Who'll Stop the Rain?

For the last two days it has been in the 40's and rainy. Just when we thought spring finally arrived, BAM, Mother Nature reminds you that she's makes the calls. I had the AC on earlier in the week and now we have the heat on. Ah, life in the Midwest, heat one day, cold and rainy the next.

We didn't even leave the house today. Mainly because Maggie has been sick, but also because it is nasty out. I still have a brisket in the freezer that needs smoking, along with some hot links and my not so famous BBQ beans (my own recipe). I did some burgers and a whole pineapple on the grill earlier in the week and damn it was delicious.

School is out for the summer. I survived! I'm only taking one class over the summer. It's online, and easy, so it is just a class to keep me busy and sharp. I did pretty well this semester and I want to keep up the good work.

We have a busy week ahead of us. We have a few meetings to go to this week (I'll tell you about it at a later date, don't want to jinx it). Hopefully by the end of the week we will have some good news. Saturday is especially busy, our church is having its annually baby/kid garage sale. The wife has a meeting at work. If I can I go there is a demonstration I would like to go to on that day and we have a kick ass BBQ to celebrate a good friend of our's birthday. Wish us luck this week.

Maggie is rooting for the Bulls. (She has a red bow in her hair too)
D Rose Jersey courtesy of Uncle Phil. 

Five for Friday: Five Fun Things I Would Do If I Won the Lottery

Hello again. I am done with school and ready to get typing.

1. Buy my way onto some of my favorite TV shows. Great shows like The Simpsons, Sesame Street, Conan, No Reservations and Letterman. By buy I mean just donate a lot of money to charity in their names so I can get on. In Sesame Streets case, PBS would get a big fat check from me. I feel like I'm stealing it if I don't donate. Cookie and I can do I short scene together, maybe have a cookie eating contest. Cookies + counting = Fun for all!!

2. Buy a big sale boat and just sail. Anywhere and everywhere. (this boat would include several anti-pirate weapons, bring it!)

3. College funds for all my children. All 1.5 so far.

4. I would start my Corvette collection. I would start with the '66. Then a 2012 Z06. None would have an automatic transmission!

5. Start several business like my Cigar store. Maybe do a little day trading. Open a bar perhaps.

Got the Time

After spending a long day at school today, I met Maggie and the wife at the park after work. The weird part is I parked in front of our old building (the wife just called me in the other room to see Maggie in her high heels, oh boy). We hated that apartment. We moved 3 blocks down the same street. The place we are in now is much bigger and better than that old crappy apartment. We walk past it quite a bit. Anyway, we had a great time at the park. Maggie was walking around everywhere. We were just following her. We still can't get her in a swing, but we at least got her to sit in our laps in the swing. That's an improvement. I do not understand why she doesn't like the swings.

When I was at school today, I got a text from the wife that said Maggie tried to steal juice boxes from two different kids while at the zoo today. We gave her one over the weekend and she picked up drinking out of a straw really fast. Now she wants juice boxes all the time. Too bad she can't have them all the time.

This is the last week of school. Only have two more days of classes, all tests though. I think I will only take one class over the summer. I can't wait to be done with all of this. I'm ready for summer and all the great times Maggie and I will be having out doors, at least until the new baby comes in August.

The wife told me when she and Maggie was at Trader Joe's today, a random lady said to her "I hope your just wearing that big shirt and not pregnant." The wife says "I am pregnant". The random lady then says "well it will take two or three months to get used to it". WTF?  Probably a good thing I wasn't with them, because I am sure some F bombs would of come out of my mouth. Followed by something along the lines of minding her own business.

In other news Maggie is acting more and more like her mother. My father-in-law warned me of this. Oh well, I will just go with the flow.

Five For Friday: Five Things I Miss About Being A Kid.

After week off, we're back in the saddle.

1. Opening baseball cards. I used to save my lunch money to buy packs. There were 25 cents back then. Now there over two bucks! I know this because I buy a pack every now and again. I miss getting all excited when I found that one card I wanted. I actually am still in the hunt for the Nolan Ryan autograph from the 1991 Upper Deck cards. Twenty years and counting. In the past few years I bought a few boxes trying to find it. I will not rest until I find one! He is one of my favorite players and I saw him play many times.

2. Sleeping in. I am (more like was) a big sleeper. I used to work nights so I could sleep in every day. My record for sleeping is 16 hours and I was ten! (I've broken this but I was sick so I'm not counting it)

3. Riding my bike everywhere. I used to love riding it. I wouldn't mind riding it now, but I hate these bikers in the city, they never obey the law and I have almost hit a few of them.

4. Playing sports. I used to play baseball, soccer, and tennis. My body is getting old and beat up, so I don't play as much as I used to. I do wish I was still playing tennis. I really miss playing I would love to play it again, so if your in Chicago and you wanna play, hit me up.

5. Just being a kid. Oh wait am just a big kid at heart.

Let the Good Times Roll.

Everything has been going quite well for us. I am extremely busy with finals coming up next week. I am pretty much done with homework except for one last paper to write. I'm sure there will be more posts next week after I am done.

 Maggie and I are hanging out all day tomorrow while the wife is at work. It is finally getting warmer out and I think we will be outside a lot tomorrow. Maggie is also walking a lot more on her own. She will get up and just start walking around the house, after she grabs her purse of course. She is getting to a point where she just wants to walk by herself when we are out of the house.

Maggie and her purse.

Maggie also likes to surprise us (a lot!) by showing us things we had no idea she knew how to do. She picked up the wife's nail file the other day and tried to do her nails. She even folded her fingers back. We have no idea where she learned it because it was a file the wife hasn't used in months. I tried to get a picture of it but I was to late. 

I took Maggie to the park last weekend. 

Suddenly We Have a Toddler.

Last week we still kind of had a baby with Maggie. Still crawling around, doing a lot of da da das. This week, not so much. New words are boots and cheese. She's walking like crazy now, we stand her up and she's off. Maggie is doing a lot more walking on her own, as in she will let go of the wall and walk to something else all by her self. What happened to our baby? She is also a lot more verbal. I never get tired of hearing her talk. That might change in fifteen years though.

Maggie can't pull herself up yet, unless she is holding on to something, but once she stands up she's off tho the races. She still will try to crawl, but for the most part she is trying to walk now. I'm so proud of her. She walks like Frankenstein's Monster (that's Franc-in-steen).

Today was also a daddy day. I got Maggie out of crib and all she wanted was her daddy. I was getting ready this morning and I kept hearing DADA. The wife brought her to me and she was holding out her arms crying. I was holding her and bam, no crying. It's been like that all day today. Makes me smile and stick the tongue out at the wife too. Hehe

We are playing our favorite game of "slam the door on daddy"

Couldn't Stand the Weather

The weather her in Chicago has been awful this spring. We get one nice day and then four days of cold and rainy. Just when you want to get outside and do something, the weather turns crappy. We try to make the most of it. When it is nice we try and get outside and go for a walk or go to the park.

It was nice today, which is a huge turn around from the rain and forty degree temps from yesterday. I wanted to get out this morning, but Maggie was running a little bit of a temp, so we didn't get out today. We got out after Maggie woke up from her nap. It felt great to get outside today.

Out for a stroll today.

In other news, Maggie is getting much better with the walking. She will stand up and let go of me to tell you to pick her up. I got her to walk about four feet by herself today. She is standing on her own more and more. She stood up by me today, let go and started dancing to the music. Too damn cute. I'm glad she is getting better at standing and walking. She is 16 mos after all.

Maggie is also talking a bit more. Her new word for this week is "cheese". She kept saying it at lunch time, so I gave her a slice of cheese. Gobbled it right down.