My popcorn is savory!

My Eldest loves words. She was excited to learn a new word, savory. She also writes a lot. Here are some of her compositions. I have corrected her spellings and punctuation. If you could read them in their original format, you would find it too precious.

I do not have a favorite color, but I don't know why?

Once upon a time, there lived a girl. Sometimes she likes to play dress up. It's fun. Sometimes she caught butterflies. Sometimes she would play tennis. One day she went to pick strawberries. The End.

I like you buddy. Thank you for being my buddy.

Name. I like mom. I like my dad. I like by brother. Write a sentence. (She has no brother!)

My favorite part was when we raised our hands and told what we would do with the piggys.

Friday. Dear first grade journal, Two bee, Room one is going to have a speaker. Mr Skerie says we have to write in a journal until. The speaker will teach us by recycling. Recycling is where you clean your trash. I believe. From, one bee.

I like my cats because the are friends. June Jones, first grader, room one, is going to have a speaker today. It's all about recycling. Recycling means cleaning trash I think. Mr. Skerie says we have to write in journals until the speaker comes. From June, the first grader.

Chef Me

How about a Pita from the Arabic market. Take it and rip it in two. Put some Queso Fresco in both pockets. Put both halves in the toaster. Crispy bread and melted cheese. Yum. You're welcome.

Weekend Sports

My MSU Spartans crapped the bed at home against Ohio State. Predictable. My Tampa Rays got to the World Series. Hooray! Not my Lions crapped the bed. Didn't watch a play.

There will be a big rivarly week this week with MSU @ UM on Saturday. I'm going tailgating. Swag should be good.

Computer issues

Sorry for no new posts in a while. My home computer blew a power supply and a hard drive. It's still in the shop.

Thank goodness for insurance

My estimate to get my rear driver side door fixed was $3,600. Yikes.

Car accident

Some guy blew through a red light last night and hit me in the driver side rear door. He was even turning down the wrong way to get me. Luckily I have $20 a day for rental insurance. No injuries all around.

radio habits

My listening habits have changed dramatically. I have basically listened to sports radio from the time I got in the car until bed. This has been my pattern for years. During the Kwame mess and through the election and financial meltdown, I have listened to WJR instead. I've got to have my Rush fix in the afternoon. And Frank Beckman is right on. Mitch is a joke of course. I can't listen to that hack. Sorry WDFN. You shouldn't have run that ad mocking Sarah Palin. Remember my rule. You mock Palin, you are DED to me. I know it was the Deisel. I didn't stop listening to WDFN because of the ad, but it didn't help. And WJR has the Michigan State games on the radio. Another blunder by the UM AD Bill Martin.

Great kids

YOUNGEST was sick in the AM. She got the 24-hour bug that ELDEST had on Monday. I stayed home with her in the morning and WIFE took over at lunch. YOUNGEST just layed around with me. When I got home she was her old self. Happy and giggly. She loves to laugh and has a great laugh. I told Eldest that she was lucky to have a sister that was so fun. ELDEST said that, "Actually, YOUNGEST was always goofy." They are both great. I made sure I gave ELDEST a kiss when I got home to make sure she knew I loved her. I tell them both all the time. My parents never were verbal like that

Watch out Jewish people

If Obama is elected. He mentioned that it would be fair to split Jerusalem in a speech to a Muslim audience. The next day, he spoke to a Jewish group and said the reverse. Jesse Jackson (from Chicago), who has called New York hymietown, said yesterday in a speech that Zionists would lose a great deal of their clout in an Obama administration. You know who uses words like "Zionist". Islamic states like Iran and terrorist groups like Hezbollah. Nice company. And Louis Farrakan just called Obama the messiah. Without irony. WAKE UP PEOPLE

The coming thugocracy

I worry that the US will turn into Venezuela if Obama is elected. The Dems already have been making noise about the fairness doctrine, which would stifle free speech and put right wing talk radio out of business. The Obama campaign is threatening people in Missouri who say things about their chosen one that they don't like. The Dems also have a bill that Obama supports to get rid of the secret ballot for union elections. This would allow union thugs to threaten people that might vote against forming a union. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. And Acorn stealing elections. Obama actually gave Acorn money for get out the vote drives this year. Sick.

Kids say the darndest things

Quote from Eldest. "All babies love nachoes." "and Hot Dogs." This is in response to what she wanted for dinner. Actually the youngest does like nachoes, and dipping cheese, but doesn't like hot dogs these days. They also like to dance to a birthday card that plays the Charlie Brown theme by Vince Guaraldi. Just like the kids in the Christmas special.

Back pain

My back seized up this weekend. Now I don't know if I am having back pain or my kidney stones are acting up again. No blood in the urine. Luckily, I had an ultrasound scheduled for today, Tuesday. I had a cyst and they are checking to see if its growing. If it is, it's bad news. On a positive not, the Oxycodone actually works for my pain, but it makes me sleepy. And I have trippy dreams. Vicodin doesn't work at all for me.

Reveral Weekend

I have a name for when Michigan State wins and Michigan loses their college football games on the same day. It is called a reversal weekend. I think this year might be a reversal season. I thought Michigan didn't need to get a "system" for offense. i.e. the Spread. They just needed better players. Gary Danielson agrees with me. I haven't seen anything to change my mind.]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810100340

Minor League Baseball coming to YPSI!!!!

From Ballparkwatch.com

Midwest Sliders to play '09 season in Ypsilanti NEW!
Posted Oct. 10, 2008 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Oestrike Stadium, home to the Eastern Michigan University Eagles, will also be home for the 2009 season to the Midwest Sliders (independent; Frontier League). The announcement was made jointly by EMU Athletic Director Dr. Derrick Gragg and Midwest Sliders President & Director of Team Personnel Rob Hilliard.
The club will be called the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti for 2009, taking a page from MLB’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The cap will include a ‘Y’ in its design. The ball club is releasing its 2009 Frontier League schedule and will soon begin to offer promotional packages to area businesses.
The Sliders, purchased last January by Baseball Heroes of Oakland County, LP, operated in 2008 as a travel squad, playing all 96 games on the road. The Oakland County-based ownership group plans to start construction on a 3,900-seat ballpark next spring in Waterford Township. After the ball park’s completion, the club will be renamed the Oakland County Cruisers. “For the upcoming Frontier League season, we want to bring the club as close as possible to Oakland County while playing in a first-class facility,” explained Hilliard.
“We’re extremely pleased to call EMU ‘home’ for the ’09 season and look forward to bringing this affordable, family entertainment activity to the greater Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area,” Hilliard said, adding that he, Vice President & General Manager Bill Terlecky and Manager & Player Development Director Eric Coleman were anxious to meet with Ypsilanti officials, members of the local business community and area residents.
Plans are also underway to add portable food & beverage carts, souvenir stands and other fan-friendly amenities. Together with an in-game entertainment program, Midwest Sliders games at Oestrike Stadium will take on all of the trappings of a typical Minor League ball game..

WOWOWOWOWOWOW

Cool.

Congratulations Dr. D!

For winning the Neal Shine award.

http://www.freep.com/article/20081010/ENT04/810100395

Joe Biden is an F'ing MORON

http://deadspin.com/5061323/say-it-aint-so-joe

Biden called the Tampa Bay Rays the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

This must be gaffe #100 in the campaign. If the press was doing their job, Biden would be a laughingstock. He is 10X worse than Quayle ever was at saying stupid stuff.

Beware of Obama and ACORN trying to steal this election

Obama is the pleasant facade and ACORN is the thug reality behind this campaign. The radical left is trying to steal this election with voter fraud and the complicit media derelicting their duty. There will be a big surprise when McCain wins by 10 points on election day. The libs will say that McCain stole the election with no proof. They will point to the polls and say, "how did this happen? BHO was up by 8 in the polls." The fact is the media is purposely distorting perception with false polls showing Obama pulling away. The impresson is that McCain can only win by a miracle. The fact is that the numbers are much closer than is being reported. Zogby is the most accurate pollster. He's reporting it straight. The fact is that even when Obama was the presumptive nominee, he was losing to Hillary by double digits. His own party wouldn't even vote for him to show unity. There is an impression that everyone loves the empty suit. When people go into the voting booth, there is no way they will pull the lever for this wolf in sheep's clothing.

Can't a man take a nap

I had a headache last night, so I layed down on the couch. This is the signal for my daughters to start climbing and jumping all over me. Then later, I went to bed early. Both girls jumped on me for 45 minutes. I think it is one of their favorite things to do. They call it wrestle time. It is one of my favorite things to do too.

My wife is super ballsy

She went out for an errand and when she came home, she told me that she called out a drug dealer. She went through the Ypsi Citizens Policy Academy and is on the Volunteer Committee. She said she saw a deal in action and reversed her car to pull alongside the perps. She said, "not in my neighborhood." The dealer and buyer both apologized! I don't know what to say

Apple orchard

I took the family to Wasem's farm this afternoon. We pick cherries there in the spring. Today we picked apples. [Youngest] was tired from all the walking they did before the incident. We got a 1/2 bushel for $12. It is huge amount of apples. We got carmel to make our own carmel apples at home. One carmel apple for $2.25 is too much. I don't even like them. Don't get me wrong. Wasem's has great prices, especially on their popcorn. We got fresh donuts for the road. And I mean fresh, right out of the oil. They were hot and greasy and decedent. You can't do better.

Holy Crap! Holy Crap!

I had to work on Saturday, so I called my wife during a break on my cellphone. She was at a horse camp with the girls. I heard her say, "[Youngest] keep your helmet on. We're waiting in line for a pony ride. Oh Crap! Oh Crap! I'll call you later." I called back in an hour. She told me that they put a kid on the horse and the horse went into a seizure. It started thrashing around and died in front of a line of kids. Oh Shit! Oh Shit! I hope they are not too traumatized. What a horrible thing.

Ypsi is famous

I can't believe that none of the so-called Ypsilanti bloggers reported this. Ypsilanti was featured in the most popular independent sports blog in the world, Deadspin.com.

http://deadspin.com/5058859/the-home-of-your-new-wnba-champions-ypsilanti

Deadspin linked to a story in a San Antonio newspaper about the Shock playing at the convo for the WNBA title. They actually called our Mayor and interviewed him. Funny stuff.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/page2/The_Chanifesto_For_Stars_yip_yip_Ypsilanti.html

Hey, the Shock won the title tonight. Ypsi is not burning, so screw you.

McCain pulls campaign out of Michigan

I think this is a big mistake. Michigan is ripe for the picking. The Democrats have ruined this state with their tax hikes and ineptitude for years. Governor Jen-Jen is the worst governor in the history of the Universe. McCain keeps blundering. He tied himself to the bailout by stating he was going to suspend his campaign and go to Washington to work on the deal. The bailout is very unpopular. It was a risky moved that backfired. He should be shouting from the rooftops that two of Obamas top economic advisors are criminals that stole millions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. And Obama took the second most amount of money from Freddie Mac. Thank God Sarah. The media campaign for Obama and against McCain/Palin is going to blow up in their face. Just wait until election day. People will be surprised.

New Beverage

I am now drinking decaffeinated Spiced Chai from Bigelow. I have been trying to reduce my caffeine and have been trying different teas. I can't drink really hot drinks, so I wait for the tea to cool or pour it over ice. This seems like a winner. I'm not getting sick of it at all. No milk needed. Just some sweet & low.

Hitchhiker

I saw the stupidist thing today. As I was merging onto 1-75 South in downtown Detroit from 1-94 East, there was a man on the side of the road with his thumb out. I was doing 70 MPH. I don't think it's even legal to stop on the highway unless you have an emergency.

Why so Serious?

My Youngest found some of her sister's makeup and smeared it across her lips and cheeks. She is very funny. I asked her Why so Serious? Like the joker in the new batman movie. We kept saying it all night.

Screw you Sox

I hate the Chicago White Sox more than any other baseball team. And that was before I found out that they were Obama's favorite team. My Tigers have a chance to knock them out of the playoffs. They are playing now. Cross your fingers.

Perfect Sunday Morning

I woke up, toasted an Elaine's bagel with butter and fresh motzarella. I got my diet coke and put in the Harold & Kumar go to Guatanamo Bay DVD. The girls came down and I got them a plain bagel with cream cheese and sat them in the recliner in the study with a blanket. A perfect moment.

Best Swag Ever

At the EMU tailgate on Saturday, they were giving out tons of free stuff. The best was an Eastern Michigan hoodie from TCF Bank. XXL. I tried to get my family in to get one for the whole family, but they didn't make it on time.

Never a Huron, Always a Huron

I got two tickets for free to the Eastern Michigan football from the school of my Eldest. I think a pre-game tailgate is included with the tickets. Free Food! The opponenet is Northern Illinois. NIU is 1-2 with it's win vs. Indiana State (same as EMU). Losses by 3 @ Western Michigan and by 4 @ Minnesota. Eastern is 1-3 with losses to Michigan State, Maryland and Toledo.

My prediction . . . .

FUN!

What do you mean I'm fired?

Matt Millen was fired. The world rejoiced. The problem is that he dug such a deep hole, it may take years for the Lie-Downs to get out of it. My biggest hope is that the black gets purged from the Unis. One of Millen's millons of bad ideas.

Not Sleeping with the Stars

I woke up at 4:30 AM and couldn't go back to sleep so I went downstairs to watch the DVR'd Dancing with the Stars. I have watched snippets of this show, but never a whole episode. The girls are smoking hot. OMG! I felt for Jeffrey Ross. You know they pick people in these elimination shows that are expected to go first. It was definetly between him and Cloris Leachman, aged 82. She looked good on day one. Definetly doable. But day 2 the makeup made her look 102. The judges definitely don't like Kim Kardashian. She looked super hot both days. I can see why the old queer brit judge doesn't like her. She should just be listed as porn star for her credentials. Without that sex tape, would we even know who she is? Looking forward to the rest of the year. I think Misty May-Traenor will win.

New title

I changed the name of this blog from Soul Particles to Banal Blog. It is more accurate and not as pretensious. The posts will also be shorter.

My stupid cat likes to lie down in the middle of the road and won't move if a car comes by. He is not long for this world.

Emergency pants

Apparently, the head of my company called my cell on Saturday (during the MSU game!) to warn me about a meeting with an important external stakeholder at their office on Monday at 2 PM. I didn't get the message. I wore my olive cargo pants and a blue button up shirt to work.

Luckily, I had an emergency tie and an emergency pair of dress pants. The meeting went great.

Thank God it's Monday

The weather was so beautiful this weekend that I spent the entire time working on the yard and the house outside. It was so hot and dry in August that I'd neglected the lawn. On Saturday, I raked up three garbage cans of yard waste/sticks, and my lawn is a postage stamp. On Sunday I got my folks from the airport and spent the rest of the time pulling vines off my house. It was disheartening to see how much damage the vines were doing to the wood. And I cut them to the bone every year. They just come back thicker. I swear if the vines were left alone for 20 years, the house would be completely destroyed.

Michigan State had a big win, so that made me happy. I spent most of the the game cleaning out the garage. I tried to climb up to the chimney, but the roof was too steep. I did see a pile of what looked like berries and feces. I didn't know what to do until I stepped out onto my rug shaking porch on Sunday morning, right into a pile of poop/berries. It must have been the damn racoon. What a way to start your day. I threw out my sock.

I was so glad to get back to work on Monday.

Friday was a good day.

I went to Elaine's bagels for lunch. Thanks to a buy one, get one dozen free coupon, I had plenty of the best bagels in the world. Awesome~! And the girls like them. The Youngest is not eating well right now, but she had one for dinner.

I was wrong about the price of the Ypsi game yesterday. It cost $5 for me and My Eldest was free. I only had $4 in my wallet, so I had to go to the bank first. I also needed extra cash for snacks. The good news is that my ticket was also good for a buy one, get one free coupon for a polar pop from the Circle K. I can be cheap, but bringing in outside food for a football game is not fun. I only paid $1.25 for a Barq's red cream soda. They are still making $ and when's the last time you paid under $3 for a soda at a pro ball game? I also got popcorn ($1) peanut m&m's and two air heads for Eldest. We sat near the band as usual. I went to the last row, because you really can see a football game better, the higher you sit. I sat down in the row behind a lady wearing a leopard print coat with two young daughters. Then she starting moving down. I thought she was trying to avoid us. But then Eldest went over and started to talk to her. Not to her girls, but to the mom. Then she made friends with the girls and spent most of our time running around and having fun with them. Eldest is amazing. She is so outgoing and makes friends at the drop of a hat. She really likes meeting new people. Which is totally the opposite of me. So much for genes. Eldest cried when we left at halftime. I know I'm a bad fan for leaving a game early, but I had all that wanted. It was after 8:30 and Eldest had a long school week. She cried when we left, but I told her that her friends would be at the next game. The mom confirmed this. Eldest was fine by the time we got down from the bleachers.

The game was fun. The Ypsi players seemed bigger and more athletic than the Dearborn Heights players. Maybe it was because DH wore all white unis. They looked stocky. From the announcer, I could tell that many of the DH players were muslim. Because it is Ramadan, they would be fasting until sundown. I know this because Youngest goes to an in-home daycare that is run by a woman who is muslim. I can't imagine fasting all day when I was a teenager. It would be even harder for a football player. I really admire that. I don't think that fasting had anything to do with it, but the Braves were up 14 - 0 at half when we left. They won 21 - 8. Terrance Moore (sp?) the Braves quarterback is a special player. He reminded me of Vince Young. He was a dynamic runner, but he threw three TDs. On one Ypsi drive, two TD's were called back, including a TD throw by Moore. But he just threw another on the next play. I hope that the Braves can pull together and make the playoffs. They are 2 - 2 on the year.

Sarah Palin

I love Sarah Palin. She is my favorite politician of all time.

If that doesn't get a reply, then nothing will.

Braves game tonight~!

I can't wait to go to the Ypsilanti Braves high school football game tonight vs. the Crestwood Chargers. Yes, I will call them the Braves. There is nothing offensive or wrong with the name. Even so, I submitted the names Olympians and Generals to the committee selecting a new name. Phoenix won. Not bad. Not great. At least its better than the Eagles.

If you haven't been to a high school football game, you are really missing out. You can't beat the atmosphere. You can't beat free parking and a $3 ticket. I would never take my daughter to a Pro football game. I've taken my eldest to an EMU Hurons game, but she wasn't into it. The did have a good time when I took her to the home of the Braves. Hope to see you there tonight!

What's going on?

They say you should write about what you know. I know what it is like to be a married father raising two young daughters and the joys and challenges that go with it. I am a white, male, Catholic. I am 39 years old. My wife is 43. My daughters are ages 6 and 3. I live in Ypsilanti and am a conservative (rare in this city). I am a sports fanatic, but I really don't watch a lot of games from start to end. Parenting, laundry, yardwork, shopping, cleaning, dishes, etc. usually get in the way. My wife and I both work full time, but money is tight. Blah, blah, blah.

When you are single, you can be the center of your own universe. When you get married, your spouse and their needs have to be at least equal to your own. When you have kids, their needs become #1 and your needs move down to #3 on the list. Is this fair? I am trying to teach my oldest daughter that life isn't fair. If her friend gets a new bike, that doesn't mean she has to have one too. But in a deeper sense, having kids is more than fair. The joy and blessings I have received from being a father are astronomically greater than the sacrifices.

This blog will fail if all I post about are philosophical musings. Details. People want details.

So . . .

What am I dealing with right now.

We had a large storm on Sunday. It rained for three days straight. Of course, the basement flooded again. Dammit. I fear my foundation is cracked, but I don't have any money to fix it, and it is darn near impossible to sell a house in this marked. After seven years in the house, we still don't have any equity in it after the housing market collapsed. On Sunday night, we heard a big crash on the roof. Our first thought was that the huge maple tree in the front yard had lost a large limb, which it is apt to do periodically. So far no branches had hit the roof our cars to cause any damage. I looked in the front of the house and saw nothing. An hour later, we heard another crash on the roof, towards the back of the house. I went in the back yard and saw a few bricks. I was afraid that the chimney was blowing down so I looked up. I saw a racoon poking his head out of the top of the chimney. The little bastard had deliberately removed the bricks to get in. My wife asked me to go on our steeply pitched roof to scare him away. In the rain. I told her to tell the girls that I loved them if I fell off the roof and broke my neck. Thankfully, she agreed that it was too dangerous to go up on the roof to try to whack the racoon. The weather has been better, so this weekend, I'll go up to assess the damage.