It's the little things

It's the little things in life that really put a smile on my face.

Will was given the video game Spore for his birfday back in November. He was overwhelmed with gifts at the time so just recently started playing it. It is a game of evolution that takes the player through five stages: cellular, creature, tribal, civilization, and space. It's a charming little game and is quite addictive.

Anyway, while he was playing it the other night he was in the space stage and was talking to an alien. My ear picked out something in the background music that seemed familiar. I turned up the speakers and was washed over with memories. The song playing in the background was the theme song from the game M.U.L.E.

Waaaay back in 1983 a little-known company named Electronic Arts (yeah, the same mega-huge game company of the same name as today) release a game called M.U.L.E. It, like so many games back then, was short on graphics but made up for it with ingenuity. Really, it was a crap game. But, oh, how much time I did spend playing it. And that music played in the background every time I fired the game up. I'm sure any geek knows of the game if they haven't had the pleasure to play it themselves. I may go try to find a playable version of it somewhere...

BTW, Will is doing fine. I blogged about it over at Concretins.com and sadly neglected to update The Haps by not linking to it...

Drama at the NoShow house

Thanks to all for the well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers (and food... YUMMY!). We love you all!

Emergency appendectomy

Well, by the time I finish this post Mr. Will.i.am should be about an ounce lighter. He went back a few minutes ago to have his appendix removed. Poor little guy was in pain and seemed pretty scared (although he was doing his best to not show it). He really perked up when Kelsey walked into the room. I'm so glad he was able to see her before the procedure. I know it really gave him a boost :)

Of course it can get worse...

... but does it really have to?

On the heels of everything else that has gone on (Kelsey's frontal lobe, Jooj's never-ending antibiotics ride, bro-in-law employment termination news, ice and water damage, Jooj's "worst teaching day ever" yesterday) we just got word that Will.i.am is at Kosairs Children's Hospital. He's there with his father waiting to see a surgeon. He's been suffering abdominal pain the last 48 hours and they are waiting to speak with a surgeon. Appendicitis? Who knows?

Jooj called and is just pulling up at the hospital. My boss is in town and we had dinner plans but they may have to wait until his next visit. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I know that there are plenty out there who have suffered greater misfortune but we've been on a bit of a wild ride... and I'm a little tired.

Bad news times two

Weird day yesterday.

Jooj met up with Kelsey and her father for her doctor appointment. They walked in with questions about her tics. They walked out with a diagnosis. Poor Kelsey suffers from Frontal Lobe Epilepsy. She's on the same meds as dad. Jooj, like any mom wanting nothing but the best for their child, took it pretty hard. I txt'ed Kels but never heard back. My guess is that she just wants to get back to normal life (as normal as it can be for a 15-year old grrrl).

Later, when I was telling her the news about Kels, my sister Melisss told me that her husband will be losing his job. She gave me a loose timeframe of the next 60 days to 18 months. We both agreed that he's a smart chap with his MBA and shouldn't have too much trouble finding new employment.

When I spoke with him later the situation seemed a bit more grim. He keeps his job until March 6th and that's it. He gets some time with full pay and then some time with severance. But I'm sure he won't be able to relax and enjoy it in this shaky economy and with another mouth on the way (did I mention that Melisss just found out she's preggers with number 2?).

I took a beat-down over the weekend

Will and I met up with his friends on Friday to play some reball. It is basically paintball but the ammo is a little rubber ball rather than a hollow rubber ball filled with paint. The balls still hurt like paintball - maybe even more.

It was indoor and setup with inflatable obstacles much like I've seen during paintball championships on ESPN. The action was fast and the games were decided rather quickly. I am pretty certain that I left off the evening with more "kills" than I had "deaths" and that is a good thing.

I hurt. And it's not because of the rubber balls - although I do have my fair share of black and blue welts. I hurt because of the running, squatting, and sliding I did on the turf. My quads are killing me. I can't walk without looking like I've been riding in the saddle all day. They feel like they've suffered horrific stabbing wounds from a Rambo knife. I could barely walk down the stairs yesterday. I guess I'm getting old. I'm definitely out of shape. Warm weather and skate sessions can't come soon enough.

That said, I can't wait 'til Will invites me to go again. It was a blast!

Parties and Pix

Happy Birthday, LaLa! My oldest niece turns 21 later this week. We went over to Pat and Kim's tonight for a party with family and friends. Pat made a pasta dish that he is quickly becoming synonymous with and his dip was killer too. It was real fun and always a pleasure to see that side of the family :)

And here are links 'cause they've been out there but I haven't published the links anywhere:

Christmas 2008 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/82306288@N00/sets/72157612377196044/

Tampa Vacation - http://www.flickr.com/photos/82306288@N00/sets/72157612379329262/

New Years Eve - http://www.flickr.com/photos/82306288@N00/sets/72157612330478447/

Enjoy the pix, friends and family!

(Love ya, Kim ;)

OMVG, I'm so tired

Jooj and I took a load to the tree drop-off place today. It took us 15 minutes to load the limbs and then we waited an hour to dump them. Bad idea. So we came home and started to bundle them again. Ugh. Not a good idea either. We bundled about 15 and gave up. I decided that we were going to just to pile up the limbs in the yard onto the driveway and go from there. We stacked limbs five feet high in a pile that was twenty feet long.

The amount of limbs that fell in our yard after this ice storm is, literally, enough to make up a tree. I am not exaggerating. I am not using hyperbole. I may even be underestimating the amount of limbs - just so you believe me when I say it. I know that in this day and age it's hard to take something someone says at face value. But trust me, value what I say like you do my face :)

We showered and ate lunch after three hours of work. I fought the nap but eventually succumbed. And Jooj told me that I snored like a champion. Viking A!

"Did you wear your fucking hat?"

These were the words that I heard from my nephew Patrick. I was talking to my brother-in-law during his Super Bowl party and telling him that it was a pleasure watching the game with him. I told him that it wasn't as fun as the times we've gone to Gerstle's to watch the Vikings but it'll do. And then Patrick asked, "Did you wear your fucking hat?"

I was stunned. I gravely asked him, "What did you say?"

"Did you wear your fucking hat?" he repeated.

Was I drunk? Impossible! I was only on my second beer and had only just finished gorging myself on egg rolls, chicken wings, cheese dips, buffalo wing cheese dip, and other assorted decadent treats. My mind raced to determine what my next step would be. Should I play the part of concerned parent and ask him not to use that kind of language (he's only 14, mind you)? Should I blow it off and pretend I didn't just hear the F-bomb? Should I ask him to repeat himself again and allow him the chance to F-bomb me a third time?

But then my mind switched gears and went into translation mode. What could he have meant that phonetically sounded similar? And then I got it...

"Did you wear your Viking hat?" is what he was asking me. I started laughing. And I kept laughing. And he kept managing to slip the word Viking in the conversation. And I laughed even harder. Whew!

So I relayed the story to his father. And then his mother (hey Kim!!). And then the story made the rounds throughout the house. Before I knew it, everyone in the house was dropping F-bombs - but instead using V-bombs.

"I can't Viking believe that call."

"Shut your Viking mouth so I can listen to the Boss!"

And so on. Oh my, what Viking night :)

Power is back... cleanup begins

Power came back on at approximately 2 PM yesterday. That put our power outage at approximately 102 hours without power. Sheesh! But we stayed two nights with my parents and then two nights with her parents. At least we weren't relegated to spending any time in a shelter. It was not pleasant but it was not horrible either. But we were able to get things in order and make it to Jim and Suzanne's Super Bowl party. And I'm so glad we did. It was a blast.

But now cleanup begins. Dad is coming over at noon and we're going to tackle the fallen limbs. Should be fun :(