Chili Peppers with a side of idiot sauce.

Went and saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers last night, and was not let down at all. they put on a great show. I have been a fan since high school and have always wanted to see them. I was a little miffed that they only played for about an hour and 45 minutes. But the songs they did play the rocked. I was really hoping they would play "Torture Me" and "Turn it Again", but they didn't. I must say they are definitely one of the best rock bands live I have ever seen.

Gnarls Barkley opened for them, and I like their album, but they really didn't do anything for me. Yeah they sounded good, but not much of a visual show. And they played for MAYBE an hour.

But overall, it was a very good show and would definitely go see them again.

As for the Idiot sauce, I saw this tool leaving the concert on the highway on my way home. Bright Yellow Corvette, and he had a junior college alumni sticker on the window and the license plate said MLR TME. Wow, I almost felt bad for this guy, until I saw him wearing sunglasses (it was almost midnight) and smoking what looked like a Swisher Sweets cigar. Yeah, he was one classy dude.

Well, we had a pretty busy weekend. I got Brett’s room all painted and it is done, I will put a picture of it up tonight or tomorrow. Now all 3 of them have their own rooms. I still have to touch up Ryan’s room and complete re-paint Isabel’s room. Hopefully that will be done this weekend.

Few things have happened with the kids in the past week…

- Like I said, all 3 kids got sick with a cold, and now Mama Slinger and I are getting the cold. The kids slept better last night, but Isabel was up from 2-4am. So it made for one long night.

- Isabel is actually crawling now instead of just the military crawl. In the video below she crawls, then gets tired and decides to do the military crawl over to me. AND, I had her in her crib and turned around and she had pulled herself up and was standing in the crib! I was shocked! Turns out, she has been doing it for a few days downstairs as well. She can’t even fully crawl yet, and she wants to walk already.

- Brett is about to cut his 2 lower Canine (Cuspid) teeth, which I am sure is adding to his cold symptoms. Kids look so much different once they get all those front teeth in. He actually has a nice smile now! So far, he is right on schedule!

Since the past 4 days have involved limited sleep, I had to stop and get something to drink this morning to wake me up. As I don’t drink coffee, and gave up pop, I had to look for something else. I ended up getting a RUMBA energy juice. It is 100% juice, with added vitamins and a little caffeine. I figured it was better than Red Bull or pop. And maybe the Vitamin C will help me kick this cold I am getting.

Energy drinks usually make me feel all jittery, but this one has had no effect on me as of yet. So we will see in an hour or two. I may need to pick up another one this afternoon to give me a kick before the concert. I am going to see Red Hot Chili Peppers tonight with Mama Slinger's Uncle and two cousins. Gnarls Barkley is opening for them, so it should be a really good show.

Can you guess what I will be listening to today on the iPod?

I am not an Elvis fan.

Not that I have anything against him, but I have just never been a fan of his music. Having said that, I guess I really don't get the fascination with him, even after his death.

There is a woman in my office that has, basically a shrine, containing Elvis artifacts at her desk. The usual frame picture of him, a few little figurines, but the main one that sticks out.... the Elvis wall clock, complete with swinging legs. Every time I walk by I get to see his legs swing to the second. And it is bright blue.

I don't get it. Sorry, to any Elvis fans reading, but maybe it is just a generation thing, but this woman is only in her late 30's.

Random Stuff

• After trying to have the boys share a room, we decided to give each of the kids their own room. Mainly because Brett and Ryan always woke each other up, and Isabel has more furniture so she needs the bigger room. So now Isabel is in the bigger room, and the boys each have their own bedroom. We got everything moved, but now I need to paint (FUN FUN). We got samples yesterday from Lowes and put them up last night, so today I am going to get the paint. Good thing is they are small rooms (except for Isabel's) so I should have them done tonight. I will post pictures when I am done.

• Sirius has a new 90's Alternative channel, Sirius 24. It is really good, plays a lot of Pearl Jam, STP, Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc...all the music I listened to. If you have Sirius, check it out.

• Brett is 20 months old and he has shown interest in the potty, so we got him a little one, and this week he actually went #2 on it! He was so happy. Every time we change him now we put him on the potty, he doesn't always go, but he likes sitting on it. Wow, how great would it be to have him trained by 2yrs old!?!?!

Your typical Monday post

We didn't much of anything exciting this past weekend. Had the neighbors over so the kids could play, did the usual laundry and cleaning. I know what you are thinking, and yes, we are crazy like that! We did get the kids pictures taken at Sears, and we got a really good one of all three of them, and Ryan is turning into such a little model. They did pretty good.

I also went and picked up Molly, she had been staying at my mom's house for almost 3 weeks now while we went to Colorado. She likes it down there so she stayed a little longer, a mini vacation for her. She was happy to be home, until I took her to PetsMart today for a grooming.

She loves the snow and rolls around in it ALL. THE. TIME! So naturally, she smells. not bad, but just wet dog smell... about 4 weeks worth actually. So I took her in today and she totally freaked out! She is really good and sometimes shakes, but today she was throwing a fit, similar to a 3 year old. She practically jumped into my arms, then had her paws wrapped around my waist. She even started barking/crying as she tried to get away. Then she peed, a lot! She never does this and is usually really good. The girl finally got the leash around her and I had to help push Molly back behind the little door. Molly weighs almost 70 lbs, and she was pulling this girl out the door, she was determined to get free. So after all that, and a jacket full of dog hair, I finally got her back and I just left.

Poor Molly, I know she is probably thinking we gave her up for good, but she will smell and look MUCH better when I pick her up after work.

Do not buy gas from CITGO!

I did not know this, but my father-in-law mentioned it this week and I decided to look into it.


Citgo gasoline is produced from oil from Venezuela. Actually, it is a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company, is a United States-incorporated firm refiner and marketer of gasoline, lubricants, petrochemicals and other petroleum products. PDVSA is controlled by the Venezuelan government.


For those of you that don't know, Hugo Chávez is the President of Venezuela, and has recently said some unkind things about Bush and the U.S., * and pissed off a lot of Americans. Actually, 7-Eleven used to be partnered with Citgo and did not renew their contract with Citgo, stating

"we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president. Certainly Chavez's position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo."


So just keep in mind next time you need to get gas, just go past Citgo. Funny thing is, by my house, there is a Citgo right across from a Shell, and the Citgo station is ALWAYS almost 10-12 cents higher.



* I know a lot of people do not like Bush, and probably agree with Chavez when he called Bush "the devil", but Chavez is a potential threat to US oil and even more so that it has been rumored that he and Iran have been talking.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY MAMA SLINGER!!!

Vacation Details

So, we are back from our little vacation in Colorado. The weather was great, and the scenery was incredible. They could have used a little more snow, but who am I to complain? To be able to go from flat Illinois to almost 13,000 feet, and ski, is better than anything I can think of right now.

Click on picture to go to Flickr photos

Our trip was pretty much like a second honeymoon. This was the first time we had been away for that long without the kids, and it was pretty nice. The house we stayed in was BEAUTIFUL, and had awesome views. The weather was perfect, in the mid 30's and the skiing was great! I forgot how good it feels to be standing on a mountain at 12,000 ft and just be able to look out over all the beautiful views. We really do live in a beautiful country, you just have to get off your ass and go check it out! Which we plan to do a lot more as the kids get older.

Amy did great for her first time skiing. We had an instructor and she was skiing the green runs by lunch time, and was pretty high up as well. I am very proud of her! We only skied the one day, but after that one day our legs were pretty much shot. I probably could have gone 2 days, but I may have been coming home in a wheelchair. My friend Brian and his woman Cindy were also in Breckenridge this weekend, so we hooked up with them a few times for dinner and drinks. Brian actually got altitude sickness the first night and went into one of the Oxygen bars to get oxygen. Yes, they have stores where you can get scented/flavored oxygen if you are having trouble breathing. it probably didn't help that he had a margarita when he got there, but that is Brian's weakness!

Driving in the mountains is one of my favorite things. I could seriously just rent a car and drive all over Colorado and that would be a great vacation for me. We drove up and over Berthoud Pass (elev. 11, 307 ft) on the Continental Divide. The weather did not cooperate so we had no great views, and Amy was getting freaked out at the steep roads and bad conditions. But we obviously made it back alive.

One thing we noticed as we flew with all the security measures now... you can't have finger nail files, or clippers in your carry on, they will take it away at security. BUT... once you get through security, you can purchase said items in any of the magazine shops! Kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Anyway, go check out the photos and enjoy what we saw for 5 days. Our next trip out to Colorado will probably be in the summer time in a few years. I have never been out there in Summer, only been out there to ski.

Breckenridge

Back from vacation. I will post more tomorrow, but here is a picture of Lake Dillon in Frisco, CO. Facing south toward Keystone and Breckenridge.

More photos to come in the next day or two.

Vacation

Mam Slinger and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon for 5 days in Colorado! Will be skiing and enjoying the nice relaxing time in the mountains. So there will be no posts until Tuesday or Wednesday.

I plan to have a ton of pictures to share as well.

Twenty Four

Ok, so I have been watching 24 now for a few seasons, and the new season is pretty good. BUT...(and mcgone is going to scream) I am not feeling "it" this season. I do not like how Jack Bauer now has feelings and guilt. I am used to him not giving a damn and showing no remorse, not this "I don't know if I can do this" and him holding his head and showing guilt as he tortures his brother. COME ON! You are JACK BAUER! You don't have feelings! You are a CTU ROBOT, programmed to do whatever it takes to kill the bad guys! That is all I will say, for now.

Kids Eating Habits

Having 2 kids that can eat on their own is pretty funny. You would think boys would eat anything, but that is not the case for Ryan. Ryan has become the pickiest eater. He has never liked red meat, whether it be hamburger, meatloaf or roast beef, he just won't eat it. He will eat chicken, hot dogs and turkey, even ham, but nothing beef. Last week we gave them roast beef and mac n cheese and he was told he needed to eat his mac n cheese before he got down.

"Ryan, finish your pasta"
"It is touching the meat and it smells like meat now"
"No it doesn't, just eat it"
Ryan eats his pasta that was touching the meat, then starts gagging.

He got himself so worked up over the thought of it touching the meat, he almost threw up. He also doesn't like pizza. What kid doesn't LOVE pizza?

But then, last night, they had chicken nuggets and french fries, which they both love. I was watching Ryan eat and I was shocked at what I saw. He was DIPPING HIS FRIES INTO HIS MILK, then eating them! Are you serious? He said he liked it, so he ate them all. Milk and Fries he loves, but not beef. Unbelievable!

Now Brett, on the other hand, will eat anything you put in front of him. And when he is done, he will get down and go over and finish off whatever is left on Ryan's plate. It is amazing how different the two of them are when it comes to eating.

Only 2 things positive about the Super Bowl

1. Devin Hester returns the opening kickoff 92 yds for a touchdown. 1st time in Super Bowl history that has been done.

2. Although I am not a fan of Prince, it was pretty cool to hear him do a cover of "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters. (regular readers will know that I am a huge Foo fan) Then I remembered that years ago, Foo Fighters did a cover of "Darling Nikki" by Prince, so maybe this was a subtle shout-out to the Foo. We may never know.

I am not shocked that the Bears lost, they had a great season and the better team won tonight. Congrats go out to Peyton and the Colts, and hopefully we will see Peyton in some more commercials, let's face it, he is pretty funny in those MasterCard ads.

Earl Hickey says:

GO BEARS!!!!

TGI Groundhog Day

That's right, it's Groundhog Day! Today we get to listen to Phil predict the coming of spring. Awesome.

Between issues with Blogger and this thing called a "job", I have been light on the posts this week, so I will do a little recap today...

First, and most importantly:

Secondly.....

Dear COLTS fans,

Seeing as how my company has offices in Indianapolis, there has been some trash talking going back and forth, so we will see who has the last laugh come Monday.

Family Update:

Isabel had her 6 month check-up yesterday, she weighs in at 18.1 lbs (actually lost a few) and 27 inches long. She is very healthy and got 3 shots, but she did good. She is almost crawling now, she does the military crawl and moves around the room pretty well. Dr. gives it about 2 weeks and she will be crawling all over the place.

Brett has been early to rise all week, usually up at 5am! He is cutting his first molars, and 3 of them are in, the 4th one is still pushing through so I am sure that is what wakes him up. He is talking so much now, and trying to form whole sentences.

Ryan is in his terrible three's. Not listening, acting crazy and yelling at Brett. But he is still funny and goofy as always. He thinks he is the ruler of the house sometimes, but we make sure we bring him back to reality.

Other than that, it was the usual work week, along with the usual cold weather of a February in Chicago. It was 8 when I walked into work this morning, nice!

And finally....is it really a mystery that THIS is caused by humans?