Helloooo OT

Well its now a week after our vacation and I am back to the ol grind stone. 1st week back and already have 2 OT shifts. Today was hell and involved lots of blood, and I can't wait for tomorrow night. I get to work intake on a Saturday night and it should be fun.

It has been hard to adjust to the schedule again and I have been drained the whole week.

The big appointment is next Wednesday and I am ready to get this thing taken care of.

And now the next random thought.........I think I blew out a calf the other day. I was running along and felt good, then the next thing I know I am a block from our house and it feels like someone has stabbed me in the calf with a machete. There was this shooting pain all up and down my calf and I could barely walk home. I have not run since and I hope it heals soon so I can keep up with the training.

Well I think that is about it for now. Not much exciting going on right now.

Greg

BLAH

I have decided to post again today because I just don't have the motivation to do much while E is taking a nap. It is really strange because this has been happening a lot over the last year or so and it is so not like me to have zero motivation. I have also found that while I may laugh a bunch I don't know if it is ever because I am truly happy or if I laugh because I have to. I also have been feeling very blah and often get a bit snippy pretty quickly. Now I don't know what depression feels like or if I have it, but the thought scares the hell out of me. I don't feel that I really have anything to be depressed about, nor do I think that any of the normal everyday problems that we (K and I) have on the day to day are enough to make me depressed. I love K and little E with all my heart, I love my family (both K's and My own) very much, I truly do love my job, and overall I don't think my life is bad. On the other hand something has to be making me feel like this and act the way I do and I am just tired of going through life the way I am right now. So next week I will be going to talk to my doc about these concerns and see what he has to say.



I am not sure why I am posting about this or why I think that anyone who reads this would care, but I am posting it anyways. If I actually think about what has been going on I guess the only reason I am telling all of you this is that, for those who know me, I want you to know what I have been feeling and this is the reason for why I have been the way I have been recently.



For those who read this and don't know me I guess this is your first look at a different side of me. I am mostly an up beat type of person and I have been feeling out of sorts lately.



So that is that. I think it is weird that I can post this type of thing on the blog with no problems but it was hard as hell to talk to my wife about it. I guess I just didn't want her to think less of me.



Well time to lighten up this post with a couple pics.

In case you are wondering, yes that is E dancing yesterday morning with 2 tampons.............because they are fun. Boy will she be surprised how much "fun" they are when she gets older!! To young for those right now E.

Greg

Tuesday muggy Tuesday

Alas we are finally home and unpacked. We have all the laundry done, things put away, and are trying to get settled back in. E had no problem with that on Sunday night though, the minute we came in the door she was chasing the cats and ran to her toys in the living room. I think she was glad to be home to.

We had fun and it is always nice to get away, but I think it is funny how when you go on vacation you are always glad to be home again. The nice thing is that in just a couple of weeks we will get a break from everyday life again because we get to go to a wedding! K's cousin is getting married in St. Cloud and we are staying Friday and Saturday nights and then coming home on Sunday. E has now started dancing a lot whenever she hears music so it should be fun to watch her at the wedding.

I promised in the last post to get some more pics of our vacation up and so here they are:

So there you are. The North woods is a great place and at times I wish that we could move back there. I grew up in that area and now looking back on it, I had a wonderful childhood and took a lot for granted while living in the North. And now we are back to smelling cow crap and other farm smells.

Well it is time for E to lay down for her nap and me to get some stuff done around the house. Another post coming soon!

Greg

"DAS BOOT"!!!! Friend or Foe?

I have to say that we found out the hard way that drinking at the resort is really, really fun. On Thursday it rained again so KT, S, K, E, and Myself decided to go back to Hayward and do some more shopping. We got to town and the girls went their own way to shop while S and I went to have a couple drinks around town. We started at Karbs, which is a local restaurant, and S had some 7&7's while I decided to have a Knob Creek and some a couple of beers. We then ventured to Angler's and had a couple more drinks.



The girls found us and we headed back to the cabin and made some dinner, which was tasty. After dinner, K and I went to the bar to meet friends of mine from Hayward, who we had not seen in along time. They stayed until about 10pm and we all had a good time. T had to be in court the next morning (he is a lawyer) and so they had to go, but by this time KT and S had joined us and we decided to stay longer.



While we had fun with them, they left at a good time to get out! Shortly after we they left we were kidnapped by crazy 60th birthday celebraters who were wild and crazy. The birthday girl got me to polka with her and eventually I had enough Miller Lites in me and I decided to sing some karaoke (see first post about being a cabaret singer). Well I decided to sing Toby Keith's "Not as good as I once was" and I suckered S into singing with me. Once we were done embarrassing ourselves we returned to drinking.



The fatal moment of the night came when we were talking and getting to sing our second song of the night, Brad Paisley's "Alcohol", that the owner of the resort came up with "DAS BOOT". If any of you have seen the movie "Beerfest" then you know what "DAS BOOT" is. For those of you who do not know "DAS BOOT", it is a large glass boot that gets filled with beer and you pass it around to all who want to participate. And participate we did. In the end we drank from "DAS BOOT" about a hundred times and it had to be refilled about 7-8 times before we left at 1am. Damn you "DAS BOOT" you are my friend and my worst enemy.



We then decide to go to Copper Falls the next morning and hike the park. Another brilliant idea from our clan. It was hell getting ready, it was hell riding in the car, and it was hell hiking until the booze was sweated out. The park is great and it really did help the hangover. I will post pics later for you all to see.



K's parents left today and we went to Hayward early for yet more shopping. We got back around noon and have just chilled the rest of the day. We took E to the beach for a little bit today and she loved it as you can see from the next pics.

Look at those smiles!!! It is about time for us to cook some dinner and pack up a bit. Get ready for a HUGE picture post the next time!

Greg

DAMN YOU RAIN!!!!!

Can anyone guess what has returned today???? YUP the rain. We went into Hayward again today so that K and her sister K could shop a bit more, and S and I went to a couple of different bars and had some drinks. Then we got back to the cabin and it started pouring. I hear on the local news that it is suppose to sunny and 70 tomorrow so I guess Copper Falls is pushed to tomorrow.

Here are some picks of what the north woods looks like when the sun is out.

As for what we are going to do the rest of the rainy night in the north?? Well we are going to meet some of my Friends from Hayward and have some food and drinks at the bar. We will have a good time and catch up on what is new, it should be a good time.

I believe it is now time to go help feed the child and get ready to head up to the bar. Here's to you and me now lets go pee!!

Greg

FORE!!!!!!!

Well just as the sun comes out and the weather is nice today, we find out at the golf course that it is suppose to rain AGAIN tomorrow and Friday. Shit, damn, piss, ass, shit and damn is what I have to say about the rain. So here is the rundown of what we are and have done on the ONE nice day of vacation.


This AM S, R, and I went to a local golf course and had our tee time at 9:10 and when we were on the first tee you could only see about 100yrds down the fairway because the fog was so thick. This lasted for about 2 1/2 holes and then it turned wonderfully sunny. We had a good time and we were tired when all was said and done.




Here are some pics from our outing.

Above is S on the 11th and 14th tee. I got the second shot and I thought it was a good one. S went on to shoot an 84. Way to go S (readers should add HUGE amounts of sarcasm to the last statement.)

And here is me on the 14th tee and I think that S also got a great pic of the before and after shot. Good second pic S! I shot much better than S and ended with a 112. YES!!

> And here is the best of the best. R showed us all up today with his style, class, and grace. I should also mention that R broke the course record!........................for the most strokes in a round, HA HA HA , just kidding R. He shot a 113.

So this is takes up to 1:30 pm and now we are trying to decide on whether or not we should go to Copper Falls today before the weather turns shitey again tomorrow.

Will post later tonight with a few more pics of the golf course and maybe some pics from the falls.

Greg

SWEET JESUS the rain is no more!!

HOLY HELL the rain has stopped and the sun was out!! This is a way cool for those of us who want to go golfing tomorrow!! I love to golf and am slowly getting better. I have found that the older I get the more conservative I play. It usually works out the best for my and I end up scoring better than I ever have. Thank goodness for small releifs!!

Did anyone mention how frickin great the smell of the northren pines are??? I absolutley love being in the north woods and would trade almost every ounce of life I have in RW to be up here. I of course would never be able to take little E away from Grandpa because I know he loves her to death!! But if we were just "we" then I think "we" would be somewhere else where I could get on the road as an officer.

We are going to see mom tomorrow at the hospital so she can walk us around and SHOW OFF the E to all of her co-workers.

Night,

Greg

Oh rainy Tuesday......WHY!?!?!?!?!

Hello all!! We have been on vacation for 3 days now and we have not seen one drop of sunshine. S and R and myself were suppose to go golfing this AM but that will not happen. Rain, rain, rain is the story for at least the rest of today and possibly tomorrow.

I am a little stressed out right now about the whole rain thing. Not so much because we are on vacation though, I am more stressed about the amount of rain that we are getting back in RW. We are hearing all these stories about flooding in SE MN and it just sucks to not know the current condition of your home. We are north of the really bad flooding but only by about 40 minutes. We have 3 cats at home and we have a neighbor girl watering and feeding them. I called on Monday and asked her to check the water level in the basement and move the cat pots up stairs if there is water down in the basement. I have to call her back today and see what the story is. It is not like we have a lot of valuable stuff down there but I just don't want anything ruined.

Well I guess I should go and figure out what in the world we are going to do today.

Greg

And its Sunday!!

Here we are at the cabin in the north woods!! We have been waiting for a long year and 3 months to go on vacation again and we are finally back at the cabin. We spent some time with my mom and grandma and it was a lot of fun!! We ate, played games, watched a movie, and talked the time away. It was a good time except for E being RIDICULOUSLY cranky the last couple of days. She is getting her molars in and they are pushing through slowly but surely.

So we got to the cabin today and it is as nice as always. I grew up in this part of the north woods and I never thought I would be coming back here to vacation, let alone come to Garmisch, when I was older!! I love this area and would move back in a heart beat if I could make the same $ as I do now. I stood outside by myself tonight for about 10 minutes tonight just smelling the pine and fresh north woods air. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Well tomorrow starts the picture parade and we should have some new cute ones from during the week.

Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow! Stay classy San Diego!!

Greg

Comments????

I also would like to remind those of you who read this blog to please comment because I like to know who reads the things I share!

Greg

Tazers and lower drinking ages

So I have seen 2 things that have made me go "hmmmmm". The first is I read in the paper the other day that there is going to be a serious debate in our federal government about lowering the drinking age back to 18. DAMN IT I SAY!!!!! I am all for a lower drinking age (with a few regulations). I think that any person, man or woman, that can willingly sign up to put his/her life on the line for our country should be able to go out to a bar and have a beer. At 18 we can vote on for the next president and help decide the future of our country for the next 4 years, but those same "adults" are not allowed to drink a Miller Lite. I also find it funny that at 18 we are adult enough to buy cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco which are all things that can give us cancer and kill us, but heaven forbid we drink some delicious beer with Friends. I think that it is time to let people who are suppose to be an adults make the choice on whether or not they would like to have a beer. I happen to work in a profession that deals with lots of people who come and see us because they choose to drink and drive. I also can honestly say that the MAJORITY of the people we see are NOT young adults that come in for DWI's. Is that surprising to any of you? It was to me when I first started.

On the other hand I also believe that if they lower the drinking age to 18 there should be some regulations to the law. I think that, like in the days of the past when the drinking age was 18, they should say that 18 year olds can only drink beer and no hard booze. I happen to know a few people that were 18 in the late seventies when the drinking age was lower, and they say it worked well and nobody complained that they could not drink hard booze. I don't know, maybe there is no easy answer but I think that it could be worked out so that it was fair to everyone.

The second thing I saw was last night on the news they showed an off duty cop that was working as a security guard at a hospital using a tazer to stop a man trying to take his baby out of the hospital. I have a few thoughts on this. First, I can understand why the man was tazed and I agree with the overall reasons he was tazed. I do, however, do not understand what would make someone use a tazer on a man who was holding a newborn baby. Granted there are situations that it would be justified to taze while the baby was in his arms, like if the man was threatening to hurt the baby. As far as I can see this man was not threatening the baby. The officer also knew the 2 parents from the street and knew they had a long history of domestic abuse with each other and they were fighting shortly before the incident happened. So the man that got zapped was upset and arguing and yelling at hospital staff and making a scene. So I can see why the cop would have felt it was necessary to taze, but he was still holding a BABY!!!!!!!! So I also heard the man that was zapped was upset with the hospital for some reason and just wanted to leave and go to somewhere where he felt he would get better treatment. That is the man's right to go to a different hospital if he/they are not happy with the care they are receiving. It is a tough thing when you know both ways of looking at things.

Well I think that is about it for tonight. I have officially started vacation even though K still has to work tomorrow. HA HA 1 more day of vacation for me wonderful wife and I will remind you of this for the next 11 days!!!

Yeah vacation!!

Greg

One more thing.

One more thing........WHO CARES IF IT IS Star Magazine or US Weekly?!?!?!?!?! It is all the same!!!!! So there K!! HA HA to you my wife!

Greg

8, 4, and 1 1/2 yrs old.......NO THANK YOU!!

Now I want to say that I love MY child to death and I can handle ONE child at home. Last night and today I had the pleasure of watching K's 2nd cousins which are 8 and 4. Their mom (our daycare) just had a baby and they had to go to the UofM hospital because the little one is having some problems. So she asked us to watch the kids last night while they were in the cities. It was ok and I love those kids to death, but man what a last 24hrs. The kids have been with dad the last few days while mom was in the hospital with baby. Now I know that my little E has me wrapped around her tiny little finger but man these kids must have dad in the palms of their hands. I have been around the same kids when mom is in charge and it is way different. Poor dad!! I am a much more patient person since E came along and boy was the patience tested this last 24 hours. LOVE the kids but glad our house is quiet again. This was a truly different experience and I just have realized that I cannot handle a 8, 4, and 1 1/2 year olds all in one place by myself. THANK GOD for moms!!!!



I hope LA's baby turns out ok, but I have not had a chance to even hear what they think may be wrong with him.



Well I thought that we have some new pics of E trying to feed herself with a spoon and it was a mess but it produced some great pics. I thought I would share some.









And a couple more just for fun.




NO MAKING FUN OF THE DOUBLE CHIN!!!!! I AM WORKING ON IT!

Greg

Corrections...

Sorry, but I'm hijacking G's blog to make two corrections on his "famous person magazine" entry. I STILL do get Newsweek and I DO NOT get Star. I get US Weekly. Big difference. K

Monday Part Deux

In all my rantings I forgot to talk about the weather, which is why I was going to post in the first place. Well we had a wild weekend of storms and it seemed like the more it rained the more humid and hot it would get. Then all of a sudden, yesterday it was all gone!! It was still warm but who cares as long and the humidity is gone. I did hear the it was suppose to get humid again this week and that it may be miserable like it was. Right now though it is very nice and cool out and I actually have a blanket on right now while I am sitting on the couch. Yes it is that cool that I need a blanket. It is a welcome change and I hope it is not ridiculously hot and humid next week in the north woods of Wisconsin.

Well time to take advantage and get some work done outside while E sleeps the morning away!

Greg

Monday

It is now Monday and we are on the last little stretch before vacation, which can't come soon enough. I have had just about enough of my job, the farm county, and RW where we work. I need the sweet smell of pine and fresh air instead of city and cow poop. Yes this is a little pitty party for Greg and as fast as it came it is now done.

Now that I have that over with, I can talk about other things that don't matter. For example, can anyone tell me why celebrity life is so amazing to lots of people??? I mean I know they are "more" privileged than the average person but I mean really. Does anyone (except maybe her parents) care that Lindsay Lohan is doing cocaine and drinking constantly, and pretty much shooting her life down the crapper?? Or does anyone really care that Ms. Britney Spears gets drunk and makes out with some college guy in a pool???? Not this guy, I work in a job that deals with drunks, pot heads, wife beaters, and meth heads and I heard one of these guys say the other day, "why is this such a big deal? You don't see us on the cover of People Magazine when we get caught drinking and driving, smoking meth, or snorting cocaine, so why would anyone care if these people do it??" It was kind of a shock to hear a guy who has been in and out of our facility about 50 times in the last 3 years for meth (and he is a huge burnout) make such a coherent and rational statement.

I like People magazine for the stories that they do on normal, everyday people that are usually featured in the back half of the magazine. I also like the crossword puzzle because, to be honest, it is one of the few crosswords that I can actually finish. I happen to know a lot of pop culture and when K asks me to answer one of the crossword clues I usually get it right (followed by a confused "how the hell do you know that" look) All I am saying is that there are many other things in this world that are much more important to talk and read about than whether or not (insert your young Hollywood actress here) has gotten a boob job.

K used to get Newsweek and while I will admit that I did not fully read it every time we got it in the mail, I did enjoy the magazine much more than the Star magazine that has now replaced it. I also read Time Magazine when the new one comes around at the jail, also a great magazine. I am by no means a big intellectual, nor do I want to read the New York Times everyday but I just feel that this country and its fascination with celebrity has gotten way out of hand. Sometimes I think that the way life was in the 50's and 60's wasn't such a bad way to live! More family time and less celeb blahbity blah blah.

Well that is about all I have for you today. There was no real reason for the rant, just some things that were on my mind.

Have a good day everyone!!

Greg

Book that sucked that I wished didn't.

I also forgot that I finished a book today that I was awfully disappointed in. The book is Snow Blind by P.J.Tracy. Now I have read their first three books and they were great! This is the latest book by this author and it was not so good. The book itself was good, it had twists and turns and kept you guessing but at the end it left you going WHAT???????? If you want to check out this author and like murder/mystery/suspense books like Grisham writes then you should like these books. This book was the fourth in the monkeywrench series. Now I must find books to read while we are on vacation. I have quite a few "prey" books by John Sanford left to read so maybe I will get those and take them with!

Good night all!

Greg

Lasagna and sliced wrists anyone????

Well another day is in the books and it was quite the day indeed. It started off with the tornado sirens going off at around 4:22 in the morning. Then I headed out to work at around 5am and it was pouring, and when I say pouring I mean POURING!!! For a drive that usually takes 20 minutes to get to town took me about 35 this morning due in part to the 13 minutes it took me to go 2 miles. That is right 13 minutes for 2 miles because it was raining so hard that I could not even see where I was on the road.

So I get to work and when I pull into the parking lot I notice that the parking lot is a bit dark. I then proceed into the building and there is no power........anywhere. We have emergency lights and I was only able to see in the locker room to get dressed because one of my friends is a cop in the city where I work and let me use his flashlight. The good thing about no power you may ask?? Well it means that the crooks do not get to come out of there cells because it is a security issue. So most of us are happy because it means a easy morning, or so we thought. At 7am right when we were going to have to anger the inmates because they were not going to get out.......the power came back on. DAMN!!!!!

So at 720am we have a fire alarm and have to lock the facility down. 7:25 and all becomes well again. On to 7:30........a guy that I had given a razor to was acting a bit strange. Thinking that it was a bit strange because this guy is normally a pretty upbeat guy, I decided to go and check on him. What did I find you might ask yourself? Well I found a sink full of blood splatter and this guy with a bloody razor and a bloody left wrist. So I calmly put some gloves on and took the razor from the man and called a 10-33, which is an emergency call in the jail. Basically it means that when this is called every deputy runs their A** off to get where the emergency is. Long story short is this man says now that he was never suicidal but just wanted some attention. A-HOLE!!! But I guess I can feel good because if I had not checked on him his wounds were deep enough that he could have gone on to the next world. After all of this I was getting "atta boys" from my co-workers throughout the morning, yet I found myself getting more and more pissed once I found out that he was just trying to get attention. I also have a hard time accepting praise for doing what I was hired to do. Safety and Security are the name of the game. Then the rest of the day was uneventful.

I then came home and had some good lasagna and some good wine to unwind from my hectic day.

So I think that is about it for this post. I hope that this message finds all you well and healthy. Congrats to LA who had a baby boy yesterday. She is our daycare and she will be missed for the next couple of months.

Greg

American Jail

One more thing I forgot to mention. If you like the show "COPS" and would like to see another show from the producers of "COPS" then you should check out the CourtTV channel tonight. They are coming out with a new show that is filmed like "COPS" but instead they go around the country to jails and film the things that happen after the cop brings a crook to the hooscow!! I will be working when this show comes on tonight but I TIVOing it and I can't wait to watch it!!

Greg

Oh Diet Pepsi you are my Enemy

So I am doing this running thing and it is going well. The one thing that I cannot yet get a handle on is the amount of Dt. Pepsi that I drink. I grew up on the stuff and I just love it. The problem comes in the fact that Dt. Pepsi does nothing to hydrate me. I need to be drinking more water and I know that but I just can't get over the Pepsi. I could stop drinking the beer and wine and have always been able to do that when I feel I need to or want to. I do not drink much but I think that is because I have always been able to just go a week or two without having alcohol. DAMN YOU DIET PEPSI........why won't you release me from your delicious grasp?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Oh and gum would be my other weakness. I am so paranoid about having bad breath that I chew gum constantly.


Well by this time next week we will be packing and getting ready for our vacation to the great north of Wisconsin. I love the area I grew up in and always love going back there. It is a very relaxing place to be and I can't believe that K's family goes there to vacation. When K and her sister were young their family used to go to a campground that was just a couple miles from where I grew up!! Can you believe that at some point in our younger lives we probably passed on the streets of Hayward?!?!? Man life is strange and it is amazing that the paths in two peoples live lead to each other.


There will be lots of pictures from vacation again this year and now that we have the blog I hope to put some on here so everyone can see the beauty of the north woods (where there are very few farms........which means no cow poo smell!!!!) I can't wait to see E and how different her vacation will be this year. Last year we went north when she was just 6 weeks old, and vacations was still a lot like work. This year with her walking it should be a whole different experience. It should be fun to see and get pics of E on the beach and in the lake. We are also going to visit a place called Copper Falls. It is a state park and we had lots of fun with E and Grandma M there last fall. Lots of great scenery and picture opportunities. We are going to take K's family there and I hope my mom and sister can come with to. This is our christmas card picture that was taken last year at Copper Falls.

And here are a couple more of Copper Falls. It was the middle of October when we went and it was wonderful. I can't wait to go again!!

Well that is about it for now. I have to get the kitchen cleaned up and get ready to go to work for some OT.

Greg

BOOOOOOOOOO to Bonds

Now I have never been a big baseball fan even though I played the game when I was younger. I don't care to watch it on TV, I don't care to see highlights on sportscenter, I could care less who wins the world series, and I certainly don't care who makes it to the all star game. That being said I DO love playing softball, which I have not done in a few years, and I do know enough about baseball to talk to somebody who does love the sport. I can talk about hitting, pitching, fielding, and the all around game. My brother-in-law and father-in-law both love the Twins and so does my wife's cousin T. Now, I do like going to the metrodome and watching a game with the brother and father in law and I can enjoy myself.

I guess my thing is this, much like Mark McGuire breaking the single season home run record (who was using performance enhancing drugs or ANDRO as they call it) I truly feel that this record that was broken by Barry Bonds last night was a crock of poo. It is a shame that a great player like Hank Aaron's record for career home runs was broken by someone who uses an unfair advantage. Barry Bonds you are a joke.

The thing I do like about last night is that the pitcher that plays for Washington refused to walk Mr. Bonds all night and actually had the jewels to pitch to him.

That is my beef for now and I must go upstairs and get E who is apparently not ready for a nap!

Greg

HOT HOT HOT

Another hot day.......man o man. Yesterday was hot, today will be hot, and tomorrow will be hot. The air at home was working great which is more than I can say for the air at work. Yesterday it was almost 90 here and the air where I work was not working at all. In one way this is good because it makes our "guests" sleep more which makes my job easier. The down side is that even when I can sit at the desk by a fan it is still hot.



After work I went for a run which did not make K happy she thought it was to hot. Still I met up with B and went for a 2 miler. We went slow and took it easy and it went well. I know K does not like that I run after work but I need to keep this motivation up so that I can healthy. My family has a history of heart problems and I do not want to leave this earth sooner than I should because I chose to stay fat. My mom's dad died when he was 55 and that was after a double and triple bypass surgury and a heart attack. This scares me to no end and I want to do everything in my power to not go by the time I am 55. So there.



On to other things. I bought these running shoes last year with the intention of running and doing a half marathon this fall. Well with a new baby it just didn't seem to work. So the shoes got ran on about 3 times through the course of this last year. So this year I am training with the same ones that I bought last year. THEY ARE GREAT!!!! I got Asics gel-komodo shoes and they are one of the most comfortable and supportive shoe I have ever owned. The only ones that I have had that were better were the Asics Gel-MC Plus shoe. Those are the ones that I ran my first half marathon in. I have also tried the Brooks Beast which was ok and the Asics Gel-Kayano which was just ok (not good for a shoe that costs $136). So I am going to put a pic of my new shoe on here so you all can see. That is right........you will all now have to look at a shoe....which is better than having to smell it!! So here it is.

And so now that you have seen my shoe, It is time to go change and REALLY smelly Poo Diaper. It is not good when E is in the living room and I am in the kitchen cleaning up and I can smell it at the sink. YUCK!!!!

Greg

Hot days and red wine

Well it is another hot and humid day here in MN. With it being so hot I am glad to have been working inside today and not doing something like pouring cement or laying blacktop. I am also glad that we spent the money we did on the new air conditioner we bought last spring. Last summer I didn't think the new one made much of a difference other than it actually cooled the house. This year however I think that the air is working GREAT!! Man I love central air.

7 more shifts at work before we leave for vacation (not that I am counting) and it will be great. At work today I talked with the Program Directer and asked some questions about the Activities Director position that is opening at our jail. After our talk I told her that I would be interested in the position when it becomes available. It would be the same rate of pay that I am making now, and would mean 10-6 five days a week and also no weekends or holidays. The OT would be more limited but the hours make it all worth it. I would probably need to get a job and work a couple of weekends a month. So we will see what happens from here.

I met up with a friend and training partner of mine yesterday for our first run on the long road of training that lies ahead. We went 2 miles and could have gone 3 if I had realized that the sock on my left foot had slipped down and my heel had been rubber raw on the back of my shoe. Well after 2 miles I just couldn't go anymore and so we stopped. After went out and bought some new socks that will not slide down and hopefully I will not have this problem again. So the run went well and it gives me a lot of motivation to do this marathon. I have not had motivation for well over a year now and it is nice to finally have it back. B and I have ran a half marathon before and he is a great training partner and a good friend. B is one of the couple or 3 friends in town that are "my" friends. All the others are friends that I know through K. They are all great to, however it is nice to talk to a guy that we have our own history and stories. Most other times I am trying to understand stories from K's past that I have no input into because I do not know who they stories are about. So this running is a good thing.

I have been sooooo stressed with work lately and the running is going to provide a good de-stresser.

Any who I think the time has come to end my post and head off to sleep, 4:30am comes awfully quick. Good night all!!

Greg

A Fun Night Away

I have to start by saying that I love my little E to death, but...........man it was nice to be out with friends and do grown-up things. Last night K and I went out and met up with our friends and K's sister and her DRUNK husband!! It was his 3oth birthday and he was having a good time, a really good time. I have to give S credit though, had I been drinking all day I would have been in bed by 10. So we all meet up and have a few drinks at the local bar and then decide to go down to the beer tent and listen to some music and meet up with some more of our Friends. It was a good time down at the tent and we all had fun. K met up with more of her Friends that she doesn't see much and I saw some Friends from work. I also got the chance to meet one of K's cousins who was up for the night. He was a pretty fun guy and we had a lot in common. I decided about half way through the night to call him Clint because it was easier to remember than his real name. Good times were had by all and we were home earlier than we wanted to be so that grandma and grandpa (who graciously watched E for us) could get home. THANKS AGAIN grandma and grandpa!!

Well that is all for now because I have to get my hung over butt into town and go for a run with my Friend and training partner. Have a good day!!

Greg

OT and beer flavored lolli pops

Well today was another shift of OT at the old job and some more money in the pocket. It was a good day and it is good to be home. While at work I happened to watch some news about the bridge collapse that happened the other day. The news report was saying that they had uncovered reports from MNdot that there were major structural problems with the bridge that were reported in 2004. These problems included large amounts of rust on the support beams and several (like 15-20) BOLTS missing from the support structure, all documented with pictures. Can you say HUGE lawsuits coming to the state of MN?!?!?! On the bright side the Pres is coming to the cities tomorrow to survey the damage. My wife will love that since she is in love with GWB. HA HA HA not so much! She will also love this last comment.........She absolutely is a democrat and has issues with GWB.

Can I just say that I think that my little E is about the damn cutest girl ever. I came home tonight, very excited to see E and my wonderful wife K, and when I get home it is pretty quiet. So I come inside and hear that the family is in the living room and I hear mom say "E, who is home???" Just then I see this cute litte girl in a "Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella" nightgown. It is pink, and hangs to the floor and looks dang cute. I just love her to pieces.

Has anyone seen the dating show "Rock of Love with Brett Michael"? I happened to catch some of it the other day while at home with E. This show is ridiculous. Not as stupid as "Flavor of Love" but ridiculous enough for me to shake my head and change the channel. I mean who knew Brett Michaels was even still around??

Well I think that is about it for me this fine night in MN. One more OT shift and then a day off!! Just 2 more weeks until the big vacation to northern WI were I grew up. I am more than ready and it should be a great time.

Vacations are the best!!

Greg

A new blog

Well I have decided to start my own blog to share my own thoughts and to different outlet from our family blog. I am currently working as a detention deputy in a rural county in SE Minnesota. The job is cool and always interesting, however I have no faith in our overall jail philosophy. Our jail on the whole, is not the most strict jail and at times it seems that the people in blue (crooks) run the place instead of the people in brown (not the crooks). It just doesn't seem right. Well that is enough pissin and moaning about things I cannot change.

I should say that while I work in law enforcement (in a jail) my true desire in life is to be a cabaret singer......................NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, oh my god I am kidding!! My true hope is to be a road patrol officer within the next 2 years. I believe looking back over the coarse of my life, a cop is truly what I was born to be. I have done a lot of jobs in my short life (I am only 30) but the one thing that I have always wanted to do is be a cop.

I have also recently decided to start training for a FULL marathon in the fall of '08. I am a bit overweight but with the right training and support of my LOVING wife, I will be able to accomplish this goal. Well I think that is it for now, but I hope this is the first of many of blogs to come.

Greg

P.S. I will be using my full name in this blog but I will only use the first initials of those I write about. If you comment it is up to you if you want to use your own FIRST name but please use only the first initial of those you comment about.
I will try not bore those who read this blog to much with my ramblings.