Turkey brings us all together

Thanksgiving was awesome, as always. This was the first major holiday without my grandmother, who passed earlier this year. We all gave thanks for our health and the closeness of our family. Grandma’s passing allowed distant parts of my fam to get back together, healing a rift that had existed for almost ten years. My family is now four people larger (seven if you count pets) and happier than ever.

Today is Black Friday, so we all stay away from the retailers to avoid post turkey stress disorder. We all stuffed ourselves pretty well last night with some fantastic turkey that took seven hours to cook and all the normal accompaniments. Next year I’m aiming to cook one of these bad boys:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

 

Erie government reps listen…and call back

As Pennsylvanians, we all know about the Pennsylvania state budget impasse. In fact you probably have a friend, family member or neighbor that’s been directly affected by it in some way. Some families are looking to tighten their belts even more in these dangerous economic times.

My wife will soon be affected if there is no resolution in Harrisburg soon. Her agency is funded by state dollars that will stop flowing shortly. At the urging of one of her co-workers, she wrote letters to her government representatives in Harrisburg. Don’t you remember writing a letter to your Congressman or to the President when you were in elementary school? Don’t you also remember not getting a response back? (maybe it was just me)

We were both shocked when House Representative John Hornaman called my wife directly. He said he was working as hard as he could to get the situation resolved and he very much appreciated reading her feedback regarding the whole issue.

Government officials DO listen!

I know we’re not the only ones that are hoping for a speedy decision. I feel if the state government was filled with John Hornamans, we wouldn’t be in this spot in the first place.

 

Master Plan

Take a look at my Flickr gallery (flickr.com/jmccullor) and you’ll see my backyard transformation from plain grass and weeds to a completed patio. Outdoor home improvements have been on my project list for quite a while and I finally had the spare cash and motivation to get some things crossed off the list.

Next on the list is to plant some native grasses I bought from the Tom Ridge Environmental Center and fill in around the patio edges. I don’t think I’m going to purchase any annuals this year except for some hanging baskets. Annuals are a waste of money in my opinion, and if you plan your perennial gardens well enough you won’t need to buy any flowering plants at all. Easier said than done I know!

 

Holiday Detox

My wife and I were among the 40 million Americans that travel more than 50 miles to visit family during the past couple days.  Luckily, our families are within about an hour drive, making them close but just far enough away.  We left Erie on Thursday morning and arrived back in Erie Friday evening. 

The Thanksgiving menu:
Appetizers consisted of a pepperoni/cheese platter, hot sausage dip (that is still giving me heartburn) with crackers and Fritos, shrimp with cocktail sauce and enough beer and wine for a platoon.  For the actual dinner we each had a part of a 22-pound turkey (roasted for seven hours and baked for one), inside and outside-the-turkey stuffing, two different kinds of potatoes, crescent rolls, cranberries, green bean casserole (my fave), acorn squash and two different kinds of pies with Cool Whip of course.  

After our trip and eating like a king and queen, my wife and I are in need of a massive food detoxification.  We’ve been eating nothing but gravy-covered, potatoed, salty turkey and it’s regular accomplices.  I know that’s what this of time year is all about but I’m ready to eat nothing but salads and water for the next week to get myself back on track. 

All in all, I can’t wait to do it next year as we visit the nearby relatives again!

 

Back to work I say!

Now that the holidays are gone its back to life as usual…thank GOODNESS.

 I truly enjoy going to visit my family for the holidays but I also enjoy heading home to my own bed.  Between Christmas and New Year’s I slept on three different beds and an air mattress.  We were nomads circling through Western New York and Northwest Pennsylvania. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing my family and old friends especially this year.  The weather conditions were favorable and a high school reunion of sorts took place for the first time in a long time.  Still, there’s still something to be said about sleeping at your own house and in your own bed. 

It was even nice returning to work and getting back into the regular routine (as regular as can be with me).  What the heck did I just say?  Yeah that’s right, I’m happy to be back to work and amongst my co-workers and professional associates in my work world.

Maybe one of these days everyone can come visit us.  Our time will come soon enough.

 

2007’s List of Cool Stuff According to Me

You find all kinds of “Best Of” lists at the end of each calendar year.  I compiled my list consisting of eleven (not ten) different things I thought were cool in 2007 in no particular order.  Well, I guess it’s the order that I remembered them if that counts:

 1.  Our first house.  It’s great to have a place that’s finally “ours”.  I was getting really tired of off-white walls everywhere.

2.  Old friends reunion.  I met up with some friends I haven’t seen in eight years recently and it was just like old times.  Thank goodness to myspace and facebook.

3.  Found a new watering hole.  Many thanks to Chris Sirianni and his crew for making some excellent beer at The BrewErie at Union Station.  My favorite entree is the ‘Train Wreck’ and my favorite brew: a Blondie.

4.  My brother is engaged!  He found a fantastic girl that makes him incredibly happy.  I can’t wait to embarass the hell out of him during the best man’s speech.

5.  Bye bye stupid debt.  Yeah you heard me, I finally got my head screwed on the right way.  One word eluded me for a long time: BUDGET.

6.  The Boston Celtics are back!  After the best start in who knows how long, I have a reason to watch the NBA again.

7.  Made more money than last year.  Always a good thing

8.  The iPhone.  They’re in Erie now.  Keep your hanky close to continually wipe your fingerprints off it.

9.  The Patriots went 16-0.  Real fans follow teams that dissapoint, like the Bills or the Browns.  I hope the Patriots can handle the mounting pressure of perfection though.

10.  Transformers, the Movie.  My boyhood toys come to life, $321 million worldwide and hopefully a sequel.  I was sad when Jazz died though.  Just wait until the G.I. Joe movie!

11.  Motorcycle license!  I’m hell on wheels…without the wheels.

Enjoy a happy and safe New Year!  See you in 2008.

 

I’ve been a bad, bad boy

Sorry for the continual blog silence as of late!  I’ve been somewhat of a crazy man the past couple weeks wrapping up 2007 and taking care of some family things.

 Speaking of family – my brother became engaged over Thanksgiving!  The family legacy continues! 

My bro’s wedding is slated for sometime in August, 2008.  I can’t wait to stand up and give my best man speech in front of everyone and embarass the crap out of him.  He didn’t embarass me too much at my wedding but I’m the older brother so it’s my God-given right to rip on him a little right?  I told him he should work his first dance like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImBaVm7K6Do, but I’m not sure if my traditional family would know what was going on.  “Baby Got Back” really isn’t one of their favorite songs!

In 2008, I promise to be more regular with my super-whitty posts!

 

Being Sick Sucks

Usually I figure myself to be invincible to germs and other cold-causing agents.  So it’s no secret that when I get hit with something that puts me under the weather, I’m a complete wuss and simply can’t handle it.

Thank goodness my wife is here to take care of me.  The moment I started feeling icky she prescribed me a bottle of DayQuil and three swabs of Zicam AND she made me drink tea to soothe my throat.  She had three challenges placed before her and she overcame all three: 1. DayQuil tastes like poo; 2. I don’t like sticking things up my nose; and 3. Tea also tastes like poo, especially mint tea.

When I’m feeling ill I also have a hard time actually taking it easy and caring for myself.  About a year and a half ago I encountered a horrible flu bug that knocked me on my butt for about a week.  I’m talking about being really sick.  My wife didn’t even sleep in the same bed as me because she didn’t want to catch anything – I don’t blame her.  Anyway, I felt mildly better after a day or two so I stupidly went to work.  After about five hours my face turned pale white and I was kicked out of the office only to spend another three days in sickbay.

Needless to say, I learned a little about taking care of myself.  Knowing when to just lay there and rest is more important than getting a little bit of work done. 

So yes, I’m feeling better now.  Thanks to my wife!

 

Dancing With My Stars

On Monday and Tuesday evenings I find myself watching ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.  I’m not proud of it, it just kind of happens.  It’s a little nutty, a little funny, and a little interesting.

This show makes me wish I worked out more.  All the guys (except for Wayne Newton) this season are toned and happy-looking.  Their shirts tuck into their underwear and they’re all the same color of tan.  The women are in damn good shape too, even Jane Seymour!  It makes me wonder if all I did was dance all over the place, I’d look like them (not the women though).  I’ll start dancing in the hallways, dancing to the mailbox, to the kitchen even.  Why not dance your way in from the parking lot?  Every little dance helps.  One day I might be dancing past Mark Cuban in the hallway at SuperMegaGloboCompany Inc. 

Note: I just witnessed Marie Osmond pass out after her routine and Mark Cuban dance as a nerd and I STILL want to do it.  I’d even carry that strange disco ball trophy around with me!

 

I got busted.

So I screwed up with my significant other…  OOPS.

Lesson #1: I always make her out to be the bad guy in my blog entries, on this particular one and with McSpeedy.  I just want to put it out there that she isn’t the bad guy.  In fact, she’s the one that keeps me on the level most of the time.  She’s my immaturity barometer.  When I start doing something stupid or immature, she lets me know and brings me back to where I should be.

I’m twenty-six, she’s twenty-six and we’ve been married for almost two years.  I very much enjoy her company and I’d hate to make it seem like she’s always standing in the doorway, hands on her hips with a scowl pointed at me.  Because that ain’t the case.

Lesson #2: Buy your wife flowers at the most opportune times.  You never know when you might have screwed up at some point and need a quick redeemer.

Lesson #3: Don’t post incorrect blog entries with “creative license” as the main arguement why you made your wife out to be the bad guy.  Because she’s not the bad guy, YOU are.

Lesson #4: Cook the dinner and do the dishes once in a while for crying out loud.  Yeah, she’s the wife of the household, but you’re the husband.  Suck it up and get the stuff on the table and for goodness sake clean up after yourself.

Lesson #5: Don’t stay late at work on Fridays, because that’s just dumb.

Lesson #6: If you don’t follow lessons 1-5, make sure you don’t get busted.