Captain CMB

Manly Task #30

2012-01-30T09:25:00.001-05:00

My plan down in the basement was to build a really great entertainment area as part of the main wall. I built a custom cabinet that sits behind the wall. so the A/V unites are actually sitting inside the wall instead of on a shelving unit taking up room on the floor. Once it's completed it's going to be really great. The spot where the shelving unit meets the drywall had a pretty large gap which i figured would happen. I patched the gap and sanded it when the basement was finished but it never painted the area. The twins moved in downstairs and it sat for 2 1/2 years. I finally painted it this past week and it looks great. I had to create a line between the black shelf and the green wall and wanted it to look like the shelving was perfectly in line with the wall. I used masking tape and tape measure to make sure it was straight. It turned out really nice. I can't wait to get some major electronics in this room.

Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Nothing (touchup paint is extra from big projects)

Manly Task #14

2012-01-29T14:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend M and I did a large overhaul of Avery and Lillian's bedroom. We are moving towards a transition of Lillian into her own room but the first phase was getting her out of her crib. We transferred Lillian to her big girl bed (Avery's old bed) and built the bottom part of the bunk for Avery which is a full sized bed. The bunk bed was purchased several months ago on Craig's list at a really good deal but I knew it was going to need some screw tightening and refinishing to get it up to daddy standards for my little girl. We rearranged the bedroom and did a huge cleanup of toys and stuff. I really like the new room setup and the girls are really excited. Eventually I will build the top bunk and set it up but we are currently waiting on some parts to be mailed from the manufacturer. Maybe in a week or so (pictures to come as soon as it is built).

Difficulty: Easy/Medium (Bed building/repair, wall paint/hole touch up)
Cost: $100 for the bunk bed and $36 in parts.
Time: 6 to 8 hours.

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #3 & 4

2011-12-06T22:56:00.001-05:00

We have started transferring our office that is currently located in the master bedroom into the basement. It's a slow process but it's moving. I started to back track what needed to be done to clean out the office and realized that the drum set room closet needed to be done to make the transition a ton easier. So I jumped into the drum studio and did some cleaning and attacked the closet. I put the door knob on and spent a couple hours in the closet swearing, measuring, and hammering (not in any particular order). After everything was said and done I have three huge shelves hung and level. So here is the pict... with all my crap in there. Manly task #3 & 4, done.

Time - 3 to 4 hours (including painting shelves last summer)
Cost - Scrap wood (free), Paint - $20
Difficulty - Medium (mounting of shelves was tricky to get them level and secure)

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #23

2011-11-13T17:13:00.001-05:00

About 3 years ago the light bulb above the stove burnt out and I of course went to change it. Like with most jobs it should have been an easy quick switch but it didn't turn out that way. The glass of the bulb broke off and the metal part was left inside the socket (what I didn't know is that they glue the bulb so when the microwave/vent is in transport the bulb doesn't loosen up). It took some serious force using pliers and some swearing but eventually it came out. After the new bulb was installed I decided to change the other light as well since the bulb pack was a two pack and I now knew there was glue on it so lets just get it over with. So I went to change out the other bulb and it popped as I unscrewed it. I thought the light was off and I thought... hmm I must have blown a fuse since the lights didn't come on after that. I couldn't find a fuse and the lights didn't work anymore. Everything else was fine, just no lights. Come to find out, there is no fuse on the lights, there is just the circuit board and if you blow the board it costs about $160 to order a replacement. I didn't find out this last bit of information until just recently. So I felt pretty bad breaking the stove lights. You don't realize how handy lights are there until you don't have them. Recently we took a trip to Traverse City and Michele cooked and made a comment about the light above the stove and I knew I really needed to get ours fixed. I felt bad breaking it so I decided to figure it out.

After some serious research, I decided that it wasn't cost effective for me to buy a replacement part that would cost almost as much as a new microwave/vent system. A few years back I had set up a lighting system using under the counter lights for a cool desk system we used in our apartment for my computer that closed into a large hutch. I checked into prices and I could fix our stove lighting for about $40 using these same lights and they would have 3 different brightnesses as well. The trick would be rewiring the venting system for these lights. I went to good old Home Depot and found the lighting system needed and went to work. I took apart the light system and wiring under the microwave and began to run the wiring for the new lights. The hard part was running the wiring from the plug above the microwave down into the underside of the appliance. There was just enough give between the microwave and the cupboard to drop a line. I applied a new switch next to the cupboard and the microwave on the right hand side. It is a touch sensitive metal disk. The puck lights were place in the spot where the original lights were (I had to do some cutting of the metal light cover inside to fit the round light casing but it fits like a glove now). After the wiring below was done I set up the dimmer control in the cupboard and hooked up all the wiring. Plugged it in and we now officially have lighting above the stove again. It works great!

Repair time: 3 1/2 hours (or 3 years 3 1/2 hours but who is counting)

Cost: $40 (and a broken wine glass...oops)

Difficulty: Medium

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #31

2011-11-13T10:29:00.000-05:00

Two years ago we finished our basement so that Michele's sisters could live here while they went to GVSU. With that being said, we were in a hurry. I spent the entire summer (with huge help from Luke) putting walls up, wiring, carpeting, plumbing, HVAC, and dealing with inspectors (blog to come soon hopefully). The night I put on the last coat of paint was the evening before Lillian was born and the girls moved in right after that. So there were some loose ends down there that needed to be finished. The girls moved in and two years later have moved out and those loose ends are still down there so we are chipping away at them.

The fusebox door was a custom cabinet door I ordered and it took about 4 months to actually get it in. Once it was in I painted it white and brought it downstairs to mount and discovered that I didn't pick up the right kind of hinges. I tried to use cabinet hinges and because of the small amount of space on the left side next to the wall it wasn't going to be possible. I leaned the door against the wall and the Jess decorated around it and there it has sat for 2 years. So today I picked up a hinge and mounted the door.

Cost: $60 custom cupboard door, $5 parts
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 15 minutes (plus a drive to the hardware store)

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #1

2011-11-12T17:56:00.002-05:00

So, I can't take credit for this one. My list is always open to anyone willing to finish a project. This one goes to Michele! She put the shadowbox together a couple days ago and hung it up. It's really cute. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Michele put together a shadowbox for Avery a couple years ago while she was pregnant with Lil. The box contains the outfit Avery wore home from the hospital when she was born as well as some pictures and other miscellaneous things like a birth announcement. It's really unique and I look at it every time I go into the laundry and smile. We had hung a box for Lillian and stuck an ultrasound picture in there to tide it over until she was born with plans to do the same thing after she came home. Lil is now two and the box has been empty (to my mother-in-laws dismay). So Michele kicked it into high gear and put it together this past week. I like it. Here are some pictures. Task #1 is in the books.

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List

2011-10-23T12:56:00.002-04:00

Here is my list of tasks around the house that needs to be done that I explained in my previous post, "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The Explanation" This list will be updated as needed and will never end... ugh.

Make shadow box for Lillian - DONE 11-10-11
Transfer the office to the downstairs "New" office.
Put the door handle on the drum studio closet. - DONE 12-2-11
Put the shelving in the drum studio closet. - DONE 12-2-11
Clean out / set up the drum studio.
Clean out the garage and prep it for Fall/Winter
New carpet installation for master bedroom.
Paint / prep the master bedroom.
Move our bedroom to the master bedroom on the main floor.
Paint / prep Lillian's new bedroom.
Paint / pad Lillian's bench for her new room.
Move Lillian into her bedroom.
Paint touchup / prep Avery's bedroom.
Build Avery Bunk Bed / Lillian Big Girl Bed - DONE 1-23-12
Hang wall pictures on main stairway.
Set-up entertainment center in basement.
Sort/organize wiring for cable/phone box in storage room.
Clean up/organize storage room.
Refinish/stain the deck.
Power-wash the house.
Paint/touchup the front porch - Done 7/2010 but I want to post the picts in a blog.
New perimeter / extension on the swing set play area in back yard.
Fix Stove Range Lights - DONE 10-22-11
Total landscape makeover for the front and back yard.
Hang Christmas lights / Decorate exterior DONE 12/2011
Master Bathroom Paint / Makeover
Fix venting in master bathroom.
Fix heat fan in downstairs bath.
Deep cleaning on all of downstairs rooms.
Paint/touchup on downstairs entertainment shelving. - DONE 1-27-12
Install fusebox door cover. - DONE 11-12-11
Install basement quarter round.
Repad all kitchen chair feet.
Thoroughly clean all vent intake covers.
Fix Dining room vent.
Fix Shoe Chest/Coat rack hinge.
Print/Hang new family Picture
Paint Vanity for Avery's Room.
Install garage attic ladder-door.
Install flooring in garage attic.
Fix the grass barrier around the rocks under the deck.
Patch/Paint holes and marks on walls around house.
... more to come

Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The Explanation

2011-10-23T11:55:00.001-04:00

So I've decided to make a list of things that need to be done around the house. This list is going to be the basis for a series of blog postings that I will do when each one is accomplished. The posting could be as simple as a "done" all the way to full detail of what went down with pictures even. Please note... This is more for me, than for you and geared to keep me motivated and organize my thoughts. I also figure if let's say, "mow the lawn" or "build a bigger deck" is on the list and it magically happens because you read it and had some free time, I'm not going to stop you. You may also know people who could help or have opinions about certain daunting tasks like, "add a ladder-door and flooring to the garage attic." None the less, there is nothing like public admission of crap that needs to be done to help get it done. The list will be a running tab and I will check off things as they are completed.

On a side note... I know that it says, "Manly" in the title but don't give me a hard time if there is something like "give the girls a mani-pedi". Come on folks... we are living in a society where men and women can do anything... Just ask my mother-in-law, she is the destroyer of ALL tasks! ;-)

Wish me luck.

Here is the list. Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List

Has it really been more than a year?!?

2010-10-17T12:44:00.000-04:00

I am shocked!

I took a look and the last blog I posted was at the end of June 2009. Wow. So much is different. Such important stuff has happened over the last year. We finally finished the basement, the twins (M's two little (not so little) sisters moved into our basement to finish out their last two years of school, M's brother Sean married his true love Stephanie and have almost celebrated a year of marriage, an entire year of school went by and most importantly...Lillian our newest addition to the family. She has been in our lives now for 15 months and is walking and pointing, and of course developing an amazing personality. Avery is going into her 2nd year of pre-school and loves learning.

All family is well and life in general is wonderful...busy, but wonderful. I will give a whirl at blogging some more hopefully in the near future. It's nice to have this little spot that chronicles our lives. I need to be better at posting. Keep watching friends. I will try to post some stuff soon. I have plenty to talk about since a year has come and gone.

Much love to all of you!
We will talk soon.
Books

Avery...my baby girl.

2009-06-25T00:58:00.000-04:00

It seems that lately Avery has entered a phase most call the "Daddy Phase". I am going to call it the "Mini-Me Phase." This part of the childhood stage is an interesting one that in my life is filled with mostly love, but there are times when I would really like some alone time (I had a frustrated moment a couple days ago and all she wanted was to be close...I had to step back for a moment and remember that this is totally and completely out of love). It is an interesting time for me from two different perspectives. The first is the personal feeling of unconditional love from my little one. She pretty much only wants me to do everything for her, baths, bedtime, kisses & hugs, etc... She seeks me out in the house to just give me a kiss on the arm or give my leg a hug. When I sit down, she only wants to sit next to me, or on me. If I'm working in the office, she wants to sit on the desk just left of me on the desk and just be near me. Yesterday morning, I woke up with her head in the crook of my neck as if she couldn't get close enough to me when she came into our room in the morning. It's the most amazing feeling in the world to experience how much love can come out of this little one. It makes my heart swell every time she tells me she loves me.

The part that isn't so great is that I sorta feel bad for Michele. I feel like when Avery says she wants me to do something that it digs in a little with her. I know that deep down Michele knows this is a phase most little girls go through, but I still feel bad sometimes. I read her blog this evening about this subject and I know she gets it and sees to positive in it but still... I think the thing Michele needs to know is that when I stand back and watch Avery interact with her, love pours out of her for Michele as much as for me...She loves her so much, Aves is just going through a phase.

I will live this up for now because, I know that someday just for the simple fact that they are both girls, I will be a boy and that will make a difference. Right now I'm just Daddy.

I'll take it.
Books

I know it's been a while...

2009-06-25T00:30:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! I know I have taken a serious hiatus from blogging but it seems that life has been a bit crazy over the last few months and will be for the next several months. Let's just do a quick summary what has been up and then we will pick right back up where we left off. First things first. Bookie baby #2 is going to be born in 4 1/2 weeks! Since last I wrote I have also lost 25 pounds, had the death of a colleague/mentor teacher from the intermediate school, finished out my school year, built a swing set/play area for Avery (check out Michele's blog about it), did a backpacking trip w/ about 25 fifth/sixth graders, took a vacation to great wolf lodge (check out Michele's Great Wolf blog about that also), and finally completely emptied out the basement and I'm currently finishing the basement (studs/done, ceiling frame/1 more day and done...next electrical, then insulation, drywall, final plumbing, doors, carpet...and done)...gotta get it done before the baby arrives, and finally helping as much as I can for Michele. These are the major things on top of all the smaller things that happen in life.

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here...I've just been really busy. I will probably blog about some of the items above but I wanted you all to know that I'm still here...just trying to live life.

Take care all...I'll blog ya soon...hopefully.
Books

The Projects!

2009-03-26T21:46:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! I know I have been MIA but I'm back and ready to lay some more info on you. I don't know what the deal was but for the last 3 or 4 weeks, I have just felt like doing nothing. It seems that everything was a chore. Kind of a funny thing to say after posting my blog about "Just Do It", but well, life catches up and sometimes I guess sitting is ok. It's not that I haven't been doing stuff...I have just felt super tired. There have been some productive moments though. We actually trimmed this nasty crab apple tree in the back yard so that the kids could run around it and not hit any thorny branches (and I have the scars to prove it). I cleaned the Garage and we are ready for our spring/summer activities. I think I'm at a loss but hopefully things will pick up and I can get out of my super tired slump. It probably doesn't help that school is starting to wrap up and things are getting super busy.

Hopefully I will get around to another blog soon enough.
Take care everyone!
Books

Life Catches Up.

2009-02-22T23:09:00.000-05:00

This evening I said something out loud to my wife so that I could be held accountable for it tomorrow. I was driving home from a fun evening hanging out with the Tenneys and was thinking to myself, "I really need to be healthy. I have been putting off exercising for a long time but more recently, I have put off getting on our new elipitical for a solid week." My mother-in-law gave us it after finding one on craigs list (she had been looking b/c we had mentioned we were looking possibly for something to put downstairs to motivate us). Now I'm not going to go into details about how morbidly obese I am (we all know I'm not Mr. Skinnybones) but, I am going to say that something in my life has to change or I won't be here as long as I should.

So back to the car, I'm sitting there waging a small war in my head about exercising and I finally blurt out, "I'm getting on the elliptical machine tomorrow." I then proceeded to explain that I needed to say it out loud so that someone knew what I should be doing at some point in time after I got out of work. I am activating the "Just Do It" policy tomorrow on my exercising. My goal is 3 times a week. I'm not going on a diet, I'm making a life change. I'll eat better portions and exercise, I am eliminating Coke or the "dark master" as my friend Jamey calls it. I will have great weeks at this and I will have bad weeks at this but I'm making a positive life change and if I don't lose weight here and there who cares, as long as I can feel better physically than I do now. I know that tomorrow when I step off the elliptical, I will feel great and I just have to tell myself that as I start going up to change into my workout cloths (personally I found that that was harder than the workout most days). About 7 years ago I lost close to 80 pounds. I can do it...I've done it before.

I will start there. So now not only does my wife know, but the whole world knows (or at least the couple of people who read my blogs). I'll keep you posted here and there on how it's going.

Take care everyone!
Books

Just Do It - Not just for shoes anymore.

2009-02-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

This past Wednesday I was speaking to one of my colleagues at the Intermediate School and somehow we got on the discussion of procrastinating on projects and other things (like exercising). He said to me, "you know what Chris, I have a friend and he says to himself when he thinks of something that needs to be done, 'Just do it' and attacks whatever it is with a vengeance right then." We went on discussing how busy we are and how it just slides to the back burner and created a couple excuses for ourselves...you know, things like family, job, being tired. The thought stuck with me all day though and by the time I got home from work (and felt more tired than usual) I was standing in the kitchen after dinner looking at 3 or 4 "projects" that have been sitting for at least a month if not more. I stood there for a while looking at each thing and waged a war in my head. All I wanted to do was sit down but instead I said, "just do it." I started with the most intense project and worked my way down. Within an hour I had taken care of stuff that I had built in my head to be days worth of work. I felt relaxed and it felt amazing. It was almost like a drug.

Over the past couple days since "the incident" I have come home every day and tried to do at least one little thing that needs to be done eventually. It has put my mind at ease and I feel accomplished instead of feeling like a lump of fecal matter. I think that overall we don't see ourselves as a disappointment, but feel a little disappointed in ourselves when we let whatever it is, sit. We will let it slide, but somewhere in our minds it's taking a toll. We don't always realize it, or can't put our finger on why we feel something, but I think we do feel it.

So today, try to "just do it" with one little thing and tell someone what you did. You may find it gets contagious to you and your friends.

On a side note, I told my colleague the next day what happened and he decided that that evening was his night to get on the "Just do it" train. Good for him.

Talk to you all soon,
Chris (the recently accomplished)

I Love My Wife

2009-02-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

Last night was Valentines day and Michele and I decided to go out. If any of you know our situation right now, we aren't exactly rolling in the $, but we are making it work. So about a week ago when we discussed going out, we shuffled though our cup of cards and found two gift certificates that we had forgot about. One to the Cambridge House, a cool little bar/restaurant downtown Grand Rapids and we found a gift certificate to the movies. SCORE! The date was set. My wonderful Mother-in-law came in and took Avery for the evening and we went out. As I sat across from my wife I found myself staring at her and thought, "I am the luckiest guy in this place. I have found my soulmate." We both know that we aren't perfect but together she makes me perfect.

Now, I know my guy friends are probably gagging right now and thinking of how they are going to give me some serious crap, but I'm not saying that our life as a couple is always perfect. There are some times when Michele and I probably could ring each others neck...probably her ringing mine more than the other way but still, it happens. I just think that we have figured out one of the secrets to attempting to stay healthy as a couple and that is...talking to each other. I know...simple...but it seems to me that I have seen several marriages seriously suffer due to the lack of this simple action. We need attention from the ones we love and they need the same. Of course us guys are a bit different on the talking front, but each person needs to express themselves or the deal is going to go south at some point in time. There is a ratio of "not talking about it" placed against the duration of time that passes that you "don't talk about it" that equals the severity of the final confrontation of the subject. Don't think you can just sweep it under the rug...the subject, whatever it is will come up eventually. Discuss it early on (and tactfully...very important) and maybe there is some awkwardness/uncomfortableness that is over pretty quick after that, or attempt to discuss it after a 7 year buildup and see how that goes. I'll take a short awkwardness/uncomfortableness for a couple hours as apposed to never being able to work it out due to layers and layers of built up issues.

I want to spend the rest of my life with Michele. She told me last night that I am the cheese to her macaroni (we both know it's from Juno) but still cute. I will do whatever I can to make our lives happy and healthy and I will continue it today by declaring that I love this woman through thick and thin. I will always try my best to keep the lines of communication open with her and I know she feels the same.

We have talked about it.

Talk to you all soon,
Books

Sick of it!!!

2009-02-04T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well here we are, in the beginning of February. I'm just going to say it. I'm sick of winter. There, it's out. I'm not one of those people that just hate the snow, I think it's cool and enjoy some activities out there. The problem is that this winter has been so damn cold that winter activities have been slim to none. I have found myself on numerous occasions lately daydreaming of the warm sun beating down on my face as a refreshing breeze blows. I miss the beach, I miss the warmth, I miss the low gas prices (house, not car...heating a house is expensive...that is the new home owner in me still dealing w/ the sticker shock of my gas bill), I miss mowing the lawn...what, am I crazy!!! Today the sun is out and I thought to myself..."yes! It's warm out" and walked out to discover it is only 12 degrees.

We actually had a conversation with our friends the Tenneys and have agreed that from now on, each year we are going to plan a warm winter outing at the end of January or beginning of February and we will go to a hotel where they have a water park or something along that idea. Something like the Great Wolf Lodge or maybe at some point in the future a trip someplace warm (we will start small though). My batteries are drained and I could use a recharge. I think my family could too. We will have to see what can be done.

Sorry this blog is blah-tastic. Hopefully there is greener grass ahead...literally.

Talk to you soon.
Books

The Teacher In Me

2009-01-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

I know that Michele does Friday Quotables (1 & 2) but I have my own little funny story to share in regards to this little guy named Cal that she does daycare for. I hope it translates as well to this blog as it did in real life.

A couple days ago I came home from work and headed towards the office/spare bedroom to drop off some mail. As I entered, I heard the gruffy voice of 4 year old Cal, "Hi Chris" (his voice reminds me of Charlie Brown). He's chillin' on the bed, both hands behind his head watching some Backyardigans. I use the bathroom in the office and come out and Cal says, "I think I need to go too." I say ok and he walks by and closes the door. He says something through the door which I didn't quite understand and I say "what?" and it turns out to be something along the lines of don't go anywhere. I figure he's pooping and may need some backup.

A little part of the backstory is that a couple of days prior to this I overheard Michele talking about how she is working on Cal's wiping skills...something along the lines of make sure you wipe twice (this was actually revised recently).

So I hear the door open and look in and Cal looks at me half naked and says, "I need you to wipe me." I remember Michele's comment and tell him that I know she has been working on this with him and he should try. So standing up, he grabs one square and wipes but lets just say it's not an in-depth wipe and the square comes out clean. He throws it in the toilet and starts closing up shop. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," I say and tell Cal, "you need to wipe better than that and really get in there. Here I'll talk you through it." So I take him through some steps.

"First you need to get at least 3 squares and fold them up. Second, you are going to have to squat a bit so you can really clean where the poop comes out (I know, gross but it needs to be said). Third and finally, wipe and throw in toilet. Repeat at least 2 or 3 times until there is no poop on the paper." He does this just as instructed and is finished. He flushes and half naked jumps around and yells, "CHRIS!!!!! YOU REALLY ARE A TEACHER. WOW!" And on this day, both my bachelors and masters degree in education were officially confirmed.

The end.
Books

A Letter To My Daughter

2009-01-21T16:21:00.001-05:00

January 21, 2009

My beautiful daughter,

Yesterday I witnessed history in the making. You were there also but you are only two years old and don't understand yet. As you sat on your moms lap watching, as she cried tears of pride you asked "what's wrong mommy", and the answer was nothing, absolutely nothing. Everything was right yesterday, the wave that was created by this rock in the pond will ripple forever throughout our American history and I hope effect ours, and our future generations lives. The inauguration of a black man as the 44th President of the United States Of America was a large step towards a world I could only hope accepts all. Yesterday I felt national pride in my heart that I don't know if I have ever felt. It wasn't the kind of pride that come out of tragedy in September eight years ago. It was natural, raw, uninhibited pride in the people of our nation, the kind that inspires people to do great things. The feeling that anything is possible. I wan't with all my heart for this man to live up to his words more than any president I have lived through. I hope that you and I in four or maybe even eight years look back at yesterday and say this was the start of a brand new day in American history. I have hope for our future and some day we will talk about yesterday and what it meant to me and what it has done for you.

I love you Avery,
Your Daddy

Being Pregnant

2009-01-18T13:01:00.001-05:00

If you haven't heard yet, the Bookie family is expecting. Well I guess Michele is expecting but none the less we are all involved in the physical (as in how Michele is effecting our physical environment) and the mental aspects of the whole process. Not as directly as Michele but as we all know, our physical being effects all other physical entities in the house. Probably some of my blogs now will be in regards to pregnancy stories. Hopefully my wife won't kill me for things I say because sometimes they are funny even though she may disagree, but my viewpoint is this...if Michele can talk about me farting or at least alluding to me farting on her blog, than some things are fair game on my blog. Notice that I say, "some things." I am a smart man and I know where the line is...or at least enough of a line to keep me completely out of the dog house. Just know that if you see something one day and it's gone the next, the M.C.C. (Michele Communications Commission) has visited and sent a disapproval letter. In all seriousness I think it will be fun to talk about some of the stuff that is going on from my perspective. When Michele was pregnant with Avery there are some classic stories that came about, so maybe this time we can share them as we go. Most of them revolve around what Michele calls I.P.B. (Irrational Pregnancy Behavior), and a large chunk have to do with whether or not she has eaten within the correct time frame (I think I'm going to blog about a couple from when she was pregnant with Avery because they are pretty friggin' funny...now). I think that will do it for now.

Stay tuned kids! I will talk to you all soon.
Books

My Little Girl

2009-01-17T00:44:00.000-05:00

Michele and I have been trading who gives Avery a bath or who puts her to bed for quite a while. There are the occasional nights where one of us will do a double duty but for the most part we split this as much as possible. Lately if I do story time and the rock to bed it seems I can't escape the room without her waking enough to beg that I "yay down" with her. In her most adorable plead she says "please daddy" and works up a little drama. Now I know that I'm already wrapped around her finger and I know she knows this too but I love this very small but wonderful piece of snuggle time that we share. More than not I fall asleep in the bed, but before we do fall asleep she asks me to "dough uner daddy" which means lets pull the blanket over our head which she thinks is hilarious, or she moves in close and puts her arm around my neck and acts like she is sleeping by doing the stereotypical snoring sound. This is mixed in with multiple kisses either on my arms or my face and sometimes she rubs my face (I think she is trying to do the face tickle that I do sometimes to get her to sleep). I realize that mostly I just love the fact that I am a comfort to my daughter. She feels safe with me and she wants nothing more than some quality time with just her daddy. Most days this is the only time we spend just us and I cherish every moment. When she starts to settle down she turns her back to me and edges her butt up against me so she can make sure I'm there and soon after her breathing becomes very slow and deep and I know I can slip out of the bed. More than not I don't and I stay, "just a few more minutes for you and I" I think and we sleep. Usually I get a little tug on my toe from my wonderful wife and I go and snuggle with my other love. I am truly a lucky man. Life is good.

Books

A Strange Last Couple of Days.

2008-12-31T13:23:00.000-05:00

Well, life over the last few days has been very interesting. First I would like to preface all of this with saying that I have been coughing up junk for the last 3 weeks. The stubborn guy in me decided to fight this sickness the old fashioned way w/o taking any antibiotics. I just feel that with some people they get a small sniffle and they are taking prescribed medicine to cure it. I wonder if this is going to get our society in the long run. I wasn't that bad off but now it's just annoying. My caugh is non-stop. So I had that going for me and then yesterday the plague hit our family. Michele threw up in the morning and it didn't stop pretty much all day, and my stomach was feeling not so great and not to be gross but I wasn't throwing up, it was coming out the other end if you know what I mean. Then we got the call from the in-laws who were on their way to our house that Ron (my father-in-law) was feeling the same as Michele and the twins ended up having some stomach problems also. The only two who escaped the sickness were Debbie (my mother-in-law) and Avery (she was constipated though so unfortunately she wasn't feeling well either). Thank God for Debbie...she took care of Avery all day while we all just basically sat or slept. The good news is that it was only a 24hr bug and all of us are back to normal. I am hoping that the rest of my break will be uneventful when it comes to health.

I hope all of you are well.
I'll talk to you soon.

Books

The end of an era.

2008-12-27T19:32:00.000-05:00

I walk on stage and sit down behind my drumset. It's a beautiful woodgrain green color that reflects the multiple colored lights shining down from the top of the stage. A drumkit I bought a few years back to replace my expensive Yamaha Maple Custom drumset I was using at first with the "angry band" as my wife calles it. The final straw in buying the green kit was when one evening at a show a fairly drunk mo'hawk wearing young man jumped onto the stage and accidentally kicked my bassdrum as he leapt back into the crowd. The next day I went out to buy something that I wouldn't care if it took a kick or had some beer spilled on it. Back to the show...I can taste the smoke bellowing from the audience, I see a huge sea of faces and I look over at my good friend Sam wearing his 8 string bass and give him a smile saying, "this night is going to rock." I see the wild and erratic hair of my lead singer Ian bobbing as he screams his gritty profanity into his wireless mic. To my right out of a cloud of smoke walks Mitch wearing his cut off t-shirt and jeans and a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. The four of us are ready to slap the crowd with our music Ian has appropriately labeled, "Circuis Monkey Metal Music." Most say that Thieves' Cant. reminds them of System Of A Down. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't in my opinion. As I play my 50 minute set sweat pours down me as I play till my arms feel like jello and I destroy another set of sticks. I always find that I wake up the next morning blistered, bruised, and sore like I had ran a marathon, usually complaining that I'm too old for this. I always put everything I had into a show. That is the way it's got to be if you want the crowd to believe in what you are selling. I have watched Ian bleed for his art. He is a true showman and such a unique frontman in my opinion. It was no less for Mitch or Sam. Our sound was always bold, loud, distorted, and fun. I liked the songs of Thieves' Cant...if I didn't, I wouldn't have joined the band in the first place. I had my out, I was only a sub for them while they were trying to find another drummer. By the first show I was hooked and told them, "don't worry about finding someone else, I'm in."

So, 5 years and 8 months later I have taken my official leave from the band. The Captain has hung up his drumsticks and is calling it a rap. Sam decided it was time for him to move to Florida and I figured that this was the time for me to bow out. I have had alot of fun playing with these guys but my life has changed drastically since my start with the Cant. I have since married my beautiful wife Michele and soon after that we had my now 2 yr old daughter Avery. It is time that my time is for my family. I have also started to experience some hearing damage and found that it would take close to 3 weeks after a show for me to not notice the ringing in my ears (and that was wearing ear plugs). Fortunately my band mates were more than understanding about my departure and I am glad to know they have since hired a new bass player and drummer. I can't wait to see them in action. As far as I'm concerned, some of my showes with Thieves' Cant. brought me as close as I will ever know to being a "rock star." I am honored to have been a part of that era of TC. I know that I will miss playing with them but this is what is best for me and my family.

Just thought that you all would be interested to hear this info.
There is some news on the Bookie front.

Talk to you all soon,
Books

Bloggers Block

2008-12-27T18:46:00.001-05:00

My wife laughed at my comment when she asked when I was going to post again. I had only posted 1 blog as it was. I looked at her and I said..."I have writers block." I have been dishing up ideas left and right for her to write about but as soon as I get the gumption to write something, I sit and stair at the screen. I think my mistake is that I feel like I have to write the most epic, hilarious, heartfelt blog each time. I think that this blog needs to be about whatever is happening, and I need to remember that even the smallest things are worth sharing. There doesn't need to be a huge theme. Maybe some will be boring...maybe some will be epic. Whatever happens, happens. So there you go, my thoughts and reason for being delinquent.

Talk to you soon...
Books

Let's get this thing started.

2008-12-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

About a week ago, I suggested to my wife that she should start blogging about things going on in her life. She is a stay at home mom with our beautiful daughter Avery and also watches two little boys named Cal and Mason during the day. After reading a couple of her blogs, I thought it may be cool to do my own. So here it is, and here are my thoughts.

A couple things you should know about me and this blog. I am not the most eloquent man on the face of this earth and at some points this may come out in my blog. If it wasn't for spellcheck my wife would kill me for asking how to spell things. One of the many quarks and certainly not the least of what makes Michele shake her head at me. I am a music teacher and also play the drums professionally in a jazz trio. My daughter Avery is 2yrs 4months old and in my opinion is the smartest kid ever (sometimes too smart for her own good). I would like to paint a picture for you of my life that is true to what my friends and family see. I don't know about your family, but mine cracks me up. Hopefully I can do them justice in this blog.

Well, I think that's it for today. I'll talk to you soon.

CMB