Category Archives: family

Dec 26 2007
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family

Operation Christmas

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I almost had an appendectomy for Christmas! Almost. Instead, I kept my appendix and got injected with a small amount of narcotics.

Starting last Wednesday, I got stomach cramps and low grade fever. I’ve been on a diet, so I thought that might have something to do with it. I hunkered down. Come Friday afternoon, I still felt lousy. I called the doctor at the health club and followed his advice. Didn’t feel any better.

Next day I went to see the on-call doctor at my doctor’s office. He felt pretty strongly it was appendicitis and sent me to the ER. The ER doc said it’s definitely appendicitis and asked me to sign some forms while he talked to the surgeon. The surgeon said he wanted me to get a CAT scan. The CAT scan said my appendix was fine.

So I ended up spending the whole day Saturday in the ER and then I got to go home with my appendix, some stomach cramps, and a small injection of dilaudid.

Not a bad haul.

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Nov 26 2007
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family

Thanksgiving

Anticipation:

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Sated.

We’re back! More pictures on my flickr site.

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Oct 04 2007
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family

The Call of Jury Duty

I had jury duty yesterday and today.

I’ve done this about three time in the last few years and this time I was actually pre-selected for a case, along with 40 or 50 other people. But pre-selection doesn’t mean you’re on the hook for a trial. The attorneys first have to select the actual jurors from the pool of pre-selected people. All this was very new to me.

The prosecutor and the defense attorney took turns posing open ended questions to our group. It all felt very preliminary and I kept wishing we would get on with the process. Right after lunch I realized the opened ended questioning was the process. By the time I figured out what was going on, it was time for selection. When the prosecuting attorney excused me, I felt a little rejected, like I hadn’t made the cut. But then I remembered I didn’t want to spend the next few days involved in a trial, and I perked up.

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Oct 01 2007
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family

Feral is as Feral Does

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Pace rolled in shit again this weekend.

I know he’s just a dog, but for some reason I expect more from him. Saturday was busy for me, but I thought I would give him a quick walk around the park before going into work. I was listening to an NPR podcast on my wife’s Ipod when I looked down and he was rolling in the dirt. He’s just trying to mask his sent so he can sneak up on squirrels, but it makes me crazy. A 20 minute walk turned into a big clean up chore and he had to stay in the house the rest of the day so he didn’t catch cold. Pissed me off, but I’m not getting rid of him.

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Oct 01 2007
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family

Caption Contest

For some reason, this picture cracks me up. You might have to be a gamer to get it.

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Sep 19 2007
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family

WANTED: Have You Seen This Boy?

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I feel bad about this.

I was egging my nephew to bend this poor duck over as far as he could, so I could capture just the right angle. Next thing I know, there was this big industrial SPRONG sound and the poor duck fell over dead.

I let Alex take all the heat for this, but it was partly my fault.

Ok, mostly my fault. I said I feel bad.

Sep 19 2007
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family

Raspberry Tiger Rides

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Ted tooling around with Kennedy and Riley. Kennedy loved this little cart and all the rides through the woods.

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Sep 19 2007
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family

Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!

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Aaron in command of the ATV’s throttle and me wishing I were somewhere else. On our recent vacation, my whole family visited my older brother Tom, who owns 40 acres somewhere in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania. The ATVs are very popular with the nephews. I had a blast with them, too.

At one point in the afternoon Aaron came over to me and said, “Guess what I want for Christmas, Dad?” I caught my brother Tony snickering so I knew what Aaron was going to ask for.

“An ATV?” I asked him. “You ask your Uncle Tony for that!”

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Sep 06 2007
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family

City of Brotherly Love

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When we go back east to visit my folks, we like to show the kids a different city. Last week it was Philadelphia.

After I finished taking the shot above, I looked up and saw a young man chatting with Holly and the kids. When I got closer, I realized he was asking for money. 

I rarely give money on the street, but I didn’t want to cut him off, so I waited for him to finish his story. It was a pitiful story and he ended it with a plea for a few dollars. Before I could decline, Aaron chirped, “Sure!” and started rummaging through all his pockets. That’s what I love so much about Aaron: empathetic to a fault.

Both Holly and I just looked at him. The panhandler looked at him. There was a pregnant pause. Aaron looked up at us looking at him and said, “Isn’t anyone else going to give this guy some money?”

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Aug 15 2007
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family

Pantyhose: Not As Easy As You Might Think

Last night during dress rehearsal for the play, I tried on a pair of tights and was astonished at how difficult it was. You have to sit down and really work one leg into them at a time. I suppose it doesn’t help that I am over two-hundred pounds.

Also, it’s not obvious how one is supposed to get the crotch of the tights to meet the crotch of the wearer. I found deep knee bends and karate kicks to be the most effective strategies. Meanwhile, tugging the waist band and lifting the crotch are futile endeavors.

Wearing tights makes you feel warm. It’s either that or it’s the level of exertion required to get the tights on that heats you up.

The tights I am wearing are borrowed, which also makes me feel uncomfortable. Here I am describing a feeling that goes beyond a saggy crotch and warm legs. I feel as if I am borrowing skivvies or using an old toothbrush. Should I spray these tights with some sort of antibacterial before I put them on?

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