The Secret changed my life

If you go to Amazon and search for the book "The Secret", you will see that the most helpful review is called "The Secret Saved my Life". A riveting story of a man, Ari Brouillette, down on his luck and hoping to draw positive things into his life. It's worth reading this review and the comments it inspires. Thanks to my buddy Trevor for putting this on his blog and giving me and my wife a good laugh.

Come and get it!!

The table was set this year for our cowboy Christmas. If you have a low tolerance for denim this might be a hard post for you. My mom did another great job this year of having a theme all tied together from cowboy santas, chuck wagon Christmas ornaments and even a snowman riding a cow. Leslie and I got to bring home the chuck wagon ornament as well a armadillo wearing a cowboy hat and throwing a lasso to also hang on the tree. I had a hard time getting dressed into the them but my brother and nieces showed great enthusiasm in dressing with the theme.

We were all standing outside because everything
we cooked for the meal was done in dutch ovens with hot coals
The temperatures were around 36, so not to bad but
the best place to stand was between the prime rib and the
peach cobbler. You got some nice radiant heat from the roast and cobbler and a combination wiff of peaches and beef.
This is where I spent most of my time.

You can see all the goodies lined up here on the counter.
We did three types of beans, two cobblers and about a 15 pound prime rib ( have a picture of my bare foot next to the roast to show how big it is but can't find the pick).

The bean count was overwhelming. One was a multi-bean medley so we got to experience over a half-dozen types of beans including some special bean that is grown out west by Indians. The peach cobbler with the orange zest was definitely my favorite. I recommend doing this twist on the cobbler and making sure you have vanilla ice cream on hand.

I was so proud of Leslie for getting into the theme with joy and sporting her denim and bandanna with pride. It was a fun and successful cowboy Christmas.
There is talk of a Caribbean Christmas next year.
(Can you find Bob the Rooster??)

Help for you Moms

I could not resist commenting on a friends blog about advice she was seeking on all things mother related. I think this helped:

"A few notes on nipple chaffing:

Using good old fashion Vaseline is the way to go. It's thick, cheap and has been around since the 50's so it is proven.

I agree with Maria about Huggies wipes. I found them to be thicker and gentler on my sensitive bits than the generic brand products.

Comparing all the formulas I would have to go with Enfamil, though it's pricey, as the best to blend with Hershey's Syrup. It's the best chocolate milk taken through a nipple, bar none!

Hope this was helpful and wish I had advice on keeping the milk flow up but I had a falling out with my lactation coach about setting goals.

Keep the faith."

Christmas 08

It has been a long time since I blogged but I'm back and we have a new camera so we should have some fun photos to accompany whatever story is being told. Leslie and I drove 1491 miles for Christmas and sampled Chick Fil-a 4 times. The critter with the cowboy hat is our Armadillo ornament from this years Cowboy Christmas 2008. I'll tell that story here soon and you get to see Leslie in alot of denim, minus the acid wash. She fought the urge to crimp her hair and I was really proud of her.

What do you do if the monster is in your room?

Here is what this three year old concluded:

Whales

Oh the Whales! Humpbacks off the Coast of Gloucester (don't pronounce the C for some reason) Mass. We saw about 12-14 of these amazing creatures. These two came really close and I kind of got excited. It was planet earth from 5 feet away. Amazing.

The Water Balloon Hearings

After seeing the news of the hearings they were going to have on Capital Hill about the financial crisis and who was leading them, I had a thought. This is very much like the hearings we had in my house over 20 years ago as to "Why doesn't the TV work right now?" It was a mystery because nothing looked smashed or broken. (I'll be playing the role of Senator Chris Dodd in this story). So my mom looked at both of us and asked me what happened. I was always the credible one between me and my brother and it was almost always his fault, so it made sense for my Mom to ask me what happened. I had the floor, set the agenda and plainly said that my brother Eric was at fault, no questions. He was the guilt party and that was the end of that. This is how I feel about these hearings. This WSJ article points this fact out about asking the trustworthy person, Sen. Dodd, to run the hearings. Only problem being no one has taken more money from Fannie and Freddie, had special favors given to him by Country Wide mortage and actually oversaw the banking comm. for the last 2 plus years but Dodd.

I don't know if the hearings will ever happen were Sen. Dodd gets called to sit infront of the microphone but here is my moment:

I broke a water balloon over the TV. Don't ask me why or how but fortunately the TV dried out and started working again.