My Gals

Here's two pictures of the girls as they appeared for the Christmas concert at their school. Maybe I mentioned it before, but I saw the rehearsal, whereas Lis attended the concert itself.

Lis, if you remember what songs they each sang, please leave the info in the comments section (I know Lu did the Russian dance).

You might notice the flood of entries this evening; I have forgone my big screen TV and BCS title game (gasp!) to give Lisa a little time of her own in front of the TV. Don't worry - I'll have her make it up to me :)

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A silly little memory

Here's two blurry pics (taken in the ever-useless 'night' mode of my Kodak) and one computer lightened photo. All of them are mementos of a very neat day I spent with the kids in the week before Christmas.

You see, I never thought of taking down the trampoline for the winter. Then YaYa mentioned to me that the trampoline canvas was sinking and about to touch the ground.

Three feet of snow will do that.

So we piled out there and spent a good hour clearing it off, with the girls taking deep pride in removing blocks of ice, the bigger the better their boast.

A silly little memory, but I enjoyed it.

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A brief Word

Greetings folks - hope your 2008 is proceeding as planned.

Here at the Slapinions household we're nearly done with the two and a half-week cold/flu - I only lose one meal in ten now! - and all the kids save the baby are over it ..

[But as I wrote the above paragraph this past morning YaYa came up to me and announced she was going upstairs for a nap - She For Whom Naps Must Be Force Fed Down Her Throat - because she felt ill] 

Still, it seems like the flu/cold caused the ruin of many of our Christmas traditions. We've missed Candy Cane Lane, and due to my in-law's fragile immune systems we've yet to see my father-in-law's side of the family (and on Christmas proper we were forced to cancel all engagements).

We've still got presents to hand out (yo, Tre! it's past the epiphany already!) but it feels like much of Christmas bypassed us in 2007.

Oh bleeping well. It was still a pretty good holiday.

* * *

As usual there is much to catch up on here on the site - the Chuck E Cheese party for one, and all that summer schtuff, but that will have to wait for later/ever?

I've promised Lisa I'll do some old-school 600 word columns on what she calls one of the "The Four Statements Guaranteed to Make My Friends Hate You and Change Their View of You Forever". [paraphrased, but close to verbatim]

No, I'm not a Nazi and I don't believe in UFO's. Rest easy ladies, rest easy.

One of the four statements is politicalin nature (actually, I think two are) so I reckon I'll work on one involving my choices for the 2008 primaries.

Meanwhile, I should get some sleep. That ole one-meal-lost-in-ten has kept me up past my bedtime tonight :)

BTW - anyone else notice the political spam slapped onto the comments of the kids NY Eve post? WTF is that?

New Years Eve 2007 Lisa and the kids

While I was at work Lisa held a New Years Eve celebration for the kids, with the 'New Year' falling at 9 pm.

[excuse the red eye folks]

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Smiley's Ears - Update

One bad thing about running a blog for three years is that you're never quite sure what you've mentioned in print and what you haven't, because you're ALWAYS composing posts in your head.

On the 5th of December Smiley had tubes put in his ears. You may fill in the blanks with any cliche you like - what a brave boy, etc - because they all ring true. Frankly, I'm not even sure he realized anything happened. As far as he knows he got to mess around with a stethoscope, fell asleep, and woke up to watch Elmo. Period.

[At a slightly older age YaYa had a minor procedure. She didn't enjoy the 'drunkenness' of the anesthesia and asked the doc "Why you have three heads?" then vomited on the way home. Smiley enjoyed the heck out of the intoxicant and had no ill-effects from the drugs]

Since then its been a parade of hearing tests. There's no magic bullet and he hasn't blossomed into a Kennedy-esque speaker, or even mastered more than one additional word [blue = 'bool"].

At the last appointment on Thursday they gave his right ear a clean bill of health but noted problems with the left. They want the doc to look at it again and have us signing him up for speech, hearing, and development assessments. That's crap - the boy can't speak, but he's a thousand ways from dumb or mentally slow. If only politicians were granted half his brains and all of his speech.

Today we noticed a thick, milkish fluid pooled in his left ear - think the android blood from Alien - which was both alarming and disgusting. There's another medical appointment this week, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

BigFoot

Here's some shots of Smiley gamely trying to fill his Daddy's size 13 steel toes. Someday buddy, someday.

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NFL WildCard Weekend

I watched both games yesterday. I'm a Seattle fan so that was a pretty easy game to pick sides. Washington was over-rated, and that whole Sean Taylor thing . . a tragedy yes, but it wasn't like losing Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, or for that matter even Thurman Munson. How long can you stretch out a family's pain for your own PR?

I'm glad the Seahawks won, and sad that I now have to root for them to lose - they'll face Green Bay next week.

The AFC game rocked. I didn't have a clear favorite going in but Jacksonville certainly won me over. The 4th and 2 turned 30 yard run - priceless. I thought they played it a little too safe at the end, but they pulled it out. Good for them, and for their quarterback.

Now today's games . . I say the Giants over TB, SD over Tennessee. We'll see.

UPDATE: I was right about both, but the games were abysmally boring.

RIP Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus

For those of you outside Wisconsin, the Badger State lost one of its best this week. Former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus (R), passed away of respitory failure. He was 81.

Dreyfus was in office from 1979-1983, a one term governor who walked away from an almost certain re-election. He was a latecomer to the Republican party and politics in general, joining the party only after a mid-'70's trip to China convinced him a one-party system was abhorrent.

Wisconsin, at the time, was a Democratic stronghold bordering on absolute dominance. So Dreyfus joined the GOP.

"My mother always taught me it was polite to join a party before you take it over," he said.

He ran without special interest money or much advertising, but ran into luck when Pope John Paul II took office. Dreyfus, the former Chancellor of what would become UW - Stevens Point, had once met the new Pope when he toured the state as a Cardinal. 

In Wisconsin, the  news footage of the new Pope featured  Dreyfus alongside the Pontiff in many shots, burning the association into the minds of good Catholics across the state  - and nevermind that Dreyfus was Episcopalian.

Dreyfus, with his trademark red vests, was also quick with the one-liner. Madison, he said, "is 30 square miles surrounded by reality"

He found the concept of a budget surplus an 'immorality' because he believed it meant citizens were either being over-taxed, slighted on services, or both. He would leave a defecit behind for his successor.

A national economic downturn curtailed any grand plans for the administration, but he remained a popular figure that would go on to lead Sentry insurance.

Dreyfus is the first Governor I remember, primarily from his photo on the back of maps as a kid, and he's the first one I ever saw in person. It was nothing more than a passing glimpse. I think I was with my paternal Grandparent's and as we were leaving a restaurant he was walking in, or vice versa. He could tell I recognized him, smiled, and nodded. Maybe he even said hello. Maybe not.

Nothing more than that, but it was enough for me to remember him fondly.

He'll be missed.

 

The Inaugural 2008 SleepOver

One of YaYa's friends was in need of a babysitter for Friday and somehow it morphed into a large sleepover. Representing YaYa: Anna, AnnaBelle, Sophia. For LuLu: Amelia.

Friday afternoon Lisa took them sledding at South Shore while I watched Smiley and the baby.

Her's Sophia's Mom:

I believe YaYa is in the pink.

Later that night we watched Meet the Robinson's (an impressive Disney flick - Keep Moving Forward!) then bunked down for the night. There were some issues with kids afraid of the dark, but all in all it went smooth.

2

In the morning, waffles

Once some of the kids left we packed up the rest and went to Home Depot for the monthly kids craft project. This month was a hit - a princess castle bank - and so the line was super long (in fact, a verbal argument with open threats of physical violence erupted when someone tried to skip in line)

At any rate it was too long of a wait so I asked someone at the store to sneak some of the projects out to me. Later, when the rest of the kids went home and Lisa was at work (and after I made a great dinner of steak and potatoes that the kids ignored) I helped them put the projects together.

[note both Smiley's physique and the 40 Christmas cards we received, after sending out 55 (and having several returned for wrong addresses). Not a bad return on our investment.]

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Quote of the Day (Language Advisory)

True story:

I'm at work late on New Years Eve and some kids come up to get change. But I'm already dealing with a young couple in their early '20's. The male half of this couple comes up a little short and asks his girlfriend to front him the money.

"You'll have to work at paying me back," she says.

He scoffs. "You can have a taste of my balls. That'll be enough of a payback," he says.

She laughs.

""No, really; a taste of Balls is more than enough," he said.

At this point I'm a little p*ssed. "You want to watch your language around the kids?" I say.

They look incredulous.

"Balls is a drink," the guy says, and shows me a bottle. The woman bursts out laughing.

I'm still not sure if I was conned or not, but they sure seemed on the up and up.

* * * *

Again - thank God I no longer work nights in this business. Without going into detail (and I never have re: work) I mediated a physical argument between two groups. One accused the other of getting a child drunk; the other claimed the accusers were armed and going to retaliate.

All this and that before-mentioned headache too . .

100 minutes to go. . . and then all I have to worry about is driving home with all the drunks on the road.

Sigh. I shoulda been born rich.

My 2008 Resolutions

Why I bother with this self-defeating ritual is beyond me. Nah, that's not true. At the end of the year it gives me some means of gauging my personal successes and failure's, and it does preserve some idea of what struck me as important at a given point in my life.

So with that I present Slapinions List of Doable but Likely Unattainable New Year's Resolutions 2008 Edition.

I'm going to try to keep it simple, both in numbers (an even 10) and in scope.

 1. I will continue to eat healthier and treat my body better, with an ambitious but secondary goal of finishing '08 at 270# or lower (a drop of ~70 pounds)

  I quit smoking; now I just have to conquer this
 
 2. I will continue to place a stronger emphasis on attending church with the kids
  I value my religion and want to pass that on to the kids.

 3. I will make a serious and determined effort to secure publication of my writing

 4. I will try not to be an as**ole
    I have been more self-aware as late; in the past few years my temper has shortened and my standard-issue sarcasm is coming off wrong to others. Time to change that.
  
 5. I will continue to hammer away at my anxiety issues
    This would be a major victory

 6. I will organize my finances so every paycheck isn't worthy of panic
     I'd like to get a Christmas account going, some additional life insurance (esp. on the house), and a genu-ine 401K of worth

 7. I will try to limit my swearing
  Because frankly, I often sound like a sailor

 8. I will try to be nicer to my family (siblings/parents). 
     They make me all jittery and I get snappish. I should work on that.

 9. I will try to enjoy every moment I spend with my wife and kids
    I already do; but I want to remember each day in detail. They are growing up so fast.

10. I will seek fufillment and happiness in my professional life
     In whatever shape that takes.

To everyone; ahappy, safe, and blessed year ahead!

Happy New Year!

This (*^(*^& Cold/Flu

Really - this must be the cold/flu to end all colds/flus.

Here it is maybe 10 or 12 days after it began and I'm still victim of a horrendous sinus headache and I'm lucky to keep 1 meal in 3 down. Mind you I'm still ok 68% of the day and go about my business, but this is wicked.

Lauren is pretty sick with the cold aspect of this, Smiley's nose runs so much it looks like it should be replaced with a cartoon faucet, but Lu is much improved.

YaYa still seems ok but has taken up with a small fever. Worst thing: yesterday she complained about her chest and when I felt her her heart was beating it's way out of her ribcage. A call to the doc calmed me when he laid it at the feet of the fever, but I checked her several times overnight.

Today, the same thing. Out of nowhere, maybe an hour ago.

If she was older and had any cares at all I'd say it mimics a panic attack, but I'm sure the doctor is right and it's the onset of this cold/flu.

Here's hoping we all improve soon.

My 2007 Resolutions

Oh man am I a loser, if super-good looking/intelligent folks can ever truly bear that title. In a quest to compose a brief list of resolutions for the upcoming year I came across this post from exactly one year ago today.

Franky, I’d forgotten all about it. I’d thought I’d resolved NOT to make resolutions for 2007, as it was obvious the first part of the year would be taken up with remodeling my house, and the second part with a new baby – both of which preclude any real progress on things like taking trips, or for that matter even taking the chance on a new job.

Here’s the list, and how I did:

1. Continue losing weight, and stick with it.

 Yeah, uh, yeah, ya see . . technically I’ve lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 20+ pounds in the last three months, but that’s after gaining around 70 since New Years. So uh, no.

2. Finish the $3%#$ book

Next.

3. Transcribe all the interviews I've done over the years

Didn’t even look at ‘em.

4. Keep all my teeth

Success!

5. Find happiness in my employment

Let me see if I can put into words how miserably I failed on this score . . oh, no. I can’t.

6. Learn something new

Well, c’mon – try living one year and not learning something. Next.

7. Try to live by my adage "Try not to be an a**hole", as I notice I've been a jerk a lot of 2006 - I blame the job.

Opinions vary.

8. Spend time with my family whenever possible, and actually 'be' present, not just physically there. I've zoned out a lot as of late.

I think I accomplished this. I’ve certainly stepped up to the plate with the new baby.

9. Here's an iffy - see Gettysburg

The closest I got was Gurnee, Illiniois.

10. Resolve or minimize my anxiety, etc. issues

I’ve been much more aggressive on this score and in fairness, I think I have improved a bit.

11. Host a belated 10th anniversary/wife's 30th birthday bash

No money, honey.

12. Take up a physical activity

Well, now that we don’t live in a one-level flat I walk up the stairs several times a day. Does that count?

I guess I’ll have to sit down and come up with something doable for 2008 before the New Year begins. Let me mull it over.

Ugh

NE wins 38-35. Give the devils their due, the Patriots struck back hard, but c'mon - the Giants, each and every time I see them, come to a point where they hit a wall and fall apart.

Poor time management, dropped passes, fumbles . .

Ugh.

So for the 4th time an NFL team goes undefeated. Shitty year for the Packers to be so strong; even if they make the SuperBowl they'd probably come in as heavy underdogs.

End of 3rd

Again, missed most of it with the baby. Now's the time to shut NE down; give up a TD on this drive and I worry about the final outcome.

C'mon Giants, hold 'em!

Halftime

I missed most of the 2nd with a poopy diaper and a cranky baby, but the half-ending drive was phenomenal.

I can't believe how pumped I am. I get soo competitive, and never fail to quickly align myself with one opponent or another, even if I've never seen the teams before.  . testosterone and adrenaline just surging through my veins . . Wow.

Allright, Lauren's bawling. Time to go.

Go Giants!

End of 1st Quarter

First, the most important thing. What a crying shame that a game of such historical importance be voiced by Bryant Gumbel. There has never been a more boring, hesitant, dry announcer.

* * *

And Pi** on the NFL's pathetic attempts to pimp the NFL Network. No, I don't need my cable bill to go up for some slapped-together excuse of a network. I live and breathe baseball and I wouldn't want a 214/7/365 MLB channel either, you money hungry jack**ses.

* * *

I'm very anti-conspiracy, but that b.s. call that voided that 3rd and long sack reeked of micromanagment by the NFL.

* * *

Thanks for the dance in the end zone Randy, and for the TD it created for the Giants.

* * * *
Please, please, continue to pound Jan Brady on every down.

 

Some brief commentary on the Silver Screen

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that last weekend my wife and I were able to see a movie together for the first time in over a year, courtesy of my niece Caitlin's first-ever babysitting.

We saw I am Legend, a movie I've been hankering to see for a long time. Remember I saw the Charlteon Heston version and I'm a fan (albeit a casual one) of author Richart Matheson (sp?).

I loved it, but I left under no misconception that it was Old School or frankly much of a date movie. To quote my wife, who also enjoyed it, "It was like watching the first 10 minutes of [Saving} Private Ryan over and over and over for 2 hours".

She's right. It's dark, it's depressing, and it's relentless. There is no levity, no rainbow in the clouds, no sense of anything but despair.

A very good flick.

* * *

One of my little joys in life  has been watching Turner Movie Classics. It seems to be what American Movie Classics was in my childhood (now it is a mis-mosh of recent crap, presumably because TMC withdrew it's library from that station).

I watched Detective Story, a 1951 Kirk Douglas/William Bendix  piece last night. It doesn't hold up well. Morals have changed, it was overacted, and the plot was weak.

One thing I walked away from it with was a new appreciation for the constitutional restrictions placed upon the police. Complain about Miranda all you want; now watch the allegedly accurate potrayal of a 1951 police station in that movie and thank that little pr**k for that Supreme Court decision.

Folks are denied lawyers, even when they ask for one. Suspects are slapped, kicked, and threatened with beatings. (One lawyer photographs his client before booking to ensure no rough stuff). People, both suspects, witnesses, and victims are brow beaten and pushed to do what the cops want.

AND THROUGHOUT IT ALL, NO ONE EVEN QUESTIONS THE BEHAVIOR.

I presume audiences of 1951 didn't blink either, since it was a famous Broadway play turned Academy Award nominated movie and again, deemed 'accurate' - even to the point of having Douglas suit up in a real NY police station to get the 'feel' for his [abusive] part.

The only socially positive spin - there was an African-American officer.

Man - if I haven't mentioned it before Lord, thanks for having my folks make me in 1974.

* * * *

I also saw Lily Turner (~1933) starring Ruth Chatterton. Ruth was a moderately famous actress who phased out of sight with the implementation of the Morals Code in the mid '30's.

And small wonder - Lily Turner features bigamy, routine adultery, alcoholism, insanity, and attempted murder.

The movie was awarded two stars by Time Warner Cable, but I thought it was decent show, albeit nothing special.

Warning: slipping into 'sassy' talk for a few paragraphs

Chatterton, even at 40, was pretty darn hot, but then again I'm starting to like women in that age range (but that whole naughty girl thing helped lol)

Sigh. It's a shame. Hollywood's finest lived and died decades before the current crop of aneroxic no-talents made it mandatory for actresses to take off their shirts.

But I digress.

Back to good clean family fun

Two points to make about the movie: One the crazy killer was of course, someone with a heavy German accent - also the case in Detective Story. Wartime propaganda dies hard.

Second, in some of the scenes both Chatteton and two men are used as living advertising for a health supplement - I forget the exact wording, but they are billed as being the picture postcard of fitness and health.

Chatterton, and Lord knows I wouldn't complain, has curves and is easily several sizes above current 'standards'.

The men, including one 'strongman', look scrawny and ill-defined. We'd all giggle if they were the models for such malarkey today.

The woman you can write off as changing societal ideals I guess, but the men??? Obviously decades of better medicines, a wider and generally more nuturious menu, and advances in pure size have changed our 'ideal man'. Remember, my maternal grandpa died at 5'6" and a chubby 160# - I'm 6'3" and admittedly overweight, but with a frame that dwarfs his.

Micro-evolution at work over 3/4ths of a century? Perhaps some of that is involved too.

What do you think?

On the Hall, Bhutto, and Snow

Thanks for the well wishes on recovering from our Christmas illnesses's. Unfortunately while YaYa seems completely immune, Lisa is a near zombie, LuLu still feels awful, Smiley isn't living up to his name, and the baby is grumpy.

On the other hand I seem to be on the mend, so hah!

Anyhow, I just wanted to pop on and leave behind a few scattered comments while I have a few moments.  

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto really shocked me. I'd been casually following her opposition to the Pakistini government  for a few months and to open cnn.com and see the headline of her death . . wow.

We've got friends from Pakistan that visit their home every few years, and I think she's there now . . I'll pray for her safety.

* * * *

4 - 8 more inches of snow today, on top of the 2 plus feet that has already made this the 5th snowiest December in recorded Milwaukee history.

Ugh.

* * * *
Good for the NFL for caving in and opening the potentially historic Patriots-Giants game up to the nation at large. I'll be watching - and rooting against New England.

* * * *

Ballots are due on Monday for the Baseball Hall of Fame. If I had a vote . . 

Well, hell, I'm as 'small hall' guy. I get my jollies when years produce only one or two inductees, and the rare year when no one gets in, 'tis warms me heart it does.

No one on the 2008 ballot really excites me. Under the guise of 'small hall', if I had to pick one name, it'd be. .

Mark McGwire.

Sure he probably did steroids, but if the Mitchell report did anything it showed that the use and abuse of those drugs was more 'mainstream' than previously imagined. Does that excuse him? Nah.

But go ahead and tell me how many of those home runs you'd take away because of steroids. This isn't Tony Gwynn; the man was going to hit 'em out (to some degree) roids or no roids.

Not voting for him because he was a 'one trick pony' who could only hit home runs? Yeah, uh huh. Like that would have stopped you from electing him pre-congressional hearing. Don't be a hypocrite.

I guess I have nothing more than an emotional rationale for my support of his candidacy. I enjoyed watching him play, I really did.

If the future has a place for Bonds and Clemens in the Hall, as I'm sure it does, than Big Mac belongs there too.

Now if I was going to go 'big hall' here's who I'd choose:

Tim Raines -  2,605 hits and 808 stolen bases

Allan Trammell  -better than most shortstops in the Hall; overshadowed by some more media-popular players of his era

Bert Byleven - not a name that jumps out at you, but a sufficient 'compiler' of stats to warrant election. 5th all time in strikeouts, 25th or 26th in wins (I forget which)

and the beforementioned McGWire.

 

 

Happy Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day all - hope your Christmas was magical.

Ours was marred a bit by illness. On Xmas Eve I took the day off and took LuLu to the doctor. She'd had a cold all weekend and had actually asked to go to the doc, but I underestimated her illness. Turns out she had pneumonia and was quickly put on some powerful antibiotics and an inhaler. While everyone at my Mom's house had already been exposed (and thus the celebration went on) we had to cancel both our standard Christmas morning breakfast with my father-in-law  and a planned Xmas night party at our house.

By today everyone was sick to some degree and I took the two little one's to the ER (I was unable to get a dr appointment) but nada on pneumonia - just bad respitory colds.

Anyhow, the Christmas Eve party was a lot of fun. I made mashed potatoes - peeled 'em and all - and the food was good and the company good natured.

There's pics of the day, and maybe I'll post them soon (inc. some pics of Lauren's first Christmas) but right now the baby's crying up a storm, the wife is sneezing and my sinus feel like they weigh as much as my belly . .

Woo. Gonna be a fun way to send off 2007.