3.16.10 -- 2:27 p.m. Welcome back. Starting from Halloween…yup…it’s been that long. T’was my first
year as a homeowner and I
always vowed to be the ‘awesome house’ that hands out the full size candy bars. So this year, pre October 31st, Emily and I set out
to Sam’s club to
pick up display size boxes of Kit Kats and Snickers. Come Trick-or-Treat time, the kids were surprisingly favorable to the Kit
Kats. I don’t know about
you guys but, uh, let’s just say Snickers FTW. Of course, we didn’t just hand them the candy without earning it either. In
addition to the Sam’s Club
candy, Emily had also picked up a bag of whole carrots. Each kid who rang expecting candy was pleasantly surprised with Emily
asking, “how many
carrots would you like, one or two?” Gosh, the look on those kids’ faces was priceless. Good jokes, good jokes.
This year Thanksgiving had a dual celebration for us. Both to celebrate giving thanks as well as Emily and I’s first
anniversary. Thanksgiving was held in
the usual manner, a giant feast at Grandma and Grandpa Long’s followed by the trip down to E.P. for Bill and Karen’s dessert.
At dessert, I was
introduced to
a Goon family secret/meal especialdad, chow mein noodles topped with rice and gravy. OM NOM NOM. It sounds a bit
sketchy but let… me … tell…. you. It
was delicious. I wish someone would have told me about this sooner than age twenty six,
criiiipes!
Moving right along, I regret to inform you dg.com readers that I am now an iPhone owner. As much as I strongly dislike the
Apple
company [perhaps even more so than M$] my work has now ported over to AT&T and we own/I support this piece of junk. Ok, piece of
junk is a little
much… It’s a pretty little piece of technology, however, no multi-tasking? No removable battery? No keyboard I can touch and
feel? Give me back
my fillet-o-fi… I mean Palm Pre! Sigh. I can’t believe the most ‘popular’ and ‘trendy’ phone is lacking so badly. Don’t get me
wrong, a free phone
is a free phone and I realize this complaining may look quite ungrateful to some, I will now cease. /Apple-rant
So yea, I was twenty five at Thanksgiving, but now I am twenty six. Dang, that is old. I remember thinking [when my good friend
Roeber turned 26, three
years ago] “gosh, 26 is so old, it’s almost to thirty”. Now, here I stand that much closer to thirty. Some mornings I wake up
and swear I can feel my
bones getting brittle. I keep telling myself that it’s ok, I feel like I’ve done some good things thus far in my life and that
it’s ok that thirty
is quickly approaching. I know when that day comes, I’ll still feel like a young twenty-something.
So yea, for my birthday, my sweet dearest loving mother cooked up one of my favorites, salmon fettuccini. We even celebrated at
our new house
too! Ahhhhh, now that we own a house, hosting is so convenient and enjoyable. I must have been a good boy this year as I got
some schmancy new
black shoes [shiny like mirrors], some targets along with electronic shooting earmuffs, and dinner at Kami with my lovely wife.
Not a bad way to
age up if you ask me.
Actual Birthday weekend was spent up north at Crommie for muzzleloader. Although I don’t actually own a muzzleloader, I did hunt
grouse and visit the
local watering hole. The Crommie muni even let me [unknowingly] keep the birthday ‘mug’. The drink of choice, you ask?
Colorado Bulldogs all around,
of course. Pictures of crommie
here:
Speaking of hosting, the usual Christmas Eve soup and sandwich celebration held at my Grandma Goons, was held at our place. Dad
brought
over soup a couple days before and all I had to do was get out some chairs, or so I thought. Christmas Eve morning snowed like a
mother! Not
just many inches of fluffy white flakes either, the wet heavy, nasty kind that breaks your back should one dare try to shovel
that ish. Not to
worry, I had two snow blowers in the stable. Between a Honda snow pup with flaps worn to nothing, and one Craftsman
fullsize 24” with full auger and
all, neither would start. I ripped on both of them forever and finally the Craftsman started and boy was I relieved.
As I went to engage the tracks, it
didn’t lurch forward as I should and I quickly realized I was going to have to push and pull this thing up and down
the driveway. Within minutes, I was
soaked with sweat. Needless to say, I got the job done just in the nick of time and my family arrived, all was well.
Christmas Eve was spent at the Long’s eating delicious roast beef sammies and Swedish meatballs, OM NOM NOM. We had the
usual dice game
with a very key collection of gifts. Emily picked out one of those head-scratcher-dealy-bobbys that was quite the hot
commodity [those things
feel amazing, for those who haven’t tried one]. My parents also gave my grandparents a Nintendo Wii. It was so fun to
see my grandma and grandpa
playing tennis and boxing each other via Wii Sports.
Late night Christmas Eve was spent back in Victoria [it was a long drive out there from St. Paul with an 11:30 p.m.
departure]. Once we got there,
it was warm, cozy, Christmasee, and just genuinely pleasant. I remember looking around, at my parents, sister, and wife,
thinking how special it was
to me to have such a memorable moment of happiness. The next morning was spent heading out to Mondovi, Wisconsin to
celebrate with the Cooks.
Backing up a bit here… Christmas actually started prematurely for Emily and I, on the weekend prior to the 25th. Emily and I
went to Chippewa Falls
where Uncle Dale was hosting his usual Christmas bash. The thing I love about Dales is, they have this kitchen island that
seems to serve and
endless supply of pickle Phillies, chips, dips, shrimps, sweets, and booze. Ahh life’s simple pleasures… Emily and I played
some Pictionary, and
gorged ourselves with booze and fud. Pics here:
Following Christmas, Emily and I hosted our first New Years bash. Complete with J-Lo in a body suit performing in Times Square,
some strip
poker, moar champagne than I’ve ever seen in one fridge, TatorTot’s friend Philly, hacking of COD:Modern Warfare 2, Rockband, and
hours of hot tub,
I’d say it was a great success. The next morning was started off right with yours truly Cole Schelitzche’s famous SPICY EGGS. If
you haven’t seen
pictures of these yet, see here [warning - link goes to mmo content - be advised]:
I hate to end on a bad note, but a word must be said about my Grandpa Douglas Long. He passed very recently and he will be
missed very much.
I can’t even count all the times he took me fishing, was there when I needed him, or just gave me a good laugh and made me
smile. He served our
country in the Korean War and his military burial was quite spectacular. Love ya gramps, RIP.
