Ninja Kitty!

Well, Christmas is indeed proving to be very intersting. Toofer has decided he likes the Christmas tree. Not only to climb in and sleep, but also to attack when no one is suspecting. The other day he sprung out of the tree at Holly....she started screaming, woke up Mason! Grrrr.....
He also likes to hang out under the dust ruffle on our bed and attack feet-the number one victim? That's right...Holly. Her little feet have scratches on them. She keeps pleadng for band-aids.
Barb took the kids to see Santa the other day. I was expecting to hear stories on panic-instead, they took to him like Grandpa. They loved it!
Rented a good movie tonight. "Rescue Dawn" starring Christian Bale (the new Batman) as a Navy pilot who is shot down over Laos in 1966. It details his internment in a P.O.W. camp and his daring escape. Based on a true story. Great movie. Four out of Five stars.

Guitar God

I was in YouTube tonight and came across this video of a kid playing a song by one of my favorite bands "Dragonforce" in Expert mode. This made me sick. It is all I can do to get through songs on the Hard level. Hopefully Santa will bring me Guitar Hero III. My hat is off to this kid though. It made my arm hurt to watch this.

Just when you think you've figured it out......

So today I was rather bored at work. It is the end of the year, my branches are all operationally sound and everyone is happy. I decided to come home from my office for a quick lunch and then head up to Logan for some quick visits. Barb and I decided that we probably wouldn't have any more interest in our home until after the holidays so we decided to pull out the Christmas decor and get things set. I think both of us could do without the tree this year, but this is such a special time for the kids and Ethan is especially excited. Why punish them right? So, needless to say, when I came home it was an utter disaster. The kids were all into the decorations and it seemed so messy.

As I was pulling out of the garage, Barb called me on my cell (amazing how we communicate these days-she could have just run out!) and told me the realtor just called her and said that a couple were coming over to view the condo. I told her that I would stay home, pulled back in the garage and helped her get the house ready. It was a miracle and we were able to have the house spic and span for our potential buyers.

Now as I am writing this blog, Ethan is making his 8th trip to the bathroom since family prayers. I really wish he would go to bed and fall asleep. He wanted to stay up with me but Barb said that he couldn't becuase he had school tomorrow. His response: "I don't care about school". I could immediately feel the surge of the angst of Jim Granquist rising. I remember the good old days of middle school with my "C" grades. I wish this wasn't starting so early. Well, I better go now. Have to wipe my son's bum.

Houston...We have a name!

After much deliberation we finally have a name for our new kitten. Toofer (too-fur). Now before you say "where on earth did you get that name from", we will tell you. Ryan and I have gotten into the NBC show "30 Rock" and there is a character named Toofer so...that is where we got it from and it fits the him, believe it or not.

The kids didn't really like the name at first because they both wanted to name him Elmo, but we just couldn't call him that. I tried and Ryan wouldn't even entertain the thought.

Ozzy has accepted him and faster than we expected. He let's Toofer play with his tail and they have already wrestled a little. Ozzy is good to not use too much force, or bite to hard and I haven't seen him even use his claws yet. Ozzy has even given Toofer a bath a few times. So things are going great with our cats.

I never knew I could be as involved in a pets life as much as one of my children. Go figure...

Blue Man Group

Well, I got back from St. George the last night. I had to go there for "Business Meetings"-the official way to now say Offsite. We do this on an annual basis-my manager takes all my peers to a location for "meetings" which usually culminate in eating too much food and not getting enough sleep. Wednesday night we all drove to Vegas to go see the "Blue Man Group" at the Venetian. Much, much better than "Mama Mia"-Euro Disco sucks!

It was way-cool. I've never been one much for avant-garde art, but this was pretty cool. The show was about two hours long and full of some great music and imagery. They had a cool band in the background that was playing that I initially thought was some kind of animatronics. They were actual human beings. I especially loved the "Rock Concert Manual" where they gave instructions on such actions as the head-bob and the fist-pump.

Hopefully one day I can take my kids to see them-way fun!

We got back to St. George a little after 1 a.m. I don't recall much of what happened the next day. Oh well, it is good to be back home.

So are the Days of our Lives...

I really should have waited to get this kitten! Ethan is so in love with this cat he spends every moment he can with it in our bedroom. I've set up a litter box and food & water in my (Ryan's too) bedroom until Ozzy gets used too him. He is just a baby, only about 8 weeks old and if Ozzy wanted too he could really hurt the little guy. So to be safe the kitten is in our room for now.

Anyway - since Ethan is in our room most of the time Holly has to be too and she seems to think that the litter needs to be spread all over my bedroom and bathroom floor!!! It took me over half and hour to vacuum it all up the first time she did it. I was so mad I made her sit on her bed until I was done cleaning up. She knew she was in real trouble but now she has done the same thing two other times only not quite as bad. The last time I spanked her which I don't do very often. I think this was the third time in her whole life she has been spanked. Now she has been banned from the room and Ethan has been in trouble for just watching her do it. Where am I, you might ask? Holly is a smart girl, because she doesn't get into the litter box until she knows I am feeding Mason.

With Ryan out of town until tomorrow it has been an adventure and I am feeling very ganged up on, not to mention that is kitten doesn't really let me sleep too much because he likes to curl around my neck and purr.

Well Ryan is on his way home tomorrow and we should give this kitten a name soon. We will keep you posted to the on going saga.

New Addition

Today was a big day for us, or rather the kids. We decided to go ahead and get another cat because heaven knows when we will be able to move. Ethan wanted a kitten "just his size" because Ozzy and Lemmy were already adult size when he got to know them. Ryan wanted another male black cat so that is what we got, a baby black boy cat. Ryan wants to name him Geezer after a member of Black Sabbath, but I'm not to hip on the name because I think of "old geezer" when I hear it.

Anyway Ryan is in St. George until Friday on business so he hasn't had the pleasure of meeting our new little one, but we will come up with a name then.

So...if anyone would like to make any suggestions as to what we should name this new little one please leave your comment!!

Ozzy is not to sure about this new kitten yet and I'm sure it will take some time for him to get used to having a kitten around. Ethan won't leave the poor thing alone, he is picking him up and chasing him around. Then you have Holly that is chasing after Ethan screaming "my turn, my kitty, my turn". I find the kitten hiding under my feet all the time. I think maybe I should have waited until Ryan was home so I could have some help.

Wish me luck...

Holy Flurcking Schnit! Ethan's 5!

Well, the day came and and went. Out little guy is finally 5! It seems like yesterday I was driving Barb to the hospital after her water broke and singing "Every Sperm is Sacred" from "Monty Python and the Meaning of Life"-a movie I highly recommend.

This year's theme centered around Transformers-which Ethan thoroughly enjoys. He loves all of his birthday presents-he slept with Cobra Commander last night and gave me the thumbs-up sign when I asked him if he liked his G.I. Joes.

Holly and Mason took comfort in each other while Ethan was having praises heaped upon him. He was even looking forward to going to church for the first time in his life because he knew the primary would sing "Happy Birthday" to him. He takes after his father when it comes to his enthusiasm about going to chruch.

Also, we received a call today from our realtor-apparently the house we made an offer on fell through because we haven't been able to sell our home. They had somebody who could get financing faster all lined-up. Oh well, one day something will happen.

Oh yeah, I also want to recommend a book for all to read. It is "Who Moved My BlackBerry" by Lucy Kellaway. Ms. Kellaway is a writer for the London Financial Times. This book chronicles the life (in email) of Martin Lukes-A young (fictitional) executive on the rise. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard while reading a book. If you see it, pick it up.