In like a lion, out like a Portuguese Water Dog

The month started off with a roar...all turbulent and stuff, worrying about jobs and tax liabilities and the Cub's rotation.  But things settled down into a nice cuddly portie.  Two out of 3 jobs are looking more optimistic.  The tax situation is looking less daunting, or more like a filing extension.  And the Cubs survived spring training.

Actually, got a lot done today.  Capped off my first positive week in trading.  Took Jilly to the ortho for a wire that broke off...that they wound up not even replacing.  Called a tuck pointer.  Called a pergola person.  And called a pool guy to look at my fountain that hasn't worked in over 3 weeks.  The pool guy showed up, turned on the fountain...and miraculously it worked.  I felt like such a Santorum.  Anyway, he was cool (the pool guy, not Santorum) and didn't charge me the service charge if I agreed to post a positive Google review for him...which I did.  Attended traffic school...online, took a whole hour.  Paid some bills.  And had date night with the Wifey.  Now that's how you end a month.

Oh wait.  There's one more day yet.  And lottery tickets to check.  If I don't ever post again, you'll know why.  Fingers crossed...

Lego my Zombie!

Some Dim

• The old man show didn't Tivo
• The newspaper didn't come
• The dim sum was meh
• It rained all day
• the elder child was being a pisher

But at least I made it to the gym and the Flubbies, which I watched fireside, won!

Misc.

• Took the Cubs to a new groomer yesterday.  It was a disaster.  They ended up nicking his tongue.  He was bleeding everywhere.  It took awhile to stop the hemorrhaging.  We wound up taking him to the vet.  At least the groomer, paid for the vet bill.  That's what happens when you cheat on your old groomer.
• My lawyer was not as successful on the second of my 3 moving violations.  I was found guilty this time.  She did, however, get me a reduced fine and traffic school - which, thankfully, you can now do on-line.  That's 2 tickets that won't go on my record.  One more trial to go.
• Actually had the rare double good day at both my works yesterday.  Now to make that consistent.

SC Scenes

Long lost pictures

I present: Long Lost Pictures

Howdy Y'all

Leprechaun no-show

Every year on St. Paddy's Eve, the wife sets out a Leprechaun trap in a vain attempt to catch that pesky varmint and capture his pot o' gold.  And every year, the lil green fella seems to avoid being trapped, but manages to wreak havoc within our household:  writing on the mirrors, throwing candy, and turning the toilet bowl water green.

Well, this year, much to the disappointment of my 8 and 3/4 year old, the little guy didn't show.  She woke up crying, "the house is the same."  I said, "But honey, we are not even Irish."  And she replied, "I know, but now it just feels like any other day."

So sad.  Stupid Leprechaun.  Erin-go-bleh!

My future Joyce Carol Oates

Watch out for men in togas....

Dia de la Pi

In Josh's math class today, they're bringing in something like 31.4 pies.  That's almost a pie per kid.  That's some irrational math.  Tangentially, Jilly remains acute.

The Doldrums

Posts have been on the light side recently.  Don't mean to neglect my old buddy bloggy, but things have been a bit distracting lately.  My creative juices are temporarily depleted.  Basically, I've been working two jobs, the kids are crazy, the wife is crazier, the dog is nuts, I'm freaking out about taxes, the landscaping blows, Gingrich is still a candidate, and I pretty much wasted the day away.  Sure, I woke up, went to the gym, and had a donut.  Watched SNL, the old man show, and some Flubbie baseball.  Picked up Josh from his sleepover.  Played Castleville with Jilly.  Meant to go to the Whale Fest and the pool.  That didn't happen.  Anyway, didn't mean to make this blog a whiny, rant.  Don't know why I'm busting my butt and worrying about things out of my control.  After all, the world is gonna end some time, right?  Just, hopefully, later rather than sooner...and not because Newt became president.

Cubs win the World Series...a visualization

Don't usually blog videos...cause they don't translate well to the book...but, click on the link to see what would really happen if the Cubs won the whole salami:

Cubs Win

Mustaches r cool

Happy Purim

Sweet Home Chicago

The Four Horsemen Cometh...

So, the other day I was rambling on about how the outlook for the Cubs is so bleak, that they may indeed fake us all out and make a run for post-season glory.  Well, it turns out that the commissioner of baseball, in all his wisdom, has decided to expand the playoff structure.  Instead of 8 teams vying to become World Series Champions, there will now be 10 teams vying.  How is this possible, you ask?  In addition to the wild card spot, there will now be a second wild card spot:  a wild, wild card.  That's really wild.  And idiotic.  And dilutive.  At least a second decision he made seems more reasonable:  the Astros will be moving to the American League in 2013.  Both of these restructuring moves will result in an increased probability of the Flubbies playing ball in snowy October.

And how will the Windy City Whackers get to the promised land?  Why, with the help of the 4 horsemen:  there pitching staff -

• Ryan Dempster returns to anchor the rotation.  He's the real, uh, workhorse of the group.
• If you remember when the Cubs had Wood, you're gonna love this season.  They have 2 pitchers named Wood.  That's right - double the Wood.
• Carlos Marmol returns as our imposing closer.  Well, I'm not sure how imposing he is, but I just like saying Marmol.  Marmol.  Go ahead.  Say it.  You know you want to.
• And if you enjoyed saying Marmol, you're going to love saying Samardzija.

I'll be back to post about the outlook for the Cub's offense, just as soon as I find it.

p.s.  I bet with the title of this post, you thought that it would be another apocalyptic rant.  I'll let you know come October!

This post is for Jilly

Don your fedora!

Before and after

And now, back to your regularly scheduled Armageddon

• So, a few day ago, the Wyoming state legislative passed a doomsday bill.  The bill allots state funds to make recommendations for preparedness in case of a total collapse of the federal government.  What do they know anyway - they live in Wyoming for pete's sake.
• Carnival Cruise Lines was in the news again.  One of their Concordia ships caught fire in the Indian Ocean and set adrift in pirate infested waters off the east coast of Africa.  Cruising through pirate infested waters was probably not the smartest idea in the first place.  Or cruising with Concordia.
• Speaking of the deep sea, Davy Jones passed away yesterday.  He took the last train to Clarksville.
• My lawyer got my first of three moving violations dismissed.
• The Flubbies have yet to be cited for moving violations and have yet to be mathematically eliminated.
• Jilly went whale watching yesterday and saw 4 whales and thousands of dolphins.  Usually, you hardly see anything on those cruises.  It's like the fish mammals know something.  Like they're trying to communicate.  It's like they're trying to say, "we want to get as far away from these burning cruise ships and move to Wyoming!"