Jail Donuts

Holy Crap!!!

2010-06-16T20:51:00.004-05:00

Well it has been a long time. Things are going.........just that. I am now back on days and loving it. As of now our department has offered to eliminate 4 positions in the jail and we had 3 people retire and 1 move to the road patrol. So that saves some jobs for now. It is also an election year and we will have a new Sheriff come the 1st of the year. I have a good friend from Red Wing PD who is running for Sheriff and has a pretty good chance at winning. What this means for me is a "chance" to succeed in my career. I have not asked him to do anything special for me other than to give me a fair chance at succeeding in the department. He seems to indicate to me that there might be more than that waiting for me but I only want a fair shot and a clean slate.

On other fronts money is tough, kids are tough, marriage is tough and trying, and real life is tough. But life goes on and we keep on plugging away.

Thats it for now. Hope to post again soon!

Greg

And it just keeps getting better........

2010-03-10T11:15:00.003-06:00

Well our luck just keeps getting better. Got word yesterday that our department is probably going to lay deputies off at the end of this year or beginning of next year. Wonderful.

What this means is that because I got moved to the bottom of the seniority list, I am on the chopping block. In a job that is suppose to be recession proof.

Damn it all to hell.

Whoa......Sorry

2010-03-05T08:29:00.002-06:00

Dang it has been a while huh?? Some good news has come our way since my last post. The wife got a job at the local YMCA!! She is the boss. Of the daycare and kids gym anyways. She gets to bring the kids to work with her on the days that I work and so I always tell her that it is kind of like being a stay at home mom except she gets paid to do it! The program is fairly unorganized and she has a bunch of work to do in order to get things going in the right direction. But, she loves the challenge and really likes the fact she can bring the kiddos!!

Not much going on with me. Still working. Still trying not to get "noticed" to much while I am there. I have learned that life is much more enjoyable in jail when you just come in, do your job, shut your mouth, and go home safe. It is nice to let other people cause problems with the things they say and do!

I have started working out again after my surgery. I am feeling pretty good and am hoping to drop about 30lbs by July.

That is about all I have. I feel lame even posting. It feels like I don't have much to say. Maybe I will come up with something later!

Rough Road Ahead

2010-02-11T12:49:00.003-06:00

Well we have worked ourselves into quite the pickle. With the wife working part time since last May and my almost 3 months off last fall, we are no longer in a position to pay our mortgage. We have tried to work with our mortgage company and they are unwilling to help out in any way. They have pretty much told us that the only options are Short Sale, Deed in lieu of Foreclosure, or Foreclosure. I am not sure what we are going to do and I am feeling more and more like a complete failure.

I have failed myself, our families, and most of all my wife. I am not sure what is running through my head and where we go from here. All I know is that it will be a long road. I also know that it is easy to see why people can get depressed, become alcoholics, and divorces happen because of this type of thing. Kris and I are strong and on the same page with this whole thing, but Foreclosure just makes people so irritable and grumpy which is what makes it all the more stressful.

Blah.......

2010-02-02T15:24:00.002-06:00

So it has been a couple weeks and it has been busy. Not cool busy like we ran off to Vegas and won 2 mil playing craps. Then decided to stay and really have a good time. Nope not that kind of busy at all. I have been working a lot this week and have not had much energy at night to check my email let alone think about blogging. Work is work and it moves on slowly.

Got news yesterday that I will NOT be photographing the wedding that I was asked to in May. They decided to go with a Pro who has experience with photographing weddings on the beach. Someday I will get to do one, just not this spring.

Belly is feeling good and I have been cleared to start working out next week on Monday. I am really antsy to get moving and back to the gym. I still want to be down 50lbs by July when we go on vacation.

The wife and I are thinking about taking a 3 day trip this fall to somewhere. We are thinking to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. Who knows.

Well that is all I have for now. Getting taxes done this Saturday so hopefully there will be good news. Maybe I will even get to purchase a new camera!

Booze and Difference of Opinion

2010-01-23T20:42:00.000-06:00

Why is it that booze makes one feel so strongly about things?? I am photographing my first wedding in May.......in Alabama. I want to leave the kids home and Kris does not. Why is it so difficult?? So I guess we are taking the kids with us. It will sure be an interesting trip with a 4 year old, a 7 month old and mom/dad in the car. The upside is that we should get lots of great photos of the kids at the beach to share with all!!

Whats New With Me???

2010-01-22T20:31:00.000-06:00

Well let me tell you. First off, I was able to take my first series of engagement photos this last fall! It was for one of Kris' good friends and it was awesome!! Mikki, Dan, and I had so much fun and I think we were able to capture some great moments. They even used one of my photos for their christmas card this year!! Here are a couple of photos for your enjoyment:

The first one is the christmas card shot!! Then in November I was asked to photograph my first wedding!! Can you friggin believe it?!?!?! I am so excited and it is something that I never, NEVER thought I would do. I am a bit nervous but I am sure that I will be able to do a great job.

Also, I am fat. Seriously. I mean it. I was on my way to being in shape, but then a hernia came along and that put a stop to that. I was in a good groove, was building muscle like crazy and overall feeling good. Once the hernia came along I pretty much had to stop lifting so that I wouldn't make it worse. Yes, yes I ,know that I could have kept up the cardio, but I hate cardio. But that is one of my goals for the new year, to do more cardio and drop some serious weight. I had surgery last week on Thursday and now I am not "allowed" to lift more than 15lbs until February 9th (MY BIRTHDAY!!!) so I am starting some cardio on Monday and working my way up from there. I am looking to go from 265 (uuuggghhhh) to 210 by July when we go on vacation. I am pretty positive about this because Kris and I are both committed to getting healthy. So here starts my journey to becoming a "professional" photographer who gets paid for his work, to becoming less of a human (size wise), and to be the best husband-father-coworker-son-grandson-nephew and person that I can be!!

Till next time.......

And I'm Back!

2010-01-22T10:27:00.000-06:00

WOW!! It has been such a long time since the ol blog was up that I almost forgot to post that I am back!! After a long year of not much blogging I am hoping to get back into it in 2010.

2009 was a rotten bitch filled with lots of ups and downs. On the up side Kris and I now have child #2. His name is Cooper and is just damn cute. He came to us in September. Most of the things that went wrong in 09 were work related. My job sucks. No wait, I actually love the job I do.......just not the place I do it at! With that being said the hunt has been on for about 3 solid months now. I have applied many places and been to a few interviews. I believe I am on 2 hiring lists that are good for 1 year so who knows what will happen.

So it 2010 I am hoping for a much more "normal" year with more highlights than low lights!!

More to come at a later date!

P.S. I just saw that I only did 13 posts in 09......Does that lucky number tell you how my year went?!?!?!

Weekend Fun

2009-08-03T02:30:00.000-05:00

Some pics from this weekend

Hmmmm..........

2009-07-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well as quick as it was given to me, it was taken away.

The wife has pulled the plug on out of state jobs and has instead encouraged me to go to school and become a cop here in MN. She would have a hard time being away from friends and family and I can understand that.

I am not sure how I feel about this whole thing, but if I have to stay in MN for the good of the family I guess that is what I am going to do. I realize that if the wife isn't happy, there isn't anybody that is going to be happy.

What would I like to do you ask? Well I am a bit more of a free spirit when it comes to stuff like this. YES, I would miss my family and Kris', and YES it would be hard getting to know all new friends in a different state, and YES it would be a big change to be in a place where we have no friends or family, but I have never been one to let that bother me. If I want to go, then I go.

But alas this shall not be. I am going to call the local college and set up a time soon that the wife and I can go in and meet with an admissions person to get me all ready to start in the spring.

In the end the wife will be happier, the good of the family is upheld, and maybe I might even get to be a real cop someday.......

For my wife and FOF

2009-07-23T11:23:00.000-05:00

What is this????? An Update?????? Ok Ok, so I am horrible at blogging. I have said it before and I really do mean it when I say it, I AM BAD at this.

So what is new with me you ask? Well not much actually. I am still working out and trying to get less fat. It is going ok but Dt. Pepsi and Miller Lite sneak their way into my mouth a little to frequently still. They are just so good, and it is summer, and DAMNIT why is beer so good........

Anyways, the wife is for sure prego and with a little over a month left I am pretty sure she would pay any price that was quoted to get this baby out of her. She is uncomfortable a lot and is ready to be done. I am scared as hell to add a second, but also very excited to meet little Brody. I often wonder how in the hell I am going to care for 2 kids at once when the Mrs. is out shopping or whatever by herself and I have to care for both at the same time with no help. I am sure I will make it work but I am nervous.

Kris and I have been talking and I have gotten the green light to look for cop jobs outside of the state of MN. That is pretty exciting and scary as well. So I am now spending the day today and here on out looking at places to apply. Maybe I will get interviews, maybe I won't but I guess I will never know what could be unless I try.

So that is what I know. I can't promise to blog every day, but I will try to get better!

Greg

Cleaning Machine

2009-05-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days I have been alone at the house while wife and child have been gone for the day. What have I done you ask? Well I have worked out for about an hour and a half both days. I have also been doing some furniture moving for the wife. I mowed the lawn, washed the car, and cleaned the living room and dining room. I have also done a butt load of laundry.

My sis is coming this weekend to spend time with us and the lovely Ellie. It should be a lot of fun. I have not seen her since Christmas and we always have a good time when she is here. Her divorce became final this last week and she was going to have a party, but then decided against it and is coming here instead.

The camera has finally come out of the case in the last week and a half. I have been having lots of fun and I am currently building my own little photo studio in the basement so I can shoot some still life photos. Last February I bought the book 'photo idea index' as recommended by Oh Captain. It was a HUGE inspiration and a lot of fun to read. It literally has 100's of ideas to try and it was worth every penny of the $25 I spent on it!!

Well that is all I have for tonight. Tomorrow I clean the kitchen before the sis comes to town and then a weekend of relaxation!

Till then,

Greg

Heat?

2009-05-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

Can anyone explain where this heat came from? One day it is barely 65 and now it is well over 80 and stuffy as hell in our house. At least it is not cold and rainy I guess.

I don't have much to blog about right now. The child and I played outside for about an hour this AM, but have not really done much since then. When she wakes up from her nap we will go outside again and I am going to have her help me wash the car.

Worked out again today and things went well. I feel like I could go again tonight. I will wait till the morning to go again. I have felt pretty good the last 2 days and I have even ran on the treadmill both days!!

Greg

Whats This??? An actual post?

2009-05-18T08:06:00.000-05:00

Well friends, the time has come when I am finally interested in blogging again. I realize that I may have lost some of you as readers, but hopefully you will come back to the badge.

A couple or 3 years ago I started this blog as a way to relieve stress, and have someplace to put my thoughts. I went strong for quite a while, but then I became tired of posting, and writing, and with the whole concept in general. So I stopped. Then on March 10th of this year I watched one of my co workers pass away while we were at work. This did not help me want anything to do with blogging.

This was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with. He was a good man, with a big heart and a booming personality. He was, however, very over weight and liked to drink a lot. He was 51 when he passed and this experience gave me the final kick in the butt that I needed to make a change in my life and get healthy.

I was on a roll for 5 weeks with working out. Most weeks I would go 5 days a week. But through it all, I was still having a tough time dealing with his death. So I took an almost 3 week break and started drinking almost every night. Not good.

Then this last week I got is some trouble at work that provided me with 5 days off with no pay. And while I should be upset and feeling down about this, I actually feel good. This discipline has put my life and my job stress in perspective. It made me see why my co-worker that died lived his life to the fullest. Granted, he was not in our facility as a career because it was just a job to him. But what I have learned is that when some people are against you, you will never win or excel. And now that I have been enlightened to this little fact, I am totally at peace with going to work, doing my job, being seen and not heard, and then going home to my family. Suddenly a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and the work stress is gone.

I have a friend that is 43 and started working out at the end of January this year. He was the same size I am now and works out 6 days a week. While I may work up to this someday, right now I am happy working out just 4 days. He has gone from a 47" waist (like me) to a 36". That is not pant size, but rather the measurement around the middle of the stomach, right over the love handles, and around to the back. He has inspired me to really make an effort to work out and be consistent with it. He is helping me to eat better, loose weight, and look the best I can. Unfortunately, he is also trying to get me to participate in a bodybuilding contest.

I am fighting him on this.

I just cannot picture myself walking on a stage, in a banana hammock, and posing in front of 300 people. Nope, it is just not for me.

I do want to lose weight, be healthy, and gain muscle. Lots and lots of muscle.

So I have decided to post the ugly facts on this blog. For all to see.

I want to track my progress and look back in a year from now and say "damn.....I have come a long way....I was a fat ass!!" And so without any further delay, here are the ugly truths with a couple of BEFORE pics.

Weight: 255lbs

Waist: 49"

Chest: 49" (not to bad, except it is mostly man boob)

Arms: 17"

And there I am in all my glorious fatness.

So this is what has been going on with me. I am looking forward to getting back into the blogger swing of things, and catching up with all of you.

More to come.

Greg

A Tough Loss

2009-03-10T21:36:00.000-05:00

Today I witnessed the death of one of my co workers. This may be one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with.

ToCar was a well known deputy in our department, in the court system, and throughout the community.

ToCar, you will be missed. You were a great man, and you will never know the impact you had on everyone you came to know.

GCSO #1134 is, for the last time, 10-7.

Sex Panther

2009-01-22T07:47:00.000-06:00

60% of the time; it works every time!!

Has it been 3 months already??

2009-01-21T11:34:00.000-06:00

On Friday night we go back to nights at work. Normally I have dreaded this in the past. Not this time though, this time I am embracing the change. On days this rotation it has been busier than you can imagine.......ALL THE TIME!!!! Not only was it busy, the crooks have become even more child like. I mean, I know I work in an adult day care, but seriously, when you are 30+ years old do you really need to play grab ass and fart on other 30+ year olds??? It is ridiculous, and I just about flipped out last night when dealing with these idiots.

So yes, I am totally looking forward to nights and a break from all the action. Of course if I get this new job in the jail I will be right back on days, but I will only have to deal with the crooks on an individual basis instead of 40-50 at a time.

With all of that said, I realize I have not posted any photos in a while. Here is a couple I have taken recently. The first one is the cap of some boot cleaner. I thought the macro on this made the bristles really look neat. It is not much, but the winter weather has kind of put me in a funk for picture taking.

I am in a group on Flikr that is like a 365 photo group, but instead of daily photos we do a weekly shot. Last week was self portrait week. I was a bit uncomfortable with this, as I am not a big fan of getting my picture taken. But, I finally sucked it up and took a few shots. This is the one that I posted in my group.

Well that is about it for now. I must start making lunch for the child and pick up this dump hole we call a house. It is amazing how quick a 2 year old can destroy the cleanliness of a room!!

Greg

History

2009-01-20T20:09:00.000-06:00

There are a precious few moments in ones life when you know, without a doubt, that you are witnessing true history that someday your daughter will learn about when she is in school. In my life so far, I have witnessed the Berlin Wall falling, the 9/11 attacks and now the inauguration of the first African American President. I am sure there are more that I am forgetting, but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind.

I watched the swearing in, and the first speech by our new President while I was at work. I felt like I needed to wittiness this moment in time. i needed to see the oath as it was recited, and I needed to watch as our new President gave his first speech to our country, and this speech moved me beyond what words on this blog can describe. One of the things that impressed me is that President Obama wrote the entire speech that he gave today himself. That is right, HE wrote it. Not some lackey on the sidelines making sure that the President does not sound or look foolish. I think that we have had enough of that in the last 8 years. When President Obama speaks, he inspires people. He offers hope, realism, and a true vision for the future of our country. When you hear President Obama speak, there is little doubt why people compare him to Martin Luther King Jr.

Yet with all the history happening today, I cannot believe the amount of people who I work with, and I am not just talking about the crooks, that had NO IDEA what was happening today. Now I can see how you might not realize what day it is and have forgotten about the inauguration. What I don't understand is how on earth some of the educated people I work with can't seem to grasp why this day is so special. One co-worker actually said "who cares about the inauguration, its just like every other one we have had". WHAT!?!?!?! Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!

I just don't get it.

At any rate, I am proud to have witnessed the history that was made today. I would have loved to be at the National Mall to celebrate today with the estimated 3 million + people in Washington D.C. today.

Greg

Shit its cold out

2009-01-13T15:25:00.000-06:00

As my mom would say "it is colder than a witches tit in a brass bra" outside. And windy. Which means all that nice new snow we got last night is blown up against the garage door, around my car, and across my front sidewalk.

Thank god my FIL is coming out to blow everything out for me. You see since I have injured my back and now move like an 80 year old man, pretty much any physical labor I do will re-injure the back. I am light duty at work until the end of this week, but think I might ask the doc to extend it for another week. The back is better but still not great. We are going to night in little less than 2 weeks which will be a welcome break from the business of days. I may not be on nights for long though as I applied for a new position within the jail which would allow me to work basically 8-430 with no weekends or holidays. I would stay at the same pay, but would not be able to work over time. Our fingers are crossed that I get this position.

I think that is about it for now. I have to get the snow blower ready for Daddy-O and color with Ellie.

Greg

A Riddle........

2009-01-06T08:34:00.000-06:00

What does this......

Plus This........

EQUAL?????

Well this of course!!!!

One more Familly Photo!!!

2009-01-03T08:16:00.000-06:00

And yes I am the idiot that cut the top of my own head off in the picture!!

HEY

2008-12-31T21:49:00.000-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR BLOGGY FRIENDS!!!!!

Merry Christmas......a little late

2008-12-30T11:08:00.000-06:00

Well it is after the holidays and we had much fun and excitement. We still get to celebrate one more time this weekend when we head north to have Christmas with my family!! There will certainly be photos from the time spent with everyone on my side of the family, but I will post some of my pics from this last week.

Here is miss Ellie opening one of her Barbies that she got for Christmas.....

And my beautiful wife displaying her NKTOB sweatshirt. To learn more about this sweatshirt click on the word "NKTOB" and it will take you to quite the amusing post.

Here is the family photo we took.

and of course the most important thing about Christmas is the drinking as seen below......

Of course I am kidding about the drinking, but I had to fit these 2 pics in for my own enjoyment. It was nice to spend time with family, and we get to do it again this weekend.

Merry Christmas , Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa for those out there who celebrate in a different way!!

Greg

2 Posts....

2008-12-20T12:16:00.000-06:00

In 2 days!!!!

Last Monday I went to our Photo Club meeting/Christmas Party. It was a fun time and everyone had a great time. We had a pot luck and cookie exchange. Lots of good food and a nice time with friends.

We also had a "white elephant" gift exchange and also door prizes that we each got a ticket for. I took #22 and got the 3rd selection for door prizes. I could have taken the second biggest prize, I could have chosen one of 5 packages that I knew were either memory cards for a camera or a removable flash drive. Did I choose any of these???? Nope, this guy chose this.

I guess this prize makes the wife happy. Me....not so much. I would have much preferred one of the 4Gb CF Extreme memory cards for my camera, or one of the 2Gb flash drives but hey, a prize is a prize.

Then for the white elephant exchange I picked a bag with these 2 items in it.

OMG, right!?!?! This is some sort of shaker thing from Peru.....but then I looked farther into the bag and found this little beauty.

That is right, a table top tripod!!!! And it is strong enough to hold my camera!! See below.

Pretty cool white elephant gift if I do say so myself!! Well worth the drive into town in the freezing cold!!

Some days I LOVE being a dad.........

2008-12-19T14:40:00.000-06:00

.....other days I would much prefer just getting a kick square in the testicles. Today would be one of the later type days.

I sure like being challenged on every little DAMN thing I try to do with my daughter.

Insert lots of swearing to self here.

Greg

An SNL Digital Short

2008-12-10T13:03:00.000-06:00

After this hit from SNL

They came out with this little gem that I just couldn't resist putting up. Enjoy!

Look what I got!

2008-12-05T09:56:00.000-06:00

This is what I was presented with yesterday at work.......

That's right, I got a commendation from the Sheriff yesterday for helping save the life an inmate on the day after Thanksgiving!!

How this whole thing come to pass you ask? Well here is the story.

On the 28th of November I was working in our Special Management section of the jail. This section houses women, "special" needs inmates, work release inmates, and our Disciplinary Segregation inmates. All in separate spaces, of course.

It was 6:45 in the morning and I was finishing up passing out morning medications to those who get them. My last person is a guy who is on work release and is a diabetic. He will be referred to as DD from here on out. Since DD has been in our facility he has been documented saying that he would purposely mess around with his insulin to get the county in trouble, and so he could sue us for money. Needless to say we keep a very close eye on him while he is in the jail. DD is known to take insulin right before he comes in from work (when he does not need it) to drive his blood sugars really low (around 25) and then force us to deal with his low blood sugar. It is a game DD plays and his life that puts on the line every time he takes insulin that he does not need.

Anyways, I had DD check his blood sugar and it was at a 43. That is low and normally I would have given him a glucose tab or some juice to bring him up. It was only 10 minutes before breakfast though so I did not give him one since I knew the food would bring him up. After DD tested his blood he told me he was going to draw 26 units of the long lasting insulin and 8 units of the fast acting insulin. When he drew the long lasting insulin, it looked to me like he had drawn to much but I wasn't sure so I let him draw his fast acting right away as well. When DD drew the fast acting, which was suppose to be 8 units, I noticed that he actually drew somewhere between 13-18 units instead of the 8 he told me he was going to. I immediately questioned his draw as he stuck the fast acting into his side. I told DD to pull the needle back out so I could see how much insulin he had drawn. He refused, and with a smug little smile, injected himself without showing me. I was pissed!! I then grabbed the other needle he had drawn with the long lasting insulin and looked at it to see how much he had pulled. The long lasting was pulled to 32 units. That is 6 units more than he said he was going to pull! I again questioned him and he told me "don't fucking question my insulin use." Can you believe that? If I don't question and verify how much insulin he is taking, I am not doing my job. After a bit of ~~arguing~~ discussion, DD finally put the 26 units he was suppose to have drawn into a new needle. He then went back into the unit and then breakfast was served a few minutes later.

The next time DD needed to check his blood sugar was at lunch time. When he came out he checked his blood, told me he was going to pull 8 units of fast acting stuff again, and then started to draw his insulin. When he showed me the needle, he had put in 13 units! I called him on it again, and again he got pissy, but in the end he adjusted the insulin level in the needle and took only 8 units. When I got back to the office I immediately wrote a report of what had happened during the morning, called my Sergeant to let him know what had happened, and called our nursing unit and left a message for them about what had happened. I also wrote on our pass on (for the next deputies coming on)to watch him close and really monitor his insulin draws.

Around 3pm that afternoon one of the deputies that was now working in the special unit was walking around on a well being check and stopped at DD's door and noticed that he was on his back sleeping and seemed to be breathing normal. Or so the deputy thought. He finished the rest of his check in the work release unit, and then had a gut feeling that he should check on DD one more time. And it was a good thing he did. When he opened the cell door to talk to DD, the deputy heard a gurgling noise and saw that DD was foaming at the mouth. The deputy immediately called a medical emergency. The sergeant had me call EMS and they responded within 2 minutes. It was a flurry of activity for the next hour as EMS tended to DD. When the deputy opened the door, DD was totally unresponsive and EMS stated that if it were not for the fast action and good eye by both myself (for noticing that he was messing with his insulin) and the other deputy, DD surely would have died within the half hour. As it was, EMS could not find a vein for an IV for almost 20 minutes. DD's veins had started to collapse and he was lucky that EMS was able to find one that could be used.
In the end, DD made it through and is ok. Still a raging dick, but at least he is still alive to be one. Our Sergeant wrote a very nice email to the jail administrators and to the Sheriff and Chief Deputy Sheriff to let them know about our crews actions that Friday.

Then yesterday, the main deputies that were involved received the commendation and we were told that at the yearly awards banquet we would be awarded with a life saving badge to wear as part of our uniforms when we are on duty! Pretty cool I think.
I certainly don't do my job for any sort of glory, and there are some negative nancies at work who didn't think that the incident was that big of a deal. But it was a very nice thing to be recognized for what my fellow deputies and I did. I never in a million years had expected getting an honor like this in the facility that I work in.

And that is the story of my Thursday, December 4th, 2008!!!

Greg

CRIBS: Christmas Edition

2008-12-02T19:17:00.000-06:00

Here it is, my house with christmas lights. This is for the Captain and Father of Five. I am still trying to find a picture of our house after we did the work out front in the flower gardens, but I have not run across one yet. Which I can't believe.

So without further a do I present Cribs: Christmas Edition.

And that is it. This is all we have done this year. Hopefully next year we will get lights all they way up the peak of the roof and down the sides. But for this year this is all we did.

Greg

Whats been going on?

2008-12-02T08:26:00.000-06:00

Well, where should I start. After my dad was here, the election came around. The wife and I were prepared to stay up till the wee hours of the morning to find out who was going to win. How suprised were we when at 10:30pm they announced that Obama had won. After the election not much happened around our house until the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The weekend before turkey day we went up to my aunts house near Hudson, WI. We met up with my mom, grandma, sister, and aunt. It was a fun day with good food....

And good company.....

And of course my sis had to much to drink and ended up like this....

Ok, you caught me, that is not actually my sis. It is one of Ellie's dolls. I thought it was a funny picture though, and yes I am still 12 and think that pictures like this are funny.

A few short days later we headed to Kris' parents house for Thanksgiving. We arrived around 11, sat and chatted for a while, and ate a good lunch. After this week of spending time with family on this holiday, I have realized how much I really have to be thankful for. It was a great week and I can't wait for christmas!!

On Friday after turkey day, I had to work. But after work I went downtown and met up with the fam for the Holiday Stroll. It is suppose to be like an old fashion town festival where we all get together and watch the town light up with christmas lights. It started about 6-7 years ago in RW and is a huge hit no matter what the weather is. It is fun to see all the people who come out for this night at the end of November to meet with friends and neighbors to celebrate the start of the holiday season! We had some yummy food at Lily's and then "strolled" around town for a couple of hours.

I had to work the weekend as well, so not much has been going on. Kris and I have a date night again this Friday and I am looking forward to it. We were suppose to meet up with Teach and her hubby, but plans change. Maybe next weekend?!?!

Greg

YES, I am here......

2008-12-01T16:10:00.000-06:00

....and yet I have not found myself in the blogging mood. It just sort of stopped. Maybe it has something to do with the awful time I was having at my job, maybe I was just bored with blogging, or maybe I was just lazy. Who knows.

At any rate I am back!!!!!

I have been feeling quite ill for the last few weeks, and I just can't seem to shake it until sometime after noon each day. I am dizzy, and forgetful, and worn out all the time. So I finally went to the doc and he looked me over.......

......and he found out that I am PREGNANT!!!!!!!!

Wait........no.......er.......I mean......

We are now going to be in People Magazine and make millions of dollars for being the first man to be pregnant. Oh wait, that has been done already by some creepy guy that is part woman and part man. Well there goes our millions.

Things have been good, and I plan on posting more later. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still around. And no Father of Five, I do not have a fist infection!!!

Greg

Frontenac State Park

2008-10-29T18:26:00.000-05:00

A new photo post HERE about my adventure to the state park just down the road from us. Here is a teaser of what I saw.

Go check out my PHOTO BLOG and see some more of what I captured today at the park.

Greg

NO SURGERY!!!!

2008-10-29T11:47:00.000-05:00

Went to the doc today to see if I was going to have surgery. They said no. 2 more weeks of light duty at work and then I can resume my normal activities.

HOORAY for no surgery!

Greg

A Fun Weekend

2008-10-27T11:38:00.000-05:00

This past weekend my dad and grandparents came to visit. They made the trip on Friday from Stevens Point, WI and got here about 12:30.

I was not sure how this visit was going to go because on Thursday I woke up around 11am and was up looking around on the computer. Suddenly, I got very sick in the stomach. I thought I was going to puke and ran into the bathroom. Nothing happened right away, but I did end up worshiping the porcelain throne 3 times that day. Not a good thing was happening, and I was worried about calling into work. I then got a call from my LT saying that the note I brought in from the doc to put me on light duty actually was going to not allow me to work at all. I asked why, and was told that the wording that was used made the note read a different way, and that in turn put the county in a liability situation. I said I would try to get a new note and bring it it with me. Turns out my doc was out for the day and I was not able to get one until Friday. PERFECT!! Now I did not need to tell them I was sick and could instead use my docs note for the reason I Would not be in!! I then continued to be sick the rest of the night, and stayed in bed.

On Friday I felt a hundred times better, but was unsure how the tummy would hold up through the day. I met dad, grandma, and grandpa at 1:30 and we went on a little site seeing tour through RW and then out to the casino for grandpa. Around 3 we got them checked in to the hotel, and dad dropped me off. I then picked up Ellie and Kris and we met up again for fish fry dinner at the Bierstube. It was delicious as always and we had a nice time. After dinner we went back to the hotel and found that they had gifts for Ellie. She had a great time opening them, and played with her new baby that she received. We didn't stay long because everybody was tired and we were getting together the next morning, so we made our way out to the truck and headed home.

On Saturday we met up at Pepin Heights Apple Orchard. Grandma and Ellie had lots of fun looking around the store. Grandpa bought his first Honeycrisp apple. He gave grandma a bite, and she immediately went and got a whole bag full!! They had never had any of those apples before and were instantly addicted! It was a bit chilly and cloudy so we didn't stay long, but I was able to get a few pics of our time there.

After the orchard, we headed back to RW to do some shopping. We took Grandma to Kris' old place of employment, and grandma LOVED it!! It was right down her alley. Then we went to The Pottery for some more shopping. It was fun and grandma found lots of stuff in the one store she went through. Grandma got tired quick and went to sit and rest while the rest of us shopped on. I found a cool shirt, and I think Kris could have spent a bunch of money on Fiesta Ware.

We then headed out for some lunch. After lunch, dad and I took grandma and grandpa back to the hotel for a nap, and Kris and Ellie went home so Ellie could nap. What did dad and I do? Well we looked at guns and then went and had a couple of beers at Andy's. After a while we went and picked up some pizzas from Pappa Murphy's, loaded grandma and grandpa into the car, and headed back to our house. Once there we ate, drank, and had a good time watching Ellie play and enjoyed some nice conversation. By the end of the night we were all tired and ready for a good nights sleep.

Four generations from my dad's side of the family. What a good lookin bunch.......well Ellie anyways!!

On Sunday we met for breakfast and had another nice meal with good company. Kris' parents joined us and we all had a good time. At the end of breakfast it was time for dad, grandma, and grandpa to hit the road for the 4 hour drive back home. Ellie gave hugs and kisses, we said our goodbyes, and then we made our way home.

It was a good weekend and we had lots of fun. I hope to go visit them again soon, and maybe Ellie can meet her cousin while we are there!

Greg

More Proof of My Lack of Smartness.

2008-10-19T11:55:00.000-05:00

Looks like a normal hand, right? Well keeping going and you will see what it turns into.

What is that?!?!?! A strap?

Now 2 straps?

Hey look at that........its a brace to immobilize my middle finger because I have a fracture in the knuckle closest to my palm.

Thats right folks, I have one NEW break from my little wall escapade earlier this week. They also found 2 other breaks that were old. There was a big discussion about doing surgery right away last Wednesday, but then they decided to give me this. I have an appointment on the 29th of this month with the orthopedic surgeon to decide if they are going through with the surgery. From what I have read, the most common fixes for the type of fracture I have is surgery.

I AM AN IDIOT!!!!!

Greg

Is Greg an IDIOT?!?!?!

2008-10-15T13:13:00.000-05:00

IF you answered yes, then you would be right.

Last night I let my job and a couple of the shitty people that work there get to me. I lost my cool and did something completely irrational. I punched a concrete wall. I also broke my hand because of said punch to concrete wall. I am an IDIOT. I am fairly embarrassed, so please be gentle when you tell me what a MORON I am.

Greg

Weekend Fun in the Northwoods

2008-10-14T12:49:00.000-05:00

Our trip to Hayward is over, and it was once again hard to leave. It was so much fun, and I remember why I love that area so much. The winter sucks sometimes, spring is nice, summer is wonderful and smells of pine and fresh air, and then there is fall. OH fall, you are my friend. I love fall. I love everything about fall. The colors, the crisp cool temps, and of course the nostril filling smells that drive the sensors in your brain crazy with delight. Can you tell that I wait all year for fall to come?

So being that fall is my favorite time, and I am down right tired of taking pictures in the river valley area that we live in, I was pumped to be in the northwoods for some fall photography. This is some of our weekend.

Stay tuned for more to come. I think that I got some great photos and I think that there might even be some that I would put in a frame.

There is also a new post on my Photo Blog. There will be more frequent posts on this blog in the days and weeks to come. So please go check it out and tell me what you think!

Greg

A wedding

2008-10-08T10:34:00.000-05:00

2 weekends ago my best friend got married. We have been friends for 10 years and have been close since the day we met. He is my brother. We come from different moms and are in no way related, but he is the brother I never had. I was honored to be in his wedding and it is great to see him so happy.

Congrats Hunter and Gina, may marriage bring you years of happiness and loads of memories!!

We are off to Hayward this weekend for fun in the north woods! More to post when we get back.

Greg

NEW OLYMPIC SPORT!!!!! Slapface

2008-09-23T16:05:00.000-05:00

I don't normally watch The OFFICE, but if this is the sort of humor they have, I might just start!!

I find this hilarious!!

Hello......

2008-09-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

I hate money. Ok, that is a lie. I like money. I like money to pay our bills. I like money to buy beer every once in a while. I like money to be able to stop at Taco Bell if I wish. I like money so I can bowl if I want to. I like money.

What I do not like is not having any. I am not asking for extreme amounts of money, just enough to be comfortable. Like a million would do it. Even after taxes, it would pay off all of our debt, start a college fund for the big E, and just make our lives a bit easier. Shit, I guess even half a million after taxes would be good. Ok, I want just enough to pay off all our debt, give E a college fund, and then Kris could work part time, and my full time job would be all we would need.

So if any of you know where I could get the said 500,000 I would appreciate an email. Thanks!!

On a different note, I was driving home from one of the standard small cities we have where we live, I saw this....

I thought it was neat how this old farm building was perfectly framed by the trees as you are driving down the road. Now when I walked about 4 steps in front of the car, this building was truly centered between these trees, but I liked this look better when I got home and put the photos on the ol laptop.

As much as I am not a farm person, they do provide some pretty cool photo opportunities!!

Greg

An Update

2008-09-17T19:13:00.000-05:00

Well I am back sooner than I thought I would be. Last weekend I went to a bachelor party. We had much fun shooting the shit out of each other with paint balls for about 3 and a 1/2 hours over in Lakeville. Then we went out to Old Chicago in Minnetonka for some food and drinks. After a while we went to Excelsior for more drinks. It was a great time and we had much fun all day. Here is a pic from paintball.

And yet more proof of the ass whooping we all took at paintball.

I did not get the worst of it by far, but this was one of the better ones I received.

Then on Sunday we went to a baby shower and this is what we saw.

Had a great time and it was nice to see Amanda, Dave and baby Henry!

That is about all I know for now.

Greg

it not about the badge........

2008-09-09T15:32:00.000-05:00

.....apparently its not about posting either. Just have not been in the mood lately. I am sure I have plenty of interesting things to share, but I just don't feel like sitting down and writing a post.

What the hell is up with that huh? I am going to try and start posting again soon, but for now I am just going to read and comment on my favorite blogs.

Greg

Policeman vs. Fireman #5

2008-09-04T10:52:00.000-05:00

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Policeman vs. Fireman #4

2008-09-04T10:51:00.000-05:00

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Policeman vs. Fireman #3

2008-09-04T10:43:00.000-05:00

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Policeman vs. Fireman #2

2008-09-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Policeman vs. Fireman #1

2008-09-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Saturday Scavenger Hunt......a Return

2008-08-30T07:42:00.000-05:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I have done the hunt, and since I am home this weekend I figured that I would get back into it and do a post. So here we go. This weeks word was "blue" and this is what I have come up with.

Here we have a old "blue" boat.......

And here is the blue skies and water in Bayfield, WI.......

And our blue cooler that got attacked by a bear while we were on vacation. Note the bite mark on said cooler, it was one of about 5 or 6 punctures in the cooler....

And last but not least, some blue tasties!!!!

There you have it. This is what I found for "blue" this week.

Have a good weekend

Greg

Long weekend ahead

2008-08-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

Well today starts the hellish next week I have going at work. I have to work tonight and Thursday as my normally scheduled days to work. Then I have picked up Friday and Sunday as OT, the back to work Monday and Tuesday for my normal shifts. Not nearly the hours that Father of Five is putting in during the RNC this coming week, but tiring non the less.

Last night we went to T Woman's house and I made dinner for the girls. I do not claim to be a wonderful cook (or even a good one for that matter) but I think I did an alright job. Made garlic chicken, roasted veggies, and couscous. Turned out pretty good, and I think I would make it again. Thanks to T Woman for letting me make a mess of her kitchen. And for the opportunity to cut myself with her sharp assed knives!! Quite the cook I am.

I have decided to post a couple of the pics from the wedding we were at last Saturday. Kris used one of them on her blog, so I will show you some others.

And there you have it. Until next time....when the OT is over.

Greg

Wedding fun

2008-08-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

This last Saturday we went to a wedding. It was for one of Kris' friends. We had a good time and the location for the wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!! Very scenic and a nice sunny day. I didn't take a whole lot of photos as I was having fun.

Not much else happening this week. Lots of work and OT this week and I should be ready for the time off come next Wednesday. I only have one day off until then.

Greg

A Response

2008-08-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

This is in response to the "doesn't my hubby look wasted in this picture" post that my lovely wife did.

Wonder why she didn't post this picture?............

Now who looks wasted?!?! AHHHH HA HA HA HA HA!!

In her defense, I totally had my share of the beer that night. And this poor Dwarf had to deal with the aftermath........

As did this Sasquatch. He must have liked the abuse though, because I swear I heard him moan......

Seriously.

Greg

Long Time No Talky

2008-08-20T15:49:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a while since my last post whilst on vacation. We had lots of fun, and the wife was posting, so I guess I kind of neglected my blog for over a week now. So here it is, the big update.

On vacation Daddy-O, Sco-T, and I all went golfing last Tuesday. We hit the ball and chased it around for 4 hours, and I got some pictures too. Here they are.

Then on Wednesday it rained off and on for the day. KT, Sco-T, Kris, Ellie, and I all went up to Ashland for the day and shopped. We ate good food and had a fun day.

Here is Ellie eating her popcorn.

Here is everybody looking sad that Grandma and Grandpa weren't with us...

We are here..........

Ellie driving the boat..

And then we saw this sunflower field along the way home. There were seriously acres of sunflowers planted along the roadside.

On Thursday Kris, Ellie and I met my mom and sister at a local "petting zoo". The place itself is a lot more dirty than I remember, and since Ellie is scared of her own shadow at times, a zoo where the animals were this close did not really appeal to her.

When Friday came, we all loaded into a pontoon and spent the day on the lake. Here is what I saw.

On Saturday we decided to make the drive to beautiful Bayfield, WI. It is a neat little town rich in nautical history. It is located on the South Shore of Lake Superior and is very scenic. While there we ate some yummy burgers, shopped a bit, went out onto the docks, and even ran into a guy from the RWPD who was there with his wife for their anniversary!! These were the sights from Bayfield.

Well that is about all I have for this time. I am going to be updating my photo and 365 blogs in the next couple of days. I also hope to catch up with all of you and start making some comments on all of your blogs:)

Greg

Our vacation so far

2008-08-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

So we have been here for 1 day and have had a load of fun already. We have played bean bags, went to the beach, went to the bar, and had some delicious food. What else could you ask for to start a vacation? Here are some of the pictures that have been captured so far.

To say that we are having fun so far would be a understatement. There will be more photos and more blog updates as the week goes on. Also have more pics on my 365 blog of our vacation!!

Greg

Firecracker Prank

2008-08-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

This is about the funniest thing I have seen in a long while. I laughed pretty good after seeing this.

Bunny Jail

2008-08-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

Life ain't easy when your behind bars.........

Hot and Humid

2008-08-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

I see that I have not posted in a long time. To be honest, there has not been much to post about lately. I have been working and when I am not working it has been to damn hot and humid to do anything except stay inside in the air conditioning.

We are going on vacation next week, so we are busy getting packed up and ready this week. Sunday cannot come soon enough!!

Should be lots to post about in the next week, and I should have plenty of new pics to bore you with:)

Greg

Saturday Scavenger Hunt done on Wednesday

2008-08-06T08:07:00.000-05:00

Wow, I am really late this week. So here we go.

Above photo was taken during a drive through the farm country in our area.

Here is another type of drive.

And thats pretty much what I have.

Funday Tuesday

2008-07-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

I am home again with Ellie today and it is once again humid as a mofo out. Yesterday we went to nearby Lake City and got us a DQ Peanut butter Cup Blizzard. We took the blizzard to one of the parks in town and shared it while we walked around and hung out by the big fountain in the middle. It was a fun afternoon, but it was so humid that we were both sweating even when we were sitting still!! Yuck weather, but here is the proof we were there.

Then last night I went to another local town and took some pictures of the covered bridge that is in one of their parks. And no, we aren't in Madison County!!

From what I can tell, Ryne is Awesome!! That is what the writing on the wall says anyways.

Well we have the insurance guy coming today to look at the house. Hopefully he will find the same damage we have found. I am thinking we are going to be way above the $1000 deductible that we have.

I suppose I should get back to the chores I am working on today. We are going into the inlaws for dinner tonight which should be fun. Ellie always likes going to see Papa and Grandma.

Greg

Saturday Scavenger Hunt on Sunday......Again.....

2008-07-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

Ok so I worked all weekend again and have just now gotten around to posting for the Saturday Scavenger Hunt. This weeks word was "local" which was provided by Cricket.

Here is what I got. We will start with this hitching post outside our "local" bar. Yes a hitching post, you know, so your car doesn't run away while you are inside drinking!

Next up is our "local" American Legion hall.

Then we have a sign from one of our "local" parks.

And finally, a whole lot of wine in a rack. All made "locally" !!!

That is what I have for this week.

I know that I have not posted in a few days, and I will for sure post something new tomorrow.

EDIT: I see that I have been tagged to pick the word again for this next week by Cricket. The word for this week is "Drive"

Greg

Vote Now!!

2008-07-23T22:56:00.000-05:00

Click on the photo and vote if you would like!

Sore throats suck

2008-07-23T22:26:00.000-05:00

So since last weekend I have had the mother of all sore throats. I went to the doc on Monday and he told me there was nothing he could do for me. It is a "viral" thing and it will go away on its own. Can I tell you that every time I swallow it feels like there are about 3000 razor blades are going down the ol hatch. Blah. I hate being sick.

Got our truck back today good as new, which kicks ass.

Not much going on other than that. Trying to rest up and get better so it may be a few days again before I post.

Sick in the summer time. Just makes me wanna scream if I thought my throat wouldn't fall out while doing it :)

Greg

Poll Time

2008-07-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

Beer? Liquor? or Wine?

Whats your poison?

Saturday Scavenger Hunt

2008-07-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

The scavenger hunt word for this week is "refreshed" and it comes from Tara. So here we go.

During the summer you need one of the "bottles" to get "refreshed".

After a long day in the summer sun, you can use these products to come out of the shower "refreshed".

Once out of the shower you might start to use the computer. Sometimes those web pages need to be "refreshed."

Then after a long morning with dad searching for the Scavenger Hunt, Ellie will be "refreshed" after this nap.

And that ends this weeks hunt for me. Ellie had a great time helping daddy while taking pictures this week.

Greg

OH MAN

2008-07-18T21:26:00.000-05:00

Well it has been quite the week. It has been hot as a MOFO and humid too. We are getting together with my mom, aunt, and cousins tomorrow night at our house. It should be fun since we have not seen any of them in a while.

My one cousin just graduated this year from the high school and is so grown up. The second cousin is still in high school and is a swimmer. I am thinking that maybe we will corrupt them and feed them booze at the bonfire. HA HA HA HA...... just kidding Uncle M and Aunt S!!!!

We are currently having some happy juice and watching a movie. Will have another installment of Saturday Scavenger Hunt Tomorrow.

Greg

And its Tuesday

2008-07-15T08:50:00.000-05:00

Well I guess I was a bit upset with the deer a couple posts ago.

The truck went into the shop yesterday already, and they are thinking we will have it back by the weekend! Man that is a fast turn around.

Nothing else really going on. Ellie and I are home again today together. We had lots of fun outside yesterday and she played in her pool for like 2 hours!

At some point today I am going to tackle the job of getting all the black crayon out of our dryer. I tried some last night, and I really don't think it will all come out. I just cannot afford to risk washing stuff and getting black all over things like my uniform. Kris asked last night if we could just get a new dryer. HA. Yes, we can get a new dryer with all the money we have just sitting around not being used.

Damn deer. Damn crayons. Damn dryers. Damn money.

Back to work tomorrow. Should be miserable. I am training a new person, and it is not going well. She says she wants to learn, but then questions everything you try and teach her. OHHH, and she gets supper pissed when you tell her that she is doing something wrong. OH, and she came in twice this last weekend so hungover that she was puking in the bathroom. Nice impression to make when you have only been employed with us for 2 weeks. Then when you call her on it, she argues and says she isn't hungover.........after she has been complaining about how hungover she is.

Anyways, time to go outside and wear out the E. Dora and Diego are over and now we are spending some time away from the boob tube.

Peace,

Greg

Saturday Scavenger Hunt

2008-07-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

Done on Sunday because severe weather sucks my ass.

So the scavenger hunt word of the week was "bottle" as picked by me. Here is what I came up with.

Here they are, lovely maidens all in a row. These are my favorite "bottles" don't you know.

Some other favorite bottles in a friends wine cellar. He makes his own.

You DO NOT want to drink out of these bottles!!

And that is what I found for this weeks word. for next week I tag Tara! Thanks for letting me be a part of this fun little thing!

Greg

FUCK YOU DEER!

2008-07-13T22:53:00.000-05:00

Dear Mr/Mrs Deer on County Road 2,

Go fuck your self and your complete lack of brains. Who in the hell would voluntarily run full speed in front of a nice TRAILBLAZER and completely fuck it up by hitting it?? You piece of crap. I hope you died a painful death in the woods, alone, and miserable. You suck for doing this to our beloved ride that we have not even made 1 payment on, you bastard!!!

New hood, new fender, new bumper, new headlight, new passenger door. That is the damage your worthless ass did to our sweet car. So once again, go fuck yourself. Asshole.

Strait Line Winds

2008-07-11T20:46:00.000-05:00

Well we didn't get the tornado, but we sure did get strait line winds.

It started around 1:30 yesterday when I was making lunch for Ellie. I cut her cantaloupe and she was eating it. I gave her some Cheetos and milk. I was cutting up her chix nuggets when I noticed how black the sky was out the kitchen window. It was so black that it was dark like night out. So I gave Ellie her nuggets, and went out on the deck with the camera. I got out there and the skies lightened up considerably when I took this shot.

Within a minute or two the sky changed from the above picture to this.......

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!

So a short 30 MINUTES LATER, the rain that was blowing straight sideways stopped and we decided to head upstairs to look at the damage.

This is what we found.

And this was just our house. We took a drive later in the night and here is some of what we saw.

Of course the last photo is what the weather turned into last night. Yes big fluffy clouds and blue sky. Go figure.

So we had a long afternoon of clean up yesterday, and a real long and hot day today. What do you do after storms like we had yesterday you might ask? Well you get ready for another f**king storm tonight that is producing an ass load of tornados. Yippee. Hopefully it will just rain and we will keep our power and AC tonight.

Wish us luck and hopefully we will be back to post tomorrow with no damage to the house or us!

Greg

Annual Dept. Party

2008-07-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

Well this past weekend marked the return of a favorite amongst our 2 departments. The annual farm country, inter-department get together. This is the first year I have gone, but I have heard many stories. Let me tell you, Jen and Josh did not disappoint!!!

To start, my friend Kegs has a band that is named "Smooth Cooter" hence the tshirt you will see in the pictures. They were good and we had loads of fun listening and dancing and drinking. When they were done at 10, the hosts hired a DJ to start playing. Yes, thats right, a DJ!! It was loads of fun and we drank way to much. We left early, but from what I hear, it was a good thing we left before it got crazier than it already was.

So we left after lots of laughs and lots of pictures. Some I have, which you will see, and some I don't which I will get!

Here is what I got for now.

They handed out those neon glow necklaces and boy did we have fun with those. Instead of putting mine on my neck, or leg, or arm like most normal people, I decided to put it through the zipper of my pants as you can see from the photos above. Then Kris says "hey, why don't we see how many people we can get to take pictures licking your glow stick on their knees?" My friend Mongo (pictured above) and I thought this was a great idea, and ventured out to get as many shots as we could. Well we got more than we bargained for. I will have more pics when I get them from Mongo. Some I can show, and some I can't. But oh, they will be marvelous:)

Did I mention that the jeans I am wearing in those pics are Lucky's and I got 2 pair on Saturday at Macy's for $23 a piece!!! Who is king of bargains? Badge is the king of bargains!

Well that is all for now. Hopefully I will have some more funny pics for you soon.

Greg

Happy 4th

2008-07-06T18:05:00.000-05:00

Its been a busy weekend, so this will be a short post for now.

It started on Friday at the pool. We hung out there for a couple hours before heading to Baypoint. It was fun. Around 3 we made our way to the park for family fun and bar-b-que. We ate, had laughs, and ate some more. Before we knew it we had to make our way to the spot we had saved to see the fireworks.

Then Today we headed over to Pepin, WI for some lunch at the Pickle Factory. Here are some of the things we saw there.

And thats about it. We had a very fun and busy weekend. All of us are wiped out and are probably going to be early tonight!!

One more thing before I go. I did get a chance this afternoon to update my other 2 blogs with new pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Greg

A Poll

2008-07-01T09:09:00.000-05:00

The question is about sauce on steak.

Ketchup? A-1? Nothing?

Lets hear what you like!

P.S. I almost always put ketchup on my steaks. Unless I go to Manny's in the cities. Its the only steak I have ever had where it felt like a sin to put ANYTHING on the steak!

New Car?

2008-07-01T09:03:00.000-05:00

Well we did it. We bought a new car yesterday. Here it is.

It is a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer. It came to us with only 36,000 miles on it. No more mini-van, no more of wife saying "I feel like an old lady driving the van" and "I am to young to drive a mini-van", and most import no more driving to town from the country with no 4 wheel drive.

That is what we did yesterday, how about you?

Greg

CONGRATS #2

2008-06-30T08:24:00.000-05:00

WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY HANSON!!!!

6lbs 10oz and 19inches long.

Your mom and dad have been waiting a long time to meet you, and we are all excited that you have finally arrived!!

Congrats J and P!!

Is this thing on??

2008-06-30T07:27:00.000-05:00

Once again I have neglected my blog duties, and have not posted for a week. BAD BADGE.......BAD!!

Lots going on this past week. Worked on Monday and Tuesday. After that I have been off from work and don't go back until this Wednesday.

One of my best friends from college got married on Saturday to the only girl I have even known him to date. Her name is Anna and she is GREAT!! They are the perfect match for each other. I know you are suppose to say that when someone gets married, but it really is the truth. If I could show you a video from my wedding, and you could see the way Mike and Anna danced and interacted during our wedding dance, you would know that they would get married some day. Well that day was this past weekend. I took well over 240 pictures between 2 days, but sadly some of the coolest ones ended up looking like crap-ola. Turns out it is hard to take decent looking pictures when you are mostly drunk.

Friday I went to St. Paul to pick up my tux and hang out with Mike for a while before the rehearsal. We went to his favorite bar, met up with some other groomsmen, and had a good ol time playing some pool and Golden Tee. I only got a couple of pics from the bar, but here they are.

The Bar......

The Beer!!

After we left Goby's, I didn't take another damn photo all night. I now realize it is hard to get the pictures you want to take when you are actually IN the wedding. The rest of the night was comprised of rehearsing, good food, and of course a few drinks at Buffalo Wild Wings.

The the big day came. Got up Saturday morning early, got ourselves ready, and were on our way to the cities again for pictures at the church at 11. About 10 miles from the church I get a call from Mike. The following conversation took place.....

Mike: Did you guys leave yet?

Me: UM......yeah, we do live a hour away and pictures start in like a half hour.

Mike: Huh.......well do you want to punch me now or later?

Me: Not sure, I guess it depends on what your going to tell me. You are still getting married today right?

Mike: Yeah, that is definitely still on.

Me: Well are you going to tell me whats going on?

Mike: We don't have pictures until 12:30. Anna told me wrong and it was the bridesmaids that had to be at the church at 11. Sorry man.

Me: Well I guess we will just go hang out at Caribou or something until we have to meet up.(in my head I am thinking SORRY MAN!!!!!! I AM A FUCKING HOUR FROM MY HOUSE, IN A TUX, with nowhere to spend the next 2 HOURS before pictures, and your SORRY!!!!!)

Mike: Sorry man, I am not on the ball.

Me: Thats ok. Oh, by the way, I will be punching you right in the crotch when I seen you.
Mike: I figured you would. See you at the church.

So from there, we really did sit at Caribou for 2 hours until we went to the church. They had a little play area for kids, and Ellie had a great time playing and coloring.

Then we arrived at the church and we were still the only ones there (besides the bride) that were from the wedding party. I was told that there were major problems with the hair lady and she had done a horrible job. Got a couple of pics from the church that also did not turn out, but here are the couple that did.

Those are the only ones I have from the church. Thats it.

The pictures went well, the ceremony was beautiful, and it was a good day at the church. What happens next you are asking? Well my friends, we hopped into a stretch SUV limo and head out for the drinking, er I mean reception. Many drinks were had in the limo, and it was a nice ride. We got to the reception and was time to party.

Here is some of what I saw at the reception. Once again, if you want good looking pictures from a wedding, DO NOT drink copious amounts of booze. Most of the really good photo (or what should have been) looked like junk when they got onto the computer. Oh well, here are the ones that were keepers.

Ellie did great the entire time, and was a hit both at the church and the reception. She was quiet and watched the ceremony, and danced her booty at the reception.

About 9, she hit the wall though. She was definitely tired and so we changed her into her pj's. I also changed out of my tux and into some shorts. We left the tux with Mike's parents, and headed out about 9:30. Pulled into the garage around 11pm and we all went right to bed.

It was a great couple of days, but it left us all exhausted.

CONGRATS to Mike and Anna!!! You guys are awesome, and it was an honor to be part of your wedding!!

Greg

Flower Beds........Finally Finished!

2008-06-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

We have officially finished our front flower beds!! It has been 3 years of living at our house that they looked like this.......

......they have been weed filled mounds of dirt. Gross. So this summer we decided that we were going to get them looking good again. We started with cultivating the dirt and getting the weeds out. Here is the that part of the process.

And here is Daddy-O and I have a great time working the beds.

After a few days (well actually weeks) of hard work, TODAY the beds are finally done. We put in the edging today and filled the beds with mulch and so here is the final results.

And there you have it. Up next? The side flower beds and the rear planting area behind the garage. Then this winter I will start redoing some of the inside of the house.

Very tired, and now must go to relax.

I also updated my photo blog today with some of the things I have captured with the camera lately. Check it out if you are interested.

Happy Sunday!!

Greg

Your Kidding Right?

2008-06-20T05:54:00.000-05:00

Was my daughter really up at 5:37 am this morning?

She is going to the doc today as we think she has allergies or something. She is up a lot at night coughing and always seems to be wheezy. Lets hope it is not asthma that she has. I have it, and it sucks.

Did I mention that I cannot remember when the last time was that Ellie slept past 6:30am.

Seriously little princess, I love you so much it is crazy, but do you think you could sleep till 7 or 8 or 9 or noon maybe??

In other news, I will actually be finishing the flower bed overhaul that we started a month ago. I went to Daddy-O and BOO BOO's house and got some rock and brought it out to our house. I am going to edge the beds with said rock and hopefully will have before and after pics to show you guys by Monday.

On a day I work, I would have been up for almost 2 hours by now. Why is it that I am so damn tired now on my day off when the child wakes up early?

Adios for now while Ellie and I get some breakfast. More later!

Greg

Photoblog redo

2008-06-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I know I just posted the link to my wordpress blog site that I put my photoblog on to try. I hate it. It is tough to put photos on, hard to type and edit, and it is pissing my off. SO.....I have come back to blogger. Here is the new blogger powered site. badge photography. So click away at that link and check out some of the new photos I have added!!

New neighbors and club meetings

2008-06-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had new neighbor's move in accross the street!! It seems that they are about our age and have a little girl that looks to be a little younger than Ellie. Not by much, but younger.

They are still moving in and we figure we will not drop in on them for a couple days so that they can get moved in. How cool though!! a kid Ellie's age AND fun new people our own age........not 80 like most of the other people in town:)

Tonight is my photo club meeting. The club was invited by a local flower nursery for a private photo shoot in their private gardens after the business closed tonight!! It should be fun and we will get a chance to shoot some flowers, shrubs, and other plants close up. Also, I hear they have quiet a lot of birds that call the nursery home, so maybe we will get some good bird shots tonight as well!!

I see that Ellie is tired of playing with her play-doh, so I must go now and entertain her. Have a great day everyone!!

Greg

Another question for you.....

2008-06-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

Ketchup on your hot dog??

Or no ketchup on your hot dog??

A Question

2008-06-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

So I update my picture a day blog every day. I update this blog a couple 3 or 4 times a week. I do not maintain my photo blog very often. So here is my question. Since I put 95% of the photos I take on either this blog or the photo a day blog, should I do away with my photo blog? Like I said, I do not update it as often as I should and you will just be seeing the same photos as on my other 2 sites.

Any thoughts?

P.S.

2008-06-08T21:07:00.000-05:00

By the way.......I have switched my photo blog to wordpress. I have heard decent things about it, so I thought I would give it a try. The new address is gprphotography.wordpress.com. Come on over and check it out!!

Zoo and MOA Fun!!

2008-06-08T20:23:00.000-05:00

Saturday we went to the zoo with some friends, and I just want to say........IT WAS A BLAST!!!

We started out with some lunch in the shade by a neat little pond. We had great conversation and got to watch the kids get comfortable around each other. When we were finished we headed up the hill and off to the entrance of the zoo.

Once in the zoo we ran into some flamingos.

After the flamingos, we made our way around the zoo to see many other animals. Some of these included some sea lions..........

......a giraffe and a tiger........

.......and a cool little water wheel....

We also got some sweet shots of the kids!

And, of course, one of our family.

Then on Sunday we ventured out to the MOA (mall of america). We met my mom and aunt, had lunch, shopped a bit, and then walked around the amusement park a bit. Ellie is still to short to go on any rides, so we didn't get to do that. ~side note: can you believe that she can't even ride any with her parents??~ Anyways, here are some pics from today.

We have some more pics that have not been put on the computer which will be added soon.

That is about all for now. Hopefully everyone had a good weekend.

Greg

New car and Fiesta

2008-06-06T22:08:00.000-05:00

Well at 3:30 today I packed Ellie up and we got into the van to head into town. We met up with Scott and Kris at the car dealership that Scott works at. Last week Kris and I were VERY close to buying a 2004 Buick Rendezvous. Then we talked to Scott. It was then we found out the very disturbing past of this car. It had been a rental out in New York and had a lot of problems. Thank goodness we found out about the car before we took the plunge. Did I mention that we were on our way down to sign the papers when we found out about the Buick?

Well long story short, we looked at a few different cars and have settled on a Chevy Malibu. We are running all the numbers and probably won't find out if it is ours until Monday. If we get it there will be a longer post with pictures then.

Then we went to our local mexican restaurant for some good food and good cheer. We met up with Daddy-O, BOO BOO, KT, Scott, Kath H, and our family from Ohio Jim and Yvonne. We had lots of food and drinks and laughs. It was a good time, and also it was nice to spent some time with the family.

Here are some photos of the night.

That is that. We are off to the zoo tomorrow to meet some friends and have some fun. Then Sunday we are meeting my mom and aunt at the Mall of America. Should be a fun filled weekend.

Greg

My Crazy 8's

2008-06-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged by my blog friend from Scotland (how frickin cool is that!!) Amanda X over at Penny 'n' Pounds! It's a tricky one but I will try my best to come up with some new things:)

Eight things I have a passion for~

1. Dt. Pepsi. I love it and drink it every day. If I don't get one, I am grumpy.
2. I love gum. I chew it all day, everyday. It gets expensive, but I hate thinking I have bad breath.
3. Ellie. I have so much love for that little girl, it is crazy.
4. Bowling. Love it, just don't love the long season anymore. I also love to play softball, but have yet to find a team to play on here in MN.
5. Guns. Handguns specifically. I am not some nut jobs who needs to own 700 of them. But they are just so damn sexy. I want one really bad, and some day (soon I hope) I will be buying one. Do you think this has something to do with the profession I am in and want to move on to? OK, you may all think that I am crazy now:)
6. My Job. I have some really frustrating days at work, but overall I love the job I do. I try everyday to learn as much as I can, and do the best I can.
7. My family. They are the world to me, and I never want to disappoint them.
8. WWII. I love to read, watch, look at, and learn all I can about this war. I am not sure why, but I cannot get enough.

Eight things I would like to do before I die~

1. See Europe. Mainly the route from Normandy to Berlin and other places where the war took place.
2. Run a full marathon
3. Visit all the national parks in the US. Oh, and take pictures, of course:)
4. Own a pair of Jimmy Choos. Wait. That was Amanda's.
5. I want to take my daughter to Disney World while she is still a kid.
6. Get a job as a police officer.
7. Compete in a triathlon. Even if it is a mini one.
8. I also would like to grow really old together with my wife.

8 things I say a lot~

1. You got to be F**king me.
2. Allegedly
3. I love you (always to my daughter, and I should say it more to the wife)
4. REALLY?!?! (in a sarcastic tone)
5. Hands behind your back, palms facing out, thumbs up, and turn your head to the left.
6. ELLIE!!!!
7. Do we have enough money to get.....
8. I'm just sayin.....

8 books I have read recently~

1. Ricochet by Sandra Brown
2. Shoot him if he runs by Stuart Woods
3. Silent Prey by John Sanford
4. Copper River by William Kent Kruger
5. Phantom Prey by John Sanford
6. Broken Prey by John Sanford
7. Naked Prey by John Sanford
8. Short Straw by Stuart Woods

Eight Movies I have seen Eight Times ~

1. Band of Brothers
2. Tommy Boy
3. Dirty Dancing ( no I am not gay, my mom loved this movie and we watched it a lot when we were kids)
4. SuperTroopers
5. AnchorMan
6. Eddie Murphy: RAW
7. Ratatouille
8. Dora's summer adventures (remember I have a 2 year old!!)

8 people I invite to do this Meme ~

1. Captain
2. Rachel
3. Chas
4. Christy
5. Alfred's Mom
6. Teach (when she gets her new computer)
7. Nellie
8. And Miss again!!

It would be fun to see what you guys have for answers but don't feel like you don't have to!

Greg

2008-06-06T07:04:00.000-05:00

I have been tagged by Rachel, and am finally getting to it!

Here are the rules…

1. List these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 7 facts are:

1. I am not 4 foot 11 and 3/4. I am 5'11" but always tell people I am 6' tall.

2. I LOVE Dt. Pepsi. I cannot remember a day when I have not had at least 1.......or 4:)

3. I swear to much. I think it happens because of where I work. I have always used swear words, but not near as much as I do now. Very hard to control with a 2 year old in the house.

4. I used to run. In fact (even though my pic does not look like it) I have run a half marathon. I would like to run another, in fact I it is one of my dreams to run a FULL marathon. I just can't seen to find the motivation, or the time for the training anymore :(

5. I love photography. I never in a million years thought I would be into this, but I am hooked. I can't wait until I can get my camera out and snap off some shots. Everywhere I go now, I look for photos to take.

6. My parents divorced when I was 10. My dad remarried soon after the divorce, and then promptly put his new family before his REAL kids. I am pretty sure my sis has never forgiven him, and she certainly has not forgotten. I occasionally speak with him over the phone, but have not seen him in well over 2 years. I thought that once his biological son had a child he would want to be more involved for his granddaughter's sake.

7. I also never in a million years thought I would have a blog. Never thought I would enjoy having a blog. And certainly never thought I would consistently take care of a blog. But again, I love it. I really love getting comments from all of you!! It is like a whole new world of friends from all over. Who would have thought a guy who grew up in the northwoods of Wisconsin would have "blog friends" or even know what a blog is!!!

Now I know all of you are so excited for a tag so here it goes:

1. Tanya
2. KT
3. Miss
4. Nellie
5. Sco-T
6. Fragments
7. Ka-T's Cup

And thats about it. I should post more tonight!!

Greg

Rainy and cold Tuesday

2008-06-03T19:11:00.000-05:00

Today was seriously 55 degrees, cold, windy, and rainy today. Is it really June?

Oh Monday.....you make a good first day off.

2008-06-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

It was a long weekend at the jail. Nothing really happened and it was quiet all weekend. On Saturday I got to work intake from noon to 6pm. It was pretty slow, and I booked 2 people. One of those 2 people stayed with us, while the other one got to go home.

The one that stayed was quite interesting. He was picked up for having a lot of meth on him and he had obviously been up for days on end. When he came up the elevator, I let the deputy who brought him in go and do his paperwork, which is what I normally do if the new arrest is not combative. Well all this was fine and dandy until I asked him to empty his pockets. This is where the whole thing started to get weird.

When he emptied his pockets he had the normal stuff like a wallet and some paper. But one thing went into the bucket that made me go "hmmm". He put a c**k ring in the bucket. Yes a c**k ring. Do I need to explain what one of those is? If so, email me and I can explain.......I think. Quick explanation is that a c**k ring is used for enhanced pleasure during whoopee.

Ok so this was weird enough, but it really did not phase me. What I found next is what made me really go "HMMMMM".

I started doing my pat search and I felt something in the back of his pants. I immediately told him not to move and put the handcuffs back on him because I was not sure if what I felt was a weapon or not. When the cuffs were on, I asked him if he had any weapons on him or more drugs that I should know about. He said no. I then asked him what was in his pants then. He told me he did not know what was back there. HUH? What? So I start to check and see what is in his pants. What did I find? What was it, you ask? It was a bright, metallic turquoise vibrator. Yes, this man had a vibrator wedged in between his butt cheeks.

I was stunned.

I quietly put the vibro friend in the bucket and finished my search with nothing else weird popping up.

Later on while I was booking this guy in, I looked at him in what must have been a puzzled look because he said "whats on your mind?"

I told him that I was not trying to be rude, but why on earth did he have a vibrator in between his butt cheeks. I had to try really hard to not laugh because this guy was very defeated and down in the dumps. He simply replied that he had no idea why the vibrator was in his pants. Confused, I asked "how can you not know you have a vibrator in your butt cheeks?"

Then he gave me the most honest answer I think I have ever heard in the jail. He told me he had bee up for almost 3 weeks straight smoking meth. At this moment is when the AH-HA light bulb went on in my head. It all made sense now. If I was up for 3 weeks straight smoking drugs, I suppose I would also have no clue why there was a vibrator stuck between my butt cheeks!!

Man I love my job sometimes. Not many people get this kind of entertainment at their jobs!!

Meth is the most evil drug I have ever come across. I cannot believe how bad it messes people up.

So after Saturday, I am grateful for a nice quiet Monday at home with Ellie. Speaking of which, we started her quiet time for her nap about 5 minutes ago and she is already out. Looks like I will go outside while she is sleeping and get a start on mowing the lawn.

Have a great day and don't misplace any vibrators!! :)

Greg

Lazy Thursday, sort of.....

2008-05-29T15:32:00.000-05:00

Today was rainy and cold in the ol MN. Ellie and I didn't do much except take a ride down to get the mail. We have watched many the cartoon, and now I am watching "Into the Wild" while she is taking a nap. I will let you all know how it was or if I would recommend it for you to see.

I have been a little productive today. I have washed all the dishes we have used today, and I have done 4 loads of laundry. Now I am making dinner so that it is ready for when the wife gets home. It is a turkey breast tenderloin that is flavored with garlic and lemon sauce. Not sure how it is going to turn out, but we will see!!

That is about all for now. I am going to watch this movie and see how it is.

Greg

Diego......animal rescuer????

2008-05-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

So we are watching Diego today, which I am not a big fan of. But because the child likes him (and frickin Dora) we watch it. Well during this episode of Diego he is "rescuing" an octopus. Mmmm, ok.

Anyways, Ellie is watching this heroic "rescue" and started yelling opplepoos!!! Now even though I hate these 2 shows, apparently Ellie does learn something from them. She frickin said opplepoos (or octopus as we would call it)!!

I almost spit out my peanut butter sandwich (just for you Daddy-O) from laughing so hard at the way Ellie was carrying on. Then in the middle of all of this, she starts yelling "PICHANGA"!!! What in the hell is pichanga I ask myself? I soon find out, when I ask Ellie to point to "pichanga" what she is saying. Any guesses? Baby Jaguar. Yes you heard it right. Baby Jaguar is what pichanga is. I guess.

2 year olds crack me up!!

G

And now its Wednesday

2008-05-28T06:42:00.000-05:00

So I see I have been a bad blog friend again, and have not posted in a while. Things have been busy, busy around our house lately and I am just trying to keep up.

I have been working a lot the last few days, and it is going to be nice to be gone from our building for the next couple days. I wish I could tell you guys all the scandalous details about what is going on, but there has been a gag order put on us. But oh, when and if it is lifted, I have a juicy story for you all!!

Home has been busy too. We have been digging up flower beds, planting, mowing, watering, and just general clean up. I am hoping to get out and do some more work tonight when Kris gets home. It is time to do some tree trimming, and I think I can get some of it done myself. I am going to try and tackle some of the smaller stuff, and then a friend from work is going to come over and he and I are going to take down a couple trees and trim a few others. His dad used to own a tree trimming business, so my friend has the experience. Plus he is going to do it for steaks on the grill and beer!!

Normally, a tree service that you hire would charge about $400 a tree. We have 3 trees that are coming down. So steaks and beer is really a pretty good deal!!

Well I hear Ellie is walking around upstairs. Time to go and get her up and get some breakfast.

More soon,

Greg

Field of Honor

2008-05-23T23:20:00.000-05:00

Today is the start of the Memorial Day weekend. It was also the day that our town put together what is called a Field of Honor. You may be asking what the hell is a field of honor? Well it is a field of flags that are bought by people to honor the people in there lives that served in the armed forces. Well in RW tonight there were over 300 flags dedicated. It was a very cool ceremony and it was just a cool thing in general.

Here are some photos from tonight.

Tomorrow we start re-doing our flower beds. We are getting all our flowers and hostas from BOO BOO and Daddy-O. We were looking at buying all our flowers and such from a nursery and we were dreading the bill on what this was going to cost us. Fortunately for us, the in laws are getting a new driveway and need to tear up a flower bed that is in the way. This equals lots of flowers and hostas for us.

I hope to take some before pics and then some during and after pics as well. Maybe, if I work hard, we will have a transformed front yard!!

Till Tomorrow.

Greg

1 weekend down, many to go

2008-05-19T07:42:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was my first weekend on days. The weekend went good, and for the most part work was slow. The only excitement was a guy that came to jail overnight, and did not want to change into our jail clothes. We later found out he didn't want to change because he was wearing orange lace women's thong underwear. AHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA. Needless to say, this made our weekend.

After work last night we went and got some groceries. While in the checkout line, a large man wanted to give me a high five because I was wearing a tshirt he liked. Then he noticed my hat, which had the sheriff's star on it. He then proceeded to tell me how he was going to sue the police and sheriff's department for not responding to his call for help. I was also told that he was going to get a couple of my co-workers badges. This kind of rambling went on for about 3 minutes. He wen on and on and finally I had to tell him "I don't mean to be rude, but I am trying to shop with my family." I guess he got the point, because he said he was sorry and walked away. I am guessing that he was not right in the head, and may cause the local dispatchers some headaches. We were not in RW, and so I was trying to be as polite as possible.

Ellie and I are home today and it is suppose to rain. Yippee. I am going to try and play inside and make it fun for her.

Well I have to go and try and make Ellie's 24 month doc appointment. Wish me luck, and hopefully I can post later again today.

Greg

Birthday Party #2

2008-05-15T22:42:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had a nice time with my family for Ellie's birthday. We met at Liberty's, which is a local restaurant. The food was good and it was nice to see everyone. Then we headed down to Levee Park and opened the gifts that we for Ellie. Here is some pictures of the opening.

And there you have it. We had a good time and wish we could see them more often. It is not often that my sister gets to see Ellie, so it was nice to have her down here to!

I work my first day of days tomorrow morning and I couldn't be more excited. It will be nice to be with my family at night again and not have such a screwed up schedule.

Greg

BIrthday Party #1

2008-05-14T23:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the first party of the week for Ellie. Tomorrow we are having dinner with my family, but tonight was all about Ellie and her friends and family that could make it.

Ellie received many nice gifts and I think she had a lot of fun too!!
Here are some pics from the evening.

I am finally headed back to days starting on Friday. I am not real sure how long this is going to last though. A guy from a different crew is going to road patrol and this would open up a full time intake position. This position is a coveted one that I am the next in line to get. This does mean that I would have to go back to nights for a little while, but it would mean that I would have to position that I really want to be in. So right now we are just waiting for the official word to come out that the other guy is going to the road. It should be no later than July when I switch.

Not much else going on, so hopefully I can remember to blog and also FIND the time to post.

That is all for now.

Greg

Baseball and flower delivery

2008-05-11T04:13:00.000-05:00

Well on Friday night, the wife and I attended the Twins game courtesy of Oh Captain and Oh Countess. It was a great game and we had a great time. It came down to the last inning and the Twins pulled it out with in the end, winning in thrilling fashion!!

Here is the Wife and I, pre-game.

And Joe Mauer stretching before things get started.

Here you see David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez getting warmed up.

The first pitch!

And last but not least, the "Security" for the game.

During the day before we went to the game, I delivered flowers with Daddy-O. He works part time for a local flower shop, and on big holidays I usually help him out if I am not working. My job is to run the flowers up to the house and say things like "Happy Mother's Day", or "Happy Valentines Day", or "Here is your damn flowers, maybe you should turn up your hearing aid so I don't have to stand in the rain holding these damn flowers!" Ok, I don't ever say that last one, but I will say that when I work with Daddy-O, the majority of the deliveries I make are to ladies that are 60 or older. Most are around the 80 mark. It is kind of fun to see a simple thing like flowers make an old ladies day!!

I also helped out with the flower thing yesterday and was home by 5pm. After I got home, Ellie and I played for a couple of hours. Then all of a sudden I fell asleep in my chair. I think I was in be and sleeping by 7:45pm and slept until about 4:30am this morning. I guess the fresh spring air and the lack of sleep really took a toll on me!!

Nothing planned for today. I have to work at the jail tonight for an OT shift. Then I only have 2 shifts of nights left before we go to days starting this week Friday!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you blog mommies out there!!

Greg

Happy Hump Day

2008-05-07T08:26:00.000-05:00

Well today is the 3rd anniversary for the wife and I. We are doing nothing. If fact I am going to work and will not be home tonight. Exciting right? This is the life of a corrections deputy I guess. We are (as I have mentioned) going to a baseball game together on Friday night. I can't wait to get some alone time with Kris. Once again, we have gone to long without making time for ourselves. I can't wait!!

Because I work nights and I am an overtime whore, I missed our bowling banquet on Monday night. I got done at midnight and was met by my team down in the locker room. They then informed me that if I did not come out for a couple beers, I would be pepper sprayed and tased. This of course was a joke, but when you have a taser pointed at your chest, you tend to do what is asked of you. So I went down to the local watering hole, and they gave me this.

These are the awards I got at the banquet. The 3 medals are actually really lame. The patch and trophy are for most improved averaged for men. I guess I went from a 166 average to a 182 average. Not to shabby.

The interview did not go so well yesterday. While out in the waiting area, I heard the guy who ended up doing the interview, talking to 2 guys about how they had warrants and should not do anything stupid to get caught. STRIKE ONE. Then I heard him talking to someone else about smoking weed. STRIKE 2. Then the kicker was I heard him say "My interview works for a sheriff's department, why would he want to come work here?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? So as you can imagine, when I went back for the interview, I was not really interested anymore and I let this guy know. It ended with me telling him that the interview was a waste of both of our time, and that he should really watch what he says when he by the waiting area. I then got up and told him that I hoped his 2 guys with warrants didn't get caught. Then I left. Very disappointing.

Well that is about all for now. WAIT!! I forgot that I had gotten tagged by Penny~n~Pounds. I need to list six weird facts about myself. So here it goes.

1. When I open a pack of gum, I have to always go in order. If someone (Kris) takes a piece out of order, I get upset.

2. I am ridiculously early. All the time. I hate to be late, and am most often at least a half an hour early.

3. I do not like cake or ice cream most of the time. I occasionally have a DQ blizzard, but that is a once in a while thing.

4. Cocoa Puffs are still my favorite cereal. I am 31 years old. Cocoa Crispies are my second fav.

5. It irks me when Kris uses the dishwasher to wash Ellie's dishes. They are small and easy to wash. No need to use the dishwasher.

6. I have a set routine to get ready for work. If I don't follow it, I usually forget something. Here it is. Start shower, put contacts in, take clothes off, shower, dry off, get clothes on, pack reading stuff for work, pack lunch for work, take stuff out to car, check to see if I forgot anything, grab cell phone and wallet, get in car and go.

And there you have it. Have a great hump day!!

Greg

BAD BLOGGER!!!!

2008-05-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

OK........WOW!

It sure has been a long time since I posted last.

I have been working a lot over the last 2 weeks and I am ready for a break. I have to work again tonight. I have off tomorrow and then I am back to work on Wednesday and Thursday. Then Friday the wife and I are going to the Twins game for our anniversary. I can't believe it has been 3 years already!

Well this is a short post, but I wanted to let all of you know I am still here. Here, but busy.

More when I get some free time:)

Greg

May 1st!!

2008-05-01T03:01:00.000-05:00

Well today starts the weekend from hell. I work today from 9am-2pm and then from 6pm-midnight. Then I work my normal weekend of overnights (which is the last one!!!) then I work Monday night again. This makes for a long stretch.

On Tuesday I have an interview at 10am up in the cities. I am not going to go into a lot of detail about this, but if it goes well, I will share the whole story with you. On Tuesday night we have another meeting with the people who own the buisness we are trying to buy. Then it is on to work again on Wednesday and Thursday night.

Next week Friday will be our 3 year anniversary and we are going to the Twins game. It will be nice to get out with the wife for some alone time again!

I was tagged by Amanda, and I swear I will get it done as soon as I get some time.

Hope all is well with all of you. Our blog friend (who we will hopefully get to meet this summer) should have had her baby on Tuesday. She knew it was a boy and his name is going to be Hudson. I hope things went well for her and we will see some pics of her new bundle of joy soon!!

Greg

Its now Monday

2008-04-28T01:10:00.000-05:00

Here is the thing. I went to work tonight for some OT. When I called home on my break at 9:30, the boss was a little weepy because Ellie was not going to be so good again tonight. I am not sure why this child just will not go to bed. Looks like we are going to have to be hard asses and just put her up there until she learns when bedtime is.

In other news, Kris and Ellie had dinner over at our friend T's house the other night. T has a little girl, H, and the girls always have fun together. Lots of pics were taken and then emailed to us from T. I was looking through them and saw this one.

Does anyone remember the post I wrote that had the picture of Ellie standing on a chair flashing us?? Well once again I have to say that judging by this picture, my little girl may be a hit at spring break. Lord help us:)

Greg

Early night and wine.

2008-04-26T21:46:00.000-05:00

Well I think we have figured out why the child has not been wanting to go to sleep. You see it started with hating the bath (which she used to love), then it has moved to bedtime. Well tonight we put Ellie in the tub, and she started crying about poop being in the tub. Kris made sure E knew that the tub had been cleaned and that there was no poop or puke in the tub. After about 40 seconds of talking, Ellie sat in the tub and had a good ol time!!

Then the light came on. We thought maybe she was upset that she had puked in her room and on her sheets. So when it was time for bed, we went upstairs and made a production of cleaning the floor and changing the sheets so that there was no puke anywhere. Well guess what? SHE WENT TO BED!!!! It only took a couple of books and a sip of apple juice, and she was out for the night! HIGH FIVE TO THE PARENTS. For once in a week we used our heads and figured this thing out.

EDIT: The floor and sheets were actually clean, except in Ellie's mind!!!

So to celebrate we came downstairs and drank some of this.

Ohhhh delicious Cabernet, you are a trusted friend:) This one is from Chile. It is delicious.

Greg

11pm? Really??

2008-04-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

Can someone explain to me why my 2 year old is still awake at 11pm? Also, can you explain why she throws a huge tantrum when we try and put her to sleep?

This is really starting to get to Kris and I. Fairly ridiculous if you ask me.

Greg