At least the sun is shining.

As you can see, I haven't posted in a while. It's not like I've been too busy to write. I guess, I just felt like I had nothing to say. I'm in one of my periodic funks. I get this way from time to time. I think I inherited it from my Mother. There are some days that I just don't feel like doing anything. When I'm in this kind of funk - it takes a lot for me to get motivated.

We are planning to get our house painted in February - maybe the middle of the month. I have been completing my punch list of items in preparation for the painters. I have some more trim to install under the eaves and I'm working on the installation of some lighting and finishing the ceiling in our entry outside. There is still quite a bit of caulking to do on the siding and I tackle that when we have warm enough days. I'll be so happy when I can turn it over to the painters and let them work their magic.

I worked on trimming out the garage door frame on Saturday. The old frame had been damaged by termites - evidently from long before we bought the house. I installed some man made products that are supposed to be termite resistant. The only thing left to do is install a weatherproof seal around the door but, I have to wait until the painters are done painting to do that.

I woke up yesterday morning with severe pain in my lower back. Initially, I thought it was normal lower back pain that I sometimes receive after a long day of work. After laying in bed for a few more minutes, I realized that this was no ordinary backache. The pain level was increasing rapidly and it was now more pronounced on the left side of my lower back. I got up to go to the bathroom and really didn't go that much considering I had drunk a lot of fluids the evening before. I went out into the kitchen where the wife and boy were preparing for breakfast. I got a drink of water and the wife asked me what was wrong. I was sweating profusely and now was starting to bend over from the pain. I feel like I have a fairly high level tolerance for pain but, this thing was starting to kick my ass. I told the wife to get her and the boy dressed as we were going to need to go to the emergency room. To make a long story shorter and assuming you have already guessed, yes I have a kidney stone. By the time I got to the hospital I couldn't stand up straight. Thank God that it was a Sunday morning... there were only a handful of patients there. I was taken into an exam room and asked to change. I was laying on the gurney writhing in pain. The admissions woman said a nurse would be in shortly. "Shortly" was a long, long time or so it seemed. The wife was so scared looking at me rolling around on the bed moaning that she ran to get a doctor. He asked what was wrong and she said "We think he has a kidney stone. He's in a lot of pain". He ran in and did an initial exam and ordered up the meds. Once he got involved it seemed the whole army of nurses were there. They did an MRI and found one stone has already dislodged from my left kidney and there is another one in my right kidney. I have not passed it yet and now have a greater appreciation for what people that have them go through. It's very, very painful. It appears to be small enough to pass, so they sent me home with literature and a prescription for pain killers. I've had a few bouts with some heavy pain yesterday and this morning but I am doing fine. The pain killers keep me loopy so, I can't drive. Fortunately the in-laws came in and picked up the boy while I wallow in my sorrows from my misfortune. The wife delayed her trip to Dallas by one day, hoping I'll pass this thing soon.

While I'm in my homebound state, I've decided to brew some beer. It's a Honey Brown Ale that's supposed to be fairly close to a mass produced beer that the wife and I enjoy. I'm going to get started on it this afternoon. Maybe I'll get enough gumption up to post some pics of the process.

Sometimes I'm such a dumb ass.

My poor son. Okay, I'll set up the scene... today was a school day. I'm in a good mood, the boy is in a good mood and things are humming along just fine. I get breakfast ready for the two of us, I'm showered/dressed and picking a few things up before the maid comes. Done with breakfast, clean the boy up and get him dressed, while he watches Sesame Street. I'm thinking to myself, things are going well this morning. I'm not rushing around - the boy is co-operating. Now, the reason I tell you this is because, usually, I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. The boy has never been really late to school, but there are times when he's the last one there. We arrive at school and as I'm getting him out of the truck I notice some of his classmates next to us getting out of their vehicle. They are twins, a boy and a girl. It's usually very chaotic in the mornings, with all the kids and parents all over the place. I always pay attention though, to the twins, because their grandparents bring them. The grandparents ALWAYS look completely frazzled and rightly so. The twins are a handful but, what can you expect? They're 2 1/2 years old. So, I say hey to the grandma and take a glance at the kids and say to myself... "What the Hell?" The girl is still in her pajamas. She's got these huge slippers on with some cartoon character sticking out of her toes. She's crying and the grandma is trying to soothe her. The grandpa then comes around the side of the vehicle with the boy and he's got pajamas on too! The kid looks like he has just gotten out of bed. His hair is all disheveled and and he's screaming that he doesn't want to go to school. The grandpa looks completely disgusted and he's trying to juggle a screaming kid and he's got a container full of snacks for the class. We exchanged "Hi's!" and I grabbed my boys hand and we head into the school. As we are climbing the stairs, I'm thinking - "Ms. Sandy(teacher) is going to be really pissed off that those kids are still in their pajamas. Who's going to dress them?" I decide, oh well, it's not my problem. The co-administrators greet the boy and I as we walk down the hall, but I notice, they look at me kind of strangely. We arrive at the classroom and what do my wondering eyes see? A room full of kids with PAJAMAS on! Teachers too! Of course, teachers and parents alike are staring at me. I'm sure they were thinking, "Kid, your Dad is a dumb ass". I looked at the teacher and she gave me the same look as the day I had forgotten it was Picture Day. She said "Don't worry about it" and I replied "If any one would forget, it would be me"- which prompted some stifled laughs from the perfect "soccer moms". Fortunately, the boy was completely oblivious to it. He just immediately started playing. As, I was driving home I called my wife at work and told her the story and we both had a good laugh at my expense... oh well.

The following are a few photo's from Christmas Eve, showing the pig and Santa.

Traveling

I lied. I didn't post yesterday. The wife and I spent all of yesterday and most of today storing our Christmas decorations and doing the mountains of laundry that was here waiting for us when we returned from our trip. Christmas, as always, was fun. We had an excellent time with the family on Christmas Eve and Santa even made an appearance that evening. We spent Christmas Day with the in-laws and the wife's sister who was in from Jackson. The wife and I realized, as we were putting the gifts under the tree, that we had gone way - WAY overboard. We could barely walk through the room. Needless to say "the boy" was very excited on the morning of Christmas. He really got into it, ripping the paper and having to play with each toy. It sounds bad but, some of the things are going back to the store. This is probably the last year that we'll be able to do that as he will surely remember what he got next year. He received a number of duplicate things or toys that were really close in design. Say for instance, flash cards. He must have received 4 sets. The ones we got him are going back. There also is a number of toys that we didn't even wrap because we decided at the last minute that he had enough. I think this evening is our time to return things. The wife totally surprised me with an acoustic guitar. I had talked about it back in the fall, but really hadn't said anything since. It's going to be a great guitar to learn with and I'll be signing up for lessons soon.

A week ago today we left for Miami. We decided to make the trip a few weeks ago when we learned that the wife's Abuela had been in and out of the hospital. It was not anything major but, she is 88 and we hadn't seen her since last Christmas. Her health, being the way that it is, prohibits her from traveling anymore and when she realized that she was going to spend the holidays alone she kind of went a little crazy. So, the wife thought it was a good time to visit as she had the week off. Her Abuela lives in an assited living complex in Coral Gables which is just outside of downtown Miami. We surprised her with the visit and you could tell that she was pleased. I had never been to Miami and although I doubt I would ever live there for an extended amount of time, I found it to be rather enjoyable. We spent a good deal of our time with Abuela but we also found the time to visit the hospital where my wife was born, take the boy to Parrot Jungle, briefly visited South Beach and had a couple of wonderful meals at Versailles - a well known Cuban restaurant. The wife has told me about this restaurant for years. She and her family have visited it every time they go to Miami and it's a "must do" if you want to experience Cuban culture. We had a good time and I'm anticipating the next trip we make. We left on New Years Eve Day and drove to Jacksonville. We missed the ringing in of the New Year as we both were exhausted. The following day we drove to Savannah and had lunch on the Riverfront and then drove home to Atlanta. We're glad to be home and to sleep in our own beds. I haven't downloaded any pictures yet but, I will soon. There are some interesting ones from Christmas Eve and from Miami.

Happy New Year to All.

I have a lot to write about but, it will have to wait. I'm tired as all get out. We just returned tonight from Miami and I'm beat. It's been non-stop since Christmas Eve. I'll post tomorrow - with pictures.