to smooth it out, but nothing close to as major.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get a sprinkler system in 5 years.

End of an era

About six years ago, I had a 1990 Subaru Legacy. It was silver, dented from a one-car wreck and a back door no longer opened from the outside. The passenger front door didn't open from the inside. The engine was ok. I ended up selling it when I got The Buick.

The Buick was quite a step up. It was my step-mom's car while my little brother was a small kid. The funny thing is I found a lot of batteries in the backseat from my little brother's Gameboys, CD players and various gizmos. The first thing I did was put the darkest legal window tint on the windows mainly for the cool factor, but also for the Texas sun.

But, the doors all worked, it had leather interior and the ride was smooth. It was a nice car and quite the upgrade for me. We drove it to Chicago twice in it, once pulling a trailer. The car was very nice in Chicago for groceries and pet trips.

Now, my little brother is 15 about to turn 16 in a couple months. And he is inheriting the Buick. Instead of AAA batteries stuffed deep into the backseat, he'll be digging out dog hair. Yesterday, they came by to pick it up. I put some serious elbow grease into it and I think we were all surprised how well the car cleaned up.

Now that I have the Element, I realize the main thing I loved about the Buick. Perhaps the only thing, I don't know.

Here it is: The Buick is an old man's car.

Am I an old man? Some might think so, but that's not the point. The old man's car has major comfort. The seats are nice, the steering wheel is loosy goosy, and if you leave the turn signal on too long, the alarm goes off (for all those old men like me who leave their blinkers on for miles down the highway). The sunroof/moonroof was great at night and the driver seat had power adjustments. It had a lot of extras that were as cozy as a wool blanket next to a fireplace.

Now, I say all this not because I miss the Buick. To be clear, I don't and it didn't really go that far away if I ever do.

What I do miss, is that stage in our lives. When one car was enough. When we loaded four baskets of laundry with our current books and headed off the the laundromat. Or how 15-20 bags of mulch in the trunk and backseat made the struts squeak. Or when other drivers on the road in their nice Mercedes or BMWs played chicken with me, they lost every time (I had less to lose).

So, enjoy the car Frogboy. You're going to love it.

Big news

With all the changes around here, there's one big chunk of news we've been sitting on until now. But we think it's safe to say now.

Yvonne is pregnant. Today, we saw the little jelly bean on the sonogram machine and heard a healthy heart beat. Estimations place her at 10 weeks and the due date May 27, 2007.

So, if I've seemed extra quiet lately, it's because I couldn't really write about the one thing on our minds.

And, if you're my boss reading this, I need a raise. Another mouth to feed ... :)

Update from N8

It's been pretty busy around here with traveling and some freelance work building that website I mentioned a while back. It's an ongoing project, but we got through the first and toughest hurdle. The rest should be simpler.

Things at work are now in full force. We have 10 peeps in the office starting Monday and I have an officemate. I wear headphones, so it doesn't distract me too much. It's pretty crazy to go from two peeps, each working separately in their own homes, to 10 peeps all working right here. Most of the new folks are out in the field all the time anyway.

Meanwhile at home, we've just been recovering from a trip to Austin last weekend and I'm prepping for the Boneshaker ride tonight.

We've caught up on Battlestar and it's just the best thing in the world. LOST is doing well, but it's not drawing me in as strongly. And Smallville is fun, but it just doesn't compare to either of the other two shows.

We didn't do Halloween costumes this year, but had several trick or treaters. Handing out candy was the extent of our Halloween participation this year. I kind of missed it, but there wasn't much we could do.

Now on the radar is next week's election. Lot's of last minute craziness before the polls...