Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday was Thanksgiving. The day we celebrate the fact that the Europeans came to the new world and took it from the natives. Or something like that…

Our day was pretty good. Band Mom had to get up early and head to her mom’s for her thrice daily trips. I got up with her and then swiftly fell back to sleep for a couple of hours. When I did get up it was basically a lazy day. Band Mom had the cooking under control. Things 1 & 2 and I just kicked around the house and goofed off for most of the day. We all eventually got showered and cleaned up. Pooh had spent the morning and first half of Thanksgiving with her dad’s side of the clan. Around 3 Band Mom had her second trip to her mom’s. The food was coming along nicely and we were getting ready for dinner.

Pooh stopped at home and then went to pick up Band Mom’s Mom. She was feeling up to coming over for dinner. That was something everyone was thankful for. Until the final hour we weren’t sure if she was going to be feeling up to coming over for the Thanksgiving dinner. My folks were down in Carolina with my sister for the holiday, so it was just the 6 of us for dinner. Band Mom did a great job on the food. The turkey was juicy and tasty. We all ate until we were about to explode. Is that what Thanksgiving is? Just a free pass day to indulge in one of the seven deadly sins, glutony?

After the meal, Pooh then took Band Mom’s Mom back home. Band Mom was whipped and laid down for a nap. When Pooh returned, she and I started on the clean-up. Band Mom woke up a couple of hours later. We all kinda kicked around for a bit. Then Things 1 & 2 headed to bed. Band Mom and I headed to her mom’s for the final visit of the day around 10:30/11. After the visit we headed to the casino for a bit. Not much to be thankful for there…

We didn’t stay long since Band Mom had to be back at her mom’s by 9 the next day.

All in all we had a pretty good Thanksgiving. We have plenty to be thankful for. We have a happy, healthy family. I’m still working through this crappy economy. We have enough to pay bills, and still have fun. Hopefully, by next year, we have the same to be thankful for.

Hopefully all of you out there had a good Thanksgiving, and have some things to be thankful for!

Late Day, Early Morning And Then Crappy Football

Friday, I got to go to work at noon. That was nice. I slept in a little over an hour versus a normal work day. I dropped Thing 2 at school. I then spent the morning sitting around watching some DVR and goofing on Facebook. Finally around 11:30 I headed out to work. I had some things to take care of at the office. Then around 3 I packed up and headed out. I had to go to our other location to help with a move. IT was responsible for moving anything IT related. We got there and started doing what needed done. Then we kinda got held up by the fact that they weren’t done working yet. And the fact that apparently only IT actually had a plan of attack for the move. We ended up working til around 8PM though. After we got done what we could we hit the bar for about an hour. At 9 I left the bar and called Band Mom on my way home. I met her at her mom’s and picked up the kids and headed home.

After we got home I fed the dog an walked him, then got myself some dinner. I watched a little TV and chatted with Band Mom when she got back from her mom’s. I then headed to bed since on Saturday I had to be back to work for the move at 5AM.

5AM?!? Damn, I have trouble getting to work by 9 on a good day…5AM?!?. So I got up a little after 4:30 and got dressed and headed to work. The goal was to get most of the stuff that we couldn’t do last night ready to go by 6 or so, when the rest of people were showing up, then coming back later in the day to set up the new location. We got kinda lucky and were able to work straight rather than leave and come back. Although every now and then there was a lot of standing around waiting on others. Around 8:30 I ducked out for a bit.

I stopped on the way home and picked up some Burger King breakfast for the fam. I came home so that Band Mom could do her morning med run to her mom’s without having to drag the girls along with her. After a little over an hour I headed back to work. We worked for another couple of hours but by noon, it was obvious there would be more standing around waiting than working so most of the IT folks (including me) got to head home. I got home and took a shower. Then I laid down for a little bit.

Okay, more like 2 and a half hours. I got up and didn’t have much energy left. I sat around for a bit and just hung out with Band Mom and the kids. Finally we needed to decide on dinner. We ended up heading to USA Steak Buffet. After dinner we went to Target to look for some stuff. Then we stopped at Band Mom’s Mom’s for her night time med run. After that it was home and in for the night.

Sunday, Band Mom and I accidently slept in. Neither of us set an alarm so she was behind on heading to her mom’s for the morning med run. The rest of the day was spent mostly being lazy and a little bit of stuff around the house. I watched the Steelers game at 1. I almost wish I hadn’t. They lost to the Chiefs in a pathetic game. Band Mom ended up making some salmon for dinner, that surprisingly everyone liked. After dinner it was a little DVR and then bed since its back to work/school on Monday.

What To Do On A Sunday?

Sunday, somehow, Band Mom and I woke up early. We got up and headed out for breakfast. We hit the buffet at Ponderosa. After breakfast we headed over to Band Mom’s Mom’s to give her her morning eye drops. After that it was a little before 11. We were awake, had no kids, and the Steelers weren’t playing until 1. What do we do? Well its not like we went to the casino on Friday or twice on Saturday.

So we decided to head to the casino. We figured Sunday morning should be different…soo….Well it wasn’t really that different, but we did run in to a friend and we all had a good laugh at how sad it was that we were all there on a Sunday morning.

After a couple of hours at the casino we headed home and I watched the Steelers game. I should have just stayed at the casino since I had to suffer through watching the Steelers losing the game to the Bungles for the second time this season.

After the game though I headed up to Double D’s house. He was having some people over and lighting up a bon fire. That was a lot of fun, and eased the pain of the game. After hanging out there for a couple of hours, I headed over to my folks’ to pick up Things 1 & 2. I took them home, they got showered and ready for bed. Then I watched some DVR before heading to bed myself.

Birthdays, Old Friends, And Gambling

Saturday Pooh got up early and went to her dad’s to meet up with that side of her family for a birthday breakfast. The rest of us got up when Band Mom had to run to her mom’s for her morning dose. We all kicked around the house for a while before starting to get showered and ready to go. Finally Pooh was back and we were all ready to go.

Pooh went and picked up Band Mom’s Mom, and the rest of us took our car. Band Mom’s Mom wanted to get together at Red Lobster for her birthday lunch. My parents also met us there. We had a nice lunch and all celebrated Band Mom’s Mom and Pooh’s birthdays. After the meal, Things 1 & 2 left with my parents. They were off to some festival and then spending the night with Grandma and Grandpap. Band Mom, Pooh and I took Band Mom’s Mom home. It was close enough to time for her mid day drops so Band Mom gave her her meds before we left.

We made a quick stop at home for Pooh to grab some stuff, then we were off to drop Pooh back at school. At least that was our original plan. Pooh wasn’t feeling so hot. We figured we could get her home so she could drop her stuff off do a quick change, and then take her to work though. Except, we didn’t plan on the traffic. It was early (between 3 & 4) but traffic was already getting heavy because of the 7:30 Pens game an the 8:00 Pitt game. So we decided to take her straight to work.

By the time we got to where she works it was about 5 minutes before her shift….and…she was literally green. There was no way she was going to be able to work. So we sat in the car and she called into work to call off. The manager gave her a hassle about it. Short notice and all, but I wouldn’t have felt comfortable if she was serving me food…So then we jumped across the river and dropped her at her dorm.

After dropping her off, Band Mom and I were trying to figure out what to do. It was around 4:30. We had to be at her mom’s by like 10 for her nightly drops. A roommate of mine from college and his wife were coming into town (Pittsburgh) for the Steelers game on Sunday, and wanted to get together with us tonight, but we weren’t sure when they were getting in. If we headed all the way back to Washington, would we really want to come back to Pittsburgh?

So we decided to check out the Rivers Casino. We have talked about checking it out for a while and we’ve been in Pittsburgh upteen times and never actually stopped. We figured it would be a good way to kill some time and when my friends got in we could meet up with them somewhere. We weren’t there 15 minutes when my buddy called. The had just gotten to their hotel. They saw the Rivers on there way into town and were going to ask us if we wanted to meet them there. I let them know we were already there so they said they’d be there shortly.

A little bit later they showed up and we chatted for a while. My buddy and I had a few drinks and caught up on the past few years. Band Mom wandered off to play the slots and my buddy’s wife played some too. I also played, but not as much. I spent more time drinkin’ and talkin’. Finally it was after 9. We all four hung out and chatted for a while longer then we needed to get back to Band Mom’s Mom. We took my friends back to their hotel, then headed back to out town.

We took care of Band Mom’s Mom. Then headed home. Not for the evening though. Band Mom changed into more comfy clothes and I fed and walked the dog. Then we headed out to our casino. Neither of us was particularly impressed by the Rivers. Maybe it was because we know our way around the Meadows and we know where our favorite machines are. But there were a couple of other reasons we weren’t impressed with the Rivers. For Band Mom the big issue was that the smoking section was much smaller and there weren’t many if any games in the smoking section that she liked. It was also nosier and more chaotic. And to me the games weren’t grouped in a logical manner. It seemed they were just kinda dropped hodge-podge on the caino floor. But we “needed” to feel the comfort and love of our regular haunt for a few hours before finally heading home and going to bed. It was early for us when we got home since we started earlier than the night before…

Busy Week Comes To An End

This past week Band Mom was running ragged. It was chemo week for her mom. Also since her mom had eye surgery the previous week, she had to administer eye drops to her mom 3 times a day. So needless to say she was running around alot this whole week. She was due a much needed break. In the afternoon, Band Mom went and picked Pooh up. She was coming home for the weekend since her birthday was Monday and Band Mom’s Mom’s birthday was Saturday.

After work I came home and we all got ready to go. Pooh wanted to go to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. Band Mom and I treated the kids to a dinner there. On the way there we stopped at Wal Mart. Band Mom needed to pick up some paint for the Chamber’s Christmas parade float and some other little things.

After dinner we came home and all kicked around the house for a while. Around 9, Band Mom headed over to her mom’s do administer the 3rd dose of the day. When she came back she needed to lay down for a bit. Thing 1 wasn’t feeling great and she fell asleep on the couch not long after Band Mom went to lay down. Then Pooh began painting the boxes for the float along with help from Thing 2. It took them a couple hours to paint all the boxes and they were both covered in paint by the time they were done.

After painting was done, Thing 2 headed to bed, and Band Mom was waking up again. I got Thing 1 to bed and Band Mom and Pooh sat around and chatted for a while. Since Band Mom had had like a four hour nap she was up now. So around 2 as Pooh was heading to bed, Band Mom twisted my arm and we headed to the casino. We spent a couple of hours there and then headed home and went to bed.

Weekend Activities

Friday there was nothing on the plans. We decide to eat in. We made pizza at home with the kids. Now its not like we made it all from scratch, but the kids enjoy making their own pizza. We had some Pillsbury pizza crusts. We rolled them out and then Things 1 & 2 spread on the sauce, added the cheese and pepperoni. We baked them up and had pizza for dinner. Other than Band Mom having to go over to her moms briefly, nothing besides hanging around the house happened Friday night.

Saturday we all got up early for our house on a Saturday. Really, everyone on their own was up and out of bed before 10. Band Mom had to head to her mom’s at around 9 to administer eye drops. When she got home, she did a little cleaning. I did a little bit of raking with some help from Thing 2. Thing 1 had a big day with cheerleader appreciation and the championship game happening. The weather was awesome for a November day. It was in the upper 60s. Finally noon rolled around and we started to get going.

Band Mom didn’t come to the days events, since she had some stuff around the house to do and another trip to take to her mom’s. I took Things 1 & 2 to the stadium. We had to be there early since Thing 1’s squad wanted to practice a little before their routine. So we were there by 12:15. Thing 1 went off with her squad and Thing 2 and I got some seats and met up with my parents. The 6 & 7th grade consolation game was still going on.

When that game finished they started the cheerleader appreciation activities. Basically all the cheer squads were introduced and got to do a routing. Some more involved than others. Our squad did like a 5 minute thing. Some of the others had these big elaborate productions that seemed to last forever. It was a couple of hours of sitting to see Thing 1 cheer for 5 minutes…Yeah! Even after our girls were done, we couldn’t leave since the 4 & 5th grade championship game was after the appreciation stuff.

The cheer stuff finally ended. Thing 2 was getting bored and hungry so we hit the concession stand for some food and drink. Then back to our seats for the game. Thing 1’s team ended up losing, but it was a close game. There was no score until 1:30 left in the game. Then we got the ball and worked all the way down to the 2 yard line. With only 15 seconds left on the clock our team threw an interception and that was basically it. Thing 1 wasn’t upset that they lost, she was just happy to cheer.

Now for the whole time we were there (close to 5 hours) Thing 2 was working Grandma and Grandpap. She wanted to go to there house after the game and spend the night. This wasn’t on the plans, but also wasn’t an issue for me. The grandparents gave in (of course) and Thing 2 was up for it as well. So after the game, may dad dropped my mom and Thing 2 at the mall. I took Thing 1 home to change and then my dad came to pick her up. And off they went.

Band Mom and I then kicked around for the afternoon. Eventually, the week caught up with Band Mom and she laid down for a few hours. I got caught up on some DVR while she napped. By 9 she was up and we headed over to her mom’s for the last eye drops of the day. Then we hit Wal Mart to get some minor things we needed around the house. Then back home. Well almost anyway. After we got home, I had to run back to Wal Mart since I left something at the register. Then I got back home and we got ourselves cleaned up and ready to go.

Around midnight we headed to the casino for a while. I didn’t have a good night there, Band Mom did okay though. After a few hours of fun we headed home and to bed.

Sunday, Band Mom got up and headed to her mom’s for the eye drops again. I got up slowly and just kicked around the house. Band Mom got home and decided she was going to make breakfast for the two of us. Fried eggs and homemade hashbowns. She did an great job on the hashbrowns. She can do that anytime she want. Yummy. It was another nice day, but Band Mom and I just lazed around inside for the majority of the day. Things 1 & 2 didn’t get home until after dinner at my folks’. After they were home I did another Wal Mart run. Band Mom had to head back to her mom’s yet again around 9. The kids got showered and ready for bed. They don’t have school on Monday, but need to be up anyway for Band Mom’s 9AM trip her mom’s and then her mom’s chemo. Band Mom and I watched a little TV before I headed to bed.

A fun weekend and and and extra day for the kids on Monday. For me back to work…

Anniversary Weekend

Friday we had nothing really going on. After Things 1 & 2 got home from school and I got home from work, we all got our stuff together and headed out. We picked up Band Mom’s Mom and took her to the bank. Then we stopped at PetSMart to pick up some stuff for our cats. Finally we headed to dinner at Eat N Park. After dinner we took Band Mom’s Mom home and then headed home ourselves. We spent the evening just hanging out around the house and watching some tube.

Saturday was the big day. Halloween AND Band Mom and I’s 11th Wedding Anniversary. When I got up Band Mom asked me to go to Sam’s Club to pick her up some new contacts. While out I also stopped at Wal Mart to pick up some flowers to give to Band Mom. And I hit McDonald’s to get the fam some breakfast. I got home, gave Band Mom her flowers and we all ate.

Our Anniversary plans were looking a little shaky as Band Mom was not feeling well. She had a crazy headache and some nausea. Thing 1 had her last regular season game to cheer for at 12:30. She got ready and then I took her. Band Mom was originally planning on going, but felt bad enough to opt out. Since it was raining, Thing 2 stayed home with her. We got to the game and She cheered with only a little trouble from her ankle. (see this post for info on the ankle) I was soaked to the bone by the time the game was over and we headed home.

Thing 1 ended up then taking a nap. Band Mom was also snoozing hoping to feel better after a nap. Thing 2 and I hung out and watched some TV for the afternoon. Finally we had to get moving again. I got showered and ready. Thing 1 got her costume on and ready to go. Then I took her to her friends house for a Halloween party/sleepover and group trick or treating. After dropping her off I headed back home.

Then it was time to get Thing 2 dressed in her costume. I ended up throwing on some costume muscles and a Steelers jersey as my costume and the 2 of us went out trick or treating. The weather was nice this year. No rain, no snow, an not too chilly. So we ended up going farther than we have in past years. She made out like a thief. She had a recockulous amount of candy for a six year old. After we finished the rounds in our neighborhood we headed home.

Band Mom was finally up and moving and getting ready for the evening. I then took Thing 2 to my parents neighborhood. We trick or treated there for a little bit and then I left. My folks were keeping her for the night so when I left she was helping my dad hand out candy to the trick or treaters.

When I got home Band Mom was slowly getting ready. I took care of the dog and then we started figuring out our plans for the night. We were originally going to head into Pittsburgh and have dinner at Houlihan’s and visit Pooh at work. Then possibly head over to the Rivers Casino for some slot action. But Band Mom was feeling better, but a little worried. She didn’t want to head into the ‘burgh and then get ill again and be stuck so far from home. This happened to her years ago when some friends from mine from college were in town and we headed to the city to bar hop and she spent a couple of hours in a dirty bathroom of some Strip District bar…not fun for her.

So we decided to stay local. Our next question was what to we want for dinner then? We decided to try Bistecca. Oh, did we ever make the right choice. Dinner was excellent! Band Mom had a Filet Oscar, and I had Lobster Ravioli. They were both delicious. The only bad thing was it was so filling we didn’t have any room for dessert and the desserts looked awesome…We spent a little more than if we would have stuck to our original plan, but it was soooooo worth it.

And as an added bonus, since Bistecca is located on the sky level of the casino we didn’t have to travel far for the rest of our evening. Just a mere elevator ride.

As far as the casino goes, if we would have left after the first hour there, we would have walked out with more money than we started with. Not a lot more, but more. But what fun is that? We don’t go to win money (though it would be nice) we go to have fun. So we stayed longer…a lot longer actually. Luckily it was also the end of daylights saving time, so we got home an hour earlier, than we would have otherwise. 😉

Sunday Band Mom and I slept in pretty good…duh. We kicked around the house for the day and did a little clean up, but not much. Most of the day was spent just hanging out. My folks had picked up Thing 1 from her party for us so we were kid free all day. Plus the kids decided to stay and have dinner at my folks’ so dinner for us was just some quick burgers on the grill. What a step down from Bistecca 😦 The kids came home after dinner and everyone just hung out and eventually got ready for bed since it was back to the grind on Monday.

11 years with Band Mom. Its hard to believe. But I’m glad we’ve made it and I hope we make it much much longer…Love you Band Mom!!! ❤ ❤ ❤