Not so miniature...

So you know we have two dogs a miniature dachshund and a miniature pinscher. They were due shots last week so we took them in on Friday. Peanut, the dachshund weighed in at 12.3 pounds and Dover the MinPin weighed in at a whopping 19.6 pounds! He's solid.

Friday night went to see the Rivermen play Johnstown. Awesome fight that got 2 players from each team thrown out as well as penalty time for others. The Rivermen won the fights and the game.

Saw Stuck on you on Saturday. Some funny parts but not as funny as I had hoped.

Sunday we cleaned the carpet. Puppy training took it's toll and it was time. The dogs still aren't 100 percent trained but they aren't that bad.

Played a lot KillSwitch this weekend and even finished it. That was both cool because everytime I got stuck, I eventually figured out what I needed to do to get through that section. It was also kind of disappointing because I've always had difficulty finishing these shoot'em up games. Maybe it just means I've progressed as a gamer. Who knows?

We had quite a bit of snow on Saturday, second time this season. The first time was the day after Thanksgiving and it melted the next day. This time it melted on Monday. Raquel thinks the snow is beautiful. Peanut loves playing in it. Not sure what Dover thinks of it.

Well I'm going to eat now. Talk to you later.

Did you have a good Día de Acción de Gracias?

That's Thanksgiving Day in spanish. We went to my father's house and enjoyed the turkey he made. My dad has hosted Thanksgiving for us for a long time now, kind of a tradition. My mom often does a Thanksgiving meal as well, but the acutual day depends on her work schedule, so this year she hosted on Wednesday evening. We live just far enough away that it would have been difficult to make it there since I had to work Wednesday, but fortunately plenty of others made it so her efforts were enjoyed by others.

This weekend was a PlayStation and movie weekend. I recently bought KillSwitch and logged several hours this weekend. It's a pretty cool shoot'em up game. It's very challenging for me, but I've made significant improvement. I can't believe how complicated it is to walk/run and aim/shoot. The directions said that it becomes second nature after some playing time. Hmmm...it's getting close to being second nature for me. Guess I better log more time. It's funny, in one section you have to get from point A to point B in certain amount of time. Well along the way, you have to kill about 25 or more guys who are shooting at you and throwing grenades at you. At first I couldn't make it through the first room because I was so concerned with time and there were at least eight guys shooting at me. I learned eventually that if I just take my time and just relax and stand out in the open and pick them all off one at a time, it's not so bad. I eventually made it through and on to a more difficult section.

The movies we saw were Timeline and The Missing. The first movie wasn't much to brag about, not a thumbs up nor a thumbs down. However, The Missing is really good. Opie directed this one and he did a terrific job, Raquel and I enjoyed it. Clint Howard makes his usual appearance in his brother's film, but it was kind of different, he was actually good (didn't hurt that his screen time was under 5 minutes.

You should be scared.

Last week we went to the dentist. Raquel couldn't get her teeth cleaned because she has a heart murmur (we already knew) and she has to take an antibiotic before the cleaning due to the possibility of infection. This required coordination with the obstetrician to get an approved antibiotic. So we've got the medicine, now we need to make another appointment with the dentist. Who knew a heart murmur could be dangerous for something so common as a trip to the dentist?

Friday night we went to the movies. Gothika is pretty chilling. The theater was packed and the audience was really in to the film, letting out collective gasps and shrieks. This was another movie that I didn't really think I would want to see but Raquel wanted to so we went. I thought it was pretty good.

Saturday, I helped Jerry a little bit. He's been working on his house for years, and this weekend he wanted to get the siding finished. I've never done siding before, so I don't know how much help I really was, but I was there. We stayed for pizza and wings and I played Playstation with Jake. We played football (not sure which version) and he creamed me the first game. I really wasn't sure how to play (meaning what buttons did what) but then Jerry showed me a play. The second game was all mine. I kicked his butt! The poor kid was dealing okay with getting beat, but as the game wore on, I kept scoring and he couldn't do anything. To make matters worse, Jerry and another guy were teasing Jake relentlessly. Suddenly, Jake couldn't take any more and burst into tears and couldn't breath right nor talk. Sound cruel? Well Jake had been talking smack the entire time he beat me the first game, so he was getting a taste of defeat. But I wasn't talking any smack. But in the end, Jake sucked it up and finished the game so he was a trooper in the end.

Sunday we went to see the Looney Toons movie. It was really quite funny, but I got really sleepy while watching it (no reflection on the movie). After the movie, we went to Menard's to buy a toilet snake, you know, one of those roto-rooter things. We were having problems with the sewer backing up into the basement. Yuck. So we bought this 25-foot long snake thing that you connect to a drill. I snaked out a bunch of stuff from the drain, mostly roots. After doing this a few times (and being generally disgusted both from the task and from lack of major success) I gave up.

Today, Roto-Rooter came out and snaked out (with their powerful snake) our sewer to about 110-feet. Now we can flush with confidence.

Aim for the mizzenmast!

So we went to see Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World yesterday. I must say, it is a very impressive movie. It appears they went to great lengths to make it look look authentic. I don't know what made me go see this movie, because the previews didn't make it appealing to me at all. For some reason we went, and I'm glad we did. It's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The only complaint I have is that the accents took a while to get used to. If you go, keep in mind that it is about two hours and twenty minutes long.

That's all I want to write about. Good night!

Going in circles

A lazy Sunday afternoon. Temperature isn't too bad, but it's damp out. Flipping through broadcast tv and there's not much. NASCAR's final race of the season, so they're going in circles at 170 MPH. Bears vs. Rams on another channel, and neither team is playing well. Golf on another channel, just not interested at the moment.

We're going to see that new Russell Crowe movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World today.

Saw Elf last week. It was good. I had Dots.

I love the Budweiser Real Men of Genius commercials. My favorite is Mr. Foot-long-hot-dog Maker. Cuz he gives us what we all really want - a bigger wiener.

I read someone's blog saying that last night's Saturday Night Live was one the worst ever. Hmmm. I thought it was rather funny. I especially liked the way they made fun of the latest Prince Charles scandal. Seems the British press can't come out and directly talk about some accusations about Charles' private life due to libel laws. So this skit talked around the accusations. Another skit was Roy's comeback performance with the same tiger that injured him. I laughed out loud.

We've started work on finishing the attic. Not in any hurry. Before putting in insulation, we need to provide ventilation between the insulation and the roof. We're putting in Styrofoam rafter ventilation channels to begin.

Raquel's belly is getting bigger as Lourdes is growing inside. Everything is going fine with the baby. Raquel hasn't had any problems. She'll still get nauseous every so often, but nothing like the first few months.

Maybe Greg will put me back on his favorites.

Survivor night

Just a short note tonight, gonna watch Survivor in a little bit.

We have a tentative name for our baby - Lourdes Diana. It's still early but I like it so far.

Went to Spooky Hollow Friday night as planned and Raquel really enjoyed it. We were going to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Saturday but never made it that day. Saturday night we went to see the Peoria Riverman lose in overtime to Toledo. It was a good game until the very end. Sunday we did see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I must say it was pretty good. I normally don't care much for horror because they are usually just plain stupid. But I was really into this one and it was pretty chilling.

Well this weekend, not sure what all we have on the schedule. But it's time to go now.

The cube still lives!

I have a small Rubik's cube on a key chain. When I was in high school, and the Rubik's cube craze was in full swing, I bought a book on solving the cube and I memorized the moves I needed to do so. I was able to solve the cube in about a minute. Of course, I haven't seriously touched a cube in 20 years so I can't solve it anymore....for now. I looked on Google and found a website and solved my cube. I hope to get proficient again. Long live the cube!

The worst drill weekend ever...

Last post was just before my drill weekend. It was the worst drill weekend ever. I'm not going into details because I don't want to be accused of gossiping. Let's just say that next drill weekend will be better.

Raquel is in the kitchen beating up chicken. I promised Adam and Jerry that I would ask Raquel to prepare some chicken and mandioca like her mom makes. It's really yummy.

Peanut is trying to hump Dover. Shame on him. Maybe it's payback because Dover always tries to hump him. Stop that, Peanut! Put that thing away! No, not there!

We saw Kill Bill Volume 1 last weekend. We loved it! Lot's of blood and kung-fu! Can't wait for Kill Bill Volume 2 next February. Still more members of the Deadly Viper assassination Squad left to kill, plus Bill.

Great smells coming from the kitchen. Raquel is a really good cook, especially considering she doesn't have a lot of cooking experience. I think the guys are going to enjoy Friday's lunch.

This weekend we have several things on the plate. Friday evening, we are going to meet several people from the base at Todd's house for a bit of a cookout followed by a trip to the nearby spooky woods and haunted house (a jaycees type of thing, we're not just traipsing through some random woods and an old house). If Raquel is good with that, we may continue on to another town and try their haunted house. Saturday, we will probably go see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saturday night we'll go to the opening game of the local hockey team, the Peoria Riverman. Sunday will either be a day of relaxation, or a day of shopping for materials to work on the house.

Adam is going to help me transform some of the house over the next three or four months. We will probably convert the living room into a bedroom, and the dining room into a living room. We will also work on finishing the attic. The unfinished attic should yield a small den/library/computer area, a play area for the kid(s), and a half bath. Adam is quite good at this stuff.

I need to call it an internet night. We recorded Survivor earlier and are going to watch that before going to bed.

Blah, blah, blah, blog.

Not a much to say today. It's just after nine. I'm tired. I have drill tomorrow. Not really looking forward to it either. It always creeps up until it just pounces right on top of me. I never seem to be prepared, but it never seems to pay to be prepared for drill. I can never count on being able to do what I want to do because there are external forces at work to put a wrench in things. Regardless, I hope we get some good training accomplished.


So how about this weather? It's turned rather cool here. Even had a frost the other night. I kind of like it when it gets a little cold so I can get out the long-sleeve shirts. The dogs are reluctant to get out from under the warm blankets and go outside to take care of business. But then again, so am I.

Told you I didn't have much to say. Good night!

Four days in a row, this must be some sort of a blog record.

We went to the OB today. She (the OB) thinks the bleeding that Raquel has experienced is not too big of a deal, but is concerned none the less. We go back again in less than two weeks and will get another sonogram just to make sure everything is good. By the way, we are due on 3 March 2004.

After finishing with the OB appointment, we went to Steak 'N Shake for lunch, and then to the Driver License Facility to get new plates. When we got home, I was able to start the final stretch of fence. I got the last two holes dug and set the posts and concreted them. This last section is chain link, and I would have just driven them in with a fence post driver, but there were too many rocks to do that. I was also able to concrete the last couple of wooden fence posts, as we had run out of concrete the other day. I also concreted in the center part of the ten foot chain link gate. It's actually two five foot gates that have a latching post mechanism thingie between them. I concreted where the latching post mechanism goes into the ground. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to put the last bit of chain link up. Adam stopped by and help cut off the tops of all the posts. He's definitely a good friend to have as he knows how to do so much around the house, and he likes doing them as well. We will be doing some modifications in the house before the baby gets here. I'll post as those happen or start to happen.


Well I have to go put the new license plates on the truck and clean up to go meet friends for a late dinner. Bye.

Three days in a row.

I can't believe it, after almost a month of no posts, here's the third one in a row.

But now what to say?

Tomorrow we go to the OB again. Raquel has had a couple episodes of bleeding and the OB wants to find out what is going on. I'm going to take the rest of the day off and take care of some stuff, with emphasis on finishing the fence.

This past weekend we went to see The Rundown starring The Rock. Raquel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Plenty of action and humor. What more could one ask for?
The weekend before, we saw Underworld. I liked that one as well. Plenty of action and Kate Beckinsale in leather. What more could one ask for?

I can't wait for Kill Bill Volume 1 to come out on October 10th.

I said I helped Adam put up our fence this weekend. He told me Monday that he had a dream that he was at my house working on the fence and we needed something so I went to the store to buy it. While I was gone, Raquel told him not to tell me but she could speak and understand english perfectly. He said he woke up immediately.

I'll probably post tomorrow with the results of the OB appointment.
Bye.

It's been a year...

Today is our anniversary. Raquel and I have been married for one year. Raquel believes in low-key celebrations of birthdays and anniversaries so I got her a dozen roses and we went out to eat. Nice and simple.

Greg, I sincerely apologize for missing your birthday. So please accept my belated happy birthday wishes. I hope you had a good one.

This weekend was very busy. Adam came over and we put up a fence for the dogs. There was already a fence between our house and the one neighbor's house - a chain link fence with privacy slats. We decided to put up a privacy fence between our house and the other neighbor's that also blocks the back alley. We were able to get about 95 percent finished. Still need to finish one small six or seven foot stretch, but we've got it blocked off so the dogs are fully contained. We'll get that part finished and then it will be just a matter of some finishing touches. The fence project was spurred on by the need to keep rabbits out of the yard and keep the dogs in. Dover the MinPin escaped a couple of times and the neighbors didn't seem too pleased. Also, seems the dogs didn't like being left outside on their chains and expressed their displeasure by barking which in turn disturbed some neighbors who work nights/sleep days. Now, everyone should be happy. The dogs can run free, don't seem to bark as much, stay in the yard and we have some privacy. Now maybe when we have our baby, she won't need a shock collar.

This sucks, part II.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but once again I had typed a post and was ready to publish it when I hit the wrong button and lost it all.

The long and short of the post was that we went to the OB today and found out we are going to have a baby girl. The sonogram shows a nice little 7 ounce bundle of joy minus the hardware! Didn't want to know the sex just yet? Too bad, pretend you're dreaming, tell everyone you dreamed that Raquel is going to give birth to a little baby girl, and be amazed at your psychic abilities when she does.

You may ask yourself why another sonogram when we just had one done not too long ago. Well, Raquel seemed to menstruate this morning. The OB wanted a sonogram to make sure everything is fine with the baby. And it is, everything appears normal in the baby's house, no blood in there. What caused the menstrual-like bleeding? Not sure, but it could be just about anything. The OB said it could be anything from lifting something fairly heavy to walking up stairs, and that it isn't uncommon.

Time to let the dogs out before we all turn in for the night. Bye.

This sucks.

I had typed a post and was ready to publish it when I hit the wrong button and lost it all. I decided it wasn't very interesting so forget about it.

Actually, I did write about my little alien baby. I think Raquel was abducted by extraterrestrials and they implanted one of their babies into her. You can clearly see the photographic proof on our web page. Even if it is an alien, I will still love it.

Then I wrote about Family Day at the base today. Raquel didn't want to go so I spent the afternoon drinking beer. Not much beer. I don't drink very often or very much. Just don't feel the urge or the need. After a hard day of work, I'd rather eat ice cream than drink beer. Don't get me wrong, I like a good beer.

After that I wrote about Raquel and liver. She apparently loves liver so she made liver and onions tonight. For her. I don't eat that s&!t. I've tried liver before and it tastes bad. She was having difficulties preparing it tonight because the smell made her a little nauseous, but she really wanted to eat it. She made it through and enjoyed eating it, yum yuck. I'll stick to the regular meats, thank you.

Too bad I lost this post.

The answer, my friend, is duct tape.

I was thinking about diapers today. I'm not very familiar with the latest developments in diaper technology so hopefully what I was thinking about doesn't even matter. I was thinking about how sometimes a diaper comes undone on one side or the other and what to do to resolve this problem so as not to waste a perfectly absorbant diaper. The first thing that came to mind was a hot glue gun. After careful thought, this didn't seem like a good idea because I don't have a glue gun. Besides, if I did, I would have to wait for it to heat up and that would probably take too long.
I thought about SuperGlue, but I was worried I might glue my fingers together. Boy would I feel stupid with my fingers glued together.
So then I thought of stapling the diaper. But I ruled that out rather quickly, sharp edges, might cut myself.
Rope? Not practical.
Belt? No loops on a diaper.
Duct tape? Of course, the handyman's secret weapon as Red Green would say. And duct tape comes in various colors now so it could conceivably blend in with whatever fashion statement the baby is making.

I don't think so.

Well another week has gone by. We survived the babysitting ordeal last Sunday. Actually Adam's kids were really good except the little one constantly wanted to pick up Peanut. Three year olds just don't have the agility to properly handle a puppy. Poor Peanut is not very big overall, but he is surprisingly long, especially when he stretches out. Zoey loves Peanut and would not let him be. She was very good with him when she was sitting and he was on her lap, but she couldn't pick him up without choking him. He tried to escape under the bed once and I saw her drag him by the tail before he could get far enough under. I tried to explain to her that if she doesn't leave Peanut alone, he will become scared of her and will simply hide when kids come around or even worse, bite them. I don't think it sunk in entirely, however she does remember that my cat scratched her face a couple of years ago under similar circumstances.
We didn't go to a movie with the kids because there weren't any suited for kids that Raquel and I hadn't seen already. We took my niece to see Freaky Friday (which I actually enjoyed), we took another niece to see Spy Kids 3D and Finding Nemo. We actually had taken Adam's kids to see Nemo previously, and the little one said she wanted to see it again, but I really didn't want to see it for a third time right now. Maybe I should have gone to see it again, and again, and again to get used to watching the same thing over and over in preparation for our kid. Maybe I'll just lie to my kid and say the VCR/DVD player can only play a movie once a week. Maybe I'll just give in and let the TV/VCR/DVD player babysit my kid like so many other parents do.

We'll know more about our kid this Wednesday as we go to the OB for the first time. Poor Raquel has had a lot of morning sickness but 7-UP and crackers seems to help. We should start bargain hunting for baby stuff. Soon it will be getting cooler and the garage sale season will be over. We also need to buy some maternity clothes for Raquel. So many things. If only we knew what size diapers the kid will need, we could start buying some now and start stocking up. I can just see me at Sam's Club next year hauling out a case of Pampers every week. And baby food. Maybe our baby will be born with teeth and will eat real food right away. There's always plenty of our food left over. Maybe our baby will get potty training done in record time. I think 2 weeks is reasonable. Don't you?

What do you expect from me?

So it's Friday and I'm finally posting something. But what to say?
Well, I changed the look of my web page, finally. It was looking rather antiquated and Greg's page is looking good, so I knew I had to do something, but what? I know one thing is for sure: I don't know squat about Adobe Photoshop.

I know what you're thinking: Dwayne, even my preschooler knows how to use Photoshop. Well good for you and your protogé! Maybe junior wouldn't mind stopping by and showing me how to use it then.

Today we got a book (my very first online purchase, fyi) delivered to our doorstep. Seems like every mother out there says to read What to Expect When You're Expecting. So we purchased said book online but in Spanish so Raquel can read up on what's going on with her body and what she can expect to happen. And they say kids don't come with owner's manuals. Guess those cost extra.

Don't know what all is going on this weekend, but we may have to babysit a few hours on Sunday. Maybe we'll just take them to a movie and McDonald's to eat up a couple of hours. Wish us luck.

Well that's enough for the moment. See you next time.

Thanks to Greg for ignoring remembering my birthday. Yes, I'm another year older, but I think I'm mostly a year better. I don't feel any older than I did on Saturday, or even last year for that matter. In fact, I still feel like I'm in my twenties, except I have to pee in the middle of the night a couple times.

And speaking of birthdays, today is my older sister's birthday. She is one year older than me. That's right, I was her early first birthday present. Happy Birthday, Sharon!

I can't say enough good things about the new look for Greg's blog as well as Deb's blog. Spot on!

I get a three-day weekend this coming weekend followed by a four-day weekend for Labor Day. Maybe I'll get my blog a new look. Maybe I'll get the webpage somewhat modernized. Maybe I'll sleep a lot and play Playstation.

A belated happy birthday goes out to Deb. I always forget it's her birthday and this year I've got more things on my mind than normal so I hope she understands.

Greg has updated the look of his blog as well as Deb's blog. He's also put a nice new look on his web page that matches his blog. By the way, the new look for Deb's blog is really good. It was very difficult to read before.

I know my page looks old and cheesy. I need to play around a little and get it looking better. I actually think I prefer the blog. It's easier to maintain and update and has a clean look to it. Plus I can display pictures in it as well. If I can't get a satisfactory look to my web page, I may abandon it and just go with this blog.

Unfortunately I don't have much to say at the moment so I'll close for now.

I read Greg's blog all the time, just as I've always read his web page. Occasionally I read some of the blogs that he has links to from his blog. Today I read Donna's blog about her piñata experiences. I gave a chuckle about how the first one was really hard, literally hard and was almost impossible to break.

My beautiful wife Raquel asked what I chuckled about. Before I could explain, I had to ask her if she knew about piñatas. She said she did and I told her about the difficulties of breaking open Donna's first piñata. Raquel thought it was strange that kids here in the U.S. hit their piñatas with a stick, why don't they use a knife to pop it open? Just to make sure we were on the same page, I had her tell me about the piñatas in Paraguay.
Keep in mind that I'm not the best Spanish speaker nor do I understand everything spoken to me in Spanish.
Apparently piñatas in Paraguay are somewhat pressurized so that when the birthday boy/girl uses a knife to "pop" the piñata, it "explodes" or perhaps "bursts" the goodies among the partygoers. Not a large blast but enough to spread the goodies out a little. Sometimes for fun, they put flour in the piñata along with the goodies so that the revelers get covered in white powder.
I think that would be hilarious to see. Maybe more fun than a blindfolded kid whacking someone in the groin or about the head and face with a stick. Someday I will experience a Paraguayan birthday celebration.

In other news, we went to the doctor on Wednesday to confirm that we are going to have a baby. Now we need to get an OB so when our baby decides it's time to leave the cozy confines of Raquel there will be someone to catch it.
Everyone has been happy for us. Many ask if I want a boy or a girl. Well of course the first priority is to have a healthy baby. I think I want a little girl until about age 9 or 10 and then I hope she suddenly becomes a boy. And I don't mean becomes a boy like she goes Melissa Etheridge on us. I just think a teenage boy is easier to deal with than a teenage girl. No matter what, we just have to do our best and hope the kid becomes a good person.

The boys just came in and are excited to be back indoors.

Of course this photo is a couple months old, they are much bigger now.