Random Ramblings: July Already?

Shaking my Head: I cannot believe that we are 5 days in July already! Where did June go?

Sweating: Like I have said before, I am no fan of the heat. It has gone from cool to sweltering in only a couple of days. It got so bad that I put in my air conditioner unit so I could sleep at night. If I can see my breath at night, then I know I can sleep comfortably. Must be my Canadian training.

I totally need to watch this movie again.

Sweating Part II: I have a sweating problem. I sweat like no one's business (and I am sure you are all pleased to hear this) especially when I am exercising. I look like a NBA basketball player when I play racquetball, it just runs off my nose. But my sister came to the rescue for my birthday. She got me a new set of purple racquetballs and a sweatband (unfortunately wearing a sweatband reminds me of Lebron) and some wrist sweatbands. I tried them out last Saturday and it worked wonders.

Eating: Pez. My sister Jennifer also got me this huge Wolverine Pez Dispenser. Seriously, it is huge! It also talks as well and it says some pretty typical Wolverine stuff and then it spouted the line, "I like Pez."

Listening: It is the 40th Anniversary of Queen and to celebrate they are coming out of Deluxe Remastered versions of all their studio albums in sets of five. These re-issues have a bonus CD which contains demos, unreleased tracks, live tracks or alternate versions. I downloaded (thanks iTunes for not making me buy the whole album) the first set of bonus tracks and I have been listening to them non-stop.

Shaking my Finger: The next batch of Queen releases came out on June 27th. Except that they delayed the American releases until SEPTEMBER! Good grief that sucks. I don't want to wait until then! I highly doubt that we Americans will get the fourth and final batch before the end of the year. So I guess we Americans will celebrate the 41st Anniversary of Queen.

I am eagerly awaiting the Hot Space bonus CD. And I totally want this t-shirt ringer now!

Celebrating: I had a nice 4th of July with my sister-in-law Lynn and her family. It was also her daughter Jessica's birthday. We had a nice BBQ at their house and ate some cake and ice cream and I drank a ton of homemade Raspberry Cream Soda.

Yawning: I have been without a car since Thursday and it unfortunately looks like I won't get my car until this Thursday. All this biking has made me extra tired. I should count my blessings that I am exercising, saving money on gas and ultimately I am saving money on my car as well.

Eating Part II: I had some of the best Peach Cobbler last Sunday. My neighbor and his family invited us over Sunday evening for what he claims is the best Peach Cobbler. He is right, I have never had Peach Cobbler that was better. I have some fantastic neighbors, it was a nice evening to spend with them and another family.

Wishing: Didja know that my mother-in-law is older than Alaska? It was her birthday on the 3rd and we celebrated it by lighting all of her candles with a blowtorch.

The Day After

Yesterday was a long but good day. We celebrated Logan's 8th birthday. Kristy hung birthday streamers throughout the house and all over his door so when he woke up and came out of his room, he was greeted by a bunch of streamers in the face.

He wanted crepes for breakfast which Kristy woke up early in the morning to make. He then opened his gifts from mom and I and then we waited for his friends to come over for a birthday party. They played games and ate cake and ice cream.

After the party I had to run out and do some last minute shopping and then I came home and treated everyone to dinner at Carl's Jr. Then we waited for the rest of the family to come over and wish Logan a happy birthday. It was a very nice evening but I was worn out by the end.

And we have one NFL game tonight that I need to make my pick and luckily this will be the easiest pick this season.

Carolina at Pittsburgh:

If it was any other team aside from the Panthers, I would think twice about picking them. Especially since the Steelers are playing on a short week and after a demoralizing loss. But it is the Panthers.

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers

Happy Birthday Logan!

Logan turned the big 8 today!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

I'll blog about his birthday shenanigans tomorrow after I collect some pictures and after his birthday party.

Speaking of Logan, the other night Kristy and I were putting him to bed and I mentioned that we should have Family Home Evening on Wednesday since we missed it on Monday. Logan agreed and was excited that we would still have it and as he was lying down on his bed, he suggested that we should invite some people over for it. Normally this means he wants to invite Grandma Platis over which Kristy and I have no problem with.

But he surprised us both when he said he would like to invite the the girls that babysat him a few weeks ago. Kristy and I looked at each other in surprise and thought that may not be a bad idea. Unfortunately the girls couldn't make it last week so we invited them last Sunday to come over. And they came over last night. I thought it was quite cute that Logan would want the girls to come over.

We had a short lesson/story about Christmas and then we headed into the kitchen to make some cookies for the families of the girls and for those families that I home teach.

So we split into teams and started making some cookies. The girls started on the Snowball cookies.

Logan made his usual cake mix cookies while I was chopping up some pecans.

Mom was in charge of making the very yummy icing.

I love the way Snowball cookies smell when they are in the oven.

It was nice of the girls to come over. I'm sure Kristy liked it since she is always outnumbered in this house.

It was a nice evening and I am glad that the girls were excited to come over when Kristy and Logan invited them. I have said this many times before, but I am very thankful for the neighborhood and ward we live in. It is awesome to have such great examples and role models for Logan.

Happy Labor Day!

Day 310

Can you really wish someone a Happy Labor Day?

Aren't you really asking someone to smile and be happy while they work and sweat?

Well today is a little special. Not only is it Labor Day (I am sure I can make a ton of jokes about Aunt Julie being in labor) but it is also my fellow blogger and cousin Jaimee's birthday!

Sadly, Jaimee is a girl and growing up I wanted to play with the boy cousins and I had Jeremy and Josh to play with instead. (Jordan coming into the scene a bit later) But what was great (and still is great about Jamiee) is that being a girl didn't matter. She played just as hard as the rest of us. She was no different at all, she was one of us.

Unfortunately I don't have any embarrassing pictures of her to use.

I remember one occasion when it was just Jaimee and I. Aunt Julie came out to Utah with just Jaimee and my mom and Julie went down to Salt Lake to go shopping leaving Jaimee and I by ourselves. Now you would think that we had a boring time but that was not the case (no pun intended). I remember having a blast with her (at least I had fun, hmmmm, wonder what she thought). We walked down to Jed's (the local burger bar) and ate some lunch and then came home and we watched MTV and sang along with the artists. We watched some movies and played games. It was nice spending some time with just her and getting to know her. Now with her blog, it has been awesome to get to know her even more and getting to know her sweet family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAIMEE!

Thanks for being a good example and a great cousin. One day we will have to run a 5K together.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

Day 252

I am in awe of those bloggers that try to cover every one's birthday on their blogs. I thought about doing that since I would have something to blog about the majority of the time but then I thought of the workload and I remembered that I don't remember occasions like these. And I would feel incredibly stupid if I accidentally missed someone. I am horrible at remembering birthdays and stuff like that. So I decided against covering all the birthdays aside from my own family.

But I have made a special case (Get it? Case - case?) for my fellow bloggers. One of the biggest advantages of blogging with my fellow bloggers is that you will not miss their birthday. And really, I have only a few extra blogs to cover and they don't come for awhile. And I would be carrying some extra guilt since they wrote about me on my birthday. (wink, wink)

And today is a special day, it is my cousin and fellow newbie blogger Jeremy's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

As he mentioned on his blog Jeremy are close. Maybe it was because our birthdays are so close to each other, personally I think it is because we knew each other in Heaven before this life. And we saw what crazy families we would be apart of and we vowed to try to strengthen and keep ourselves sane. (Only kidding folks... out families are not that crazy)

I guess I was the exhibisionist of the family eh?

I love this picture of us with Grandpa. Who would have thought that we would both have the same hairstyle now?

We have a lot of similarities. We both like to write and he is perhaps the biggest influence on my writing. I started this blog because I wanted to have some sort of record of my life. I regret that I never kept a journal like Jeremy has. I am in awe, I mean I am completely jealous of his tenacious ability to write and keep a journal. Jeremy also has a beautiful way with words. And not only can he creatively write, he has the best penmanship! Seriously, I wish I could write cursive the way he does.

Now I just need him to sit down and crank out that great American novel! I know he has it in him. I am looking in your direction this November Jeremy!

I hope you don't mind me sharing this. This was one of the novel ideas he had that he shared with me. Maybe this November you should write a rough draft or add another chapter? ;)

I actually created a character based directly on Jeremy. Remember Jetstream?

There are many things that Jeremy knows about me but no one else does. He was very instrumental while I was serving my LDS mission to New York. He inspired me to keep a daily journal (which I did) of those two years. I have shared with him parts of that journal so he knows stuff that I have never shared with anyone else. He also wrote me regularly while I was in New York. His letters were always so uplifting and full of creativity. What I enjoyed most of his letters was his honesty. Not only did we share what we thought and felt, we also shared writing ideas. On my P-Days (the one day of the week you had off while on the mission) I would write and plot stories and then send them to Jeremy. I would get some valuable feedback but he would also send me his story ideas and I fed off of that energy. Thanks Jeremy! You helped me through many difficult times on my mission.  I believe it was during this time that we coined the phrase "Soul Cousins".

I still have all your old letters from the mission field. I love that you sent me a Star Wars card. We must have asked to be sent to Earth so we could see Star Wars while growing up.

 I have some fond memories of spending time with Jeremy and all the CaseClan. I was lucky that I had a cousin my age (remember, I am still older than you!) that I could hang out with. You have been through so much and I have never heard you complain or utter a word of despair and I admire that. I am so glad that you have taken this blogging challenge. I think I will continue past my time to keep you company during this year-long adventure.

I hope you have a great birthday. And may the Force be with you!

Greek Food Fest

Day 243

Yesterday we went over to my dad's house to celebrate my birthday and I forgot my camera. I hate it when I forget my camera.

It was a nice evening. We had Lemon Greek Chicken, Greek Potato Salad (it had red peppers and kalamata olives in it), baked beans from a crock pot, corn on the cob, pistachio salad and a boatload of olives and marinated cucumbers. And on top of that we had a German Chocolate Cake and an Oreo Cake. You have to trust me, the food was fantastic as always. I wish I had a picture of it.

While the food was good, the cards were openly mocking me for my birthday. We play a game called "Old Bob" and I was getting my trash kicked. I thought that my family was supposed to let me win? The cards were the only bad thing about the evening, that is until we got home.

I once got spoiled by my family. I got a Borders gift card (which I am spending this very second in another tab) and a Little Mermaid charm. Yeah, you heard me. My sister got me a Little Mermaid charm from when they went to Disneyland.

It is really, really tiny. When I get my baby girl, I'll make a necklace for her.

I also got a gift certificate to Famous Footwear from my dad and family. That was really needed since I rarely buy shoes. I am in terrible need of a nice pair of sandals and I might see what other shoes I can fit in. I am quite excited to do some shoe shopping. I cannot believe that I just said that.

When we got home, Kristy left to go do her water aerobics and Logan was complaining that he didn't feel good. I personally thought it was because it was past his bedtime and with all the running around and drinking four juiceboxes. He said he had to barf and I thought that was just an attention ruse.

Boy was I wrong. It was like something out of the Exorcist. And it wasn't just the barf.

By the fourth go around, Logan was dry heaving so badly. It was like a train wreck, I couldn't stop watching. Part of me was horrified and disgusted and part of me was strangely curious watching Logan wretch and contort his body like that as he dry heaved.

Poor kid. He is fine now and fell asleep after the last puke. Normally, I cannot handle barf. If he had pooped all over the place, I could handle that. But the sight and smell of barf really makes me gag. But I handled it like a man. I just turned my head when he started to heave and thought of the Little Mermaid.

Okay that last part was a lie. I wasn't thinking of Ariel, I just wanted to tie everything together.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Day 240

Happy Birthday to me!

Yup, it is my birthday and I am already feeling much better than yesterday and the day before. Eventually I will blog about what happened but right now I would rather dwell on the positive and kick the negative to the curb.

I would like to give a special shout-out to all those that called, e-mailed, Facebooked and contacted me wishing me a happy birthday. I appreciate it all. I have a fantastic set of family and friends.

My Aunt Margo always sends a homemade card with her artwork.

My day started like it has for the last couple of days. I have woken up all hot and muggy, not my favorite thing to wake up too. And it is not hot flashes like some might think, I just am not friends with the heat like I am with the cold. I was happy for the cool morning and I took off to go work at my Dad's. My dad wished me a Happy Birthday and gave me one of the greatest birthday cards you can get. He went to the store and was looking all over for a perfect card and just couldn't find one. Then he found one but was taken back by how much it cost. It was around $4 and my dad thought that money would be better spent. So he bought me these two HUGE boxes of Junior Mints (larger than the ones you get at the movies) and put a note in between. He said he would rather have four dollars worth of Junior Mints than a four dollar card! I am finding out that my dad and I are a lot alike. We ate some cinnamon rolls and I was only there for a few hours. He gave me a few hours off for my birthday!

I came home and promptly went out for a run. It was already getting warm but I wanted to take advantage of the coolness of the morning. So I went out thinking I would have a terrible time running. I was already very tired (I didn't sleep all that good because of the heat) and I have not been out since last Thursday. Surprisingly, my run went very well and I lasted a lot longer than I thought I would.

My mom came over later in the evening to watch Logan (he wanted to spend time with Grandma Platis instead of going out to eat as a family) and she got me a wonderful gift. An autobiography on Larry H. Miller, a prominent Utah businessman and former owner of the Utah Jazz. We managed to convince Logan to go out to eat and we all went to the Beehive Grill. We came home and Kristy and I went out birthday shopping. I couldn't decide what to get but I did manage to come home with a box of Otter Pops. Man, I have been craving those like nothing else. We ate cake and ice cream and Kristy and Logan got me a neat birthday gift. Something I never thought I would be happy to get and something I am sure Kristy never thought she would get me.

Yay! New shoes!

I got a new pair of running shoes! And they look killer and feel so light. I cannot wait to try them out. I am sure Kristy is on cloud nine, finally after a decade of trying, she has got me running. I still don't like it all that much but I see the benefit.

Now you can see how big of box those Junior Mints are!

I also got a nice unexpected message from a friend of mine from long, long ago. A couple of days ago I blogged about my 5th grade and I mentioned another blog I wrote about a certain experience that I regret. This person sent me a message telling me not to worry about. She didn't remember the incident at all. It was nice to have that burden lifted.

So all in all I had a nice day. Again, I appreciate the kind words and birthday wishes.

The Final Christmas of the Decade

Day 59

I cannot believe how fast this decade has gone by. I thought it was amazing when we hit the year 2001 (like Arthur C. Clarke's book) and now we are hitting his sequel 2010!

What is really strange to me is that my son Logan has been with me for 7 of those years and that I have been married the whole decade!

The week of Christmas was filled with a lot of fun and excitement. On the 22nd we celebrated Logan's 7th birthday. That afternoon he had some of his friends come over to play games and eat lightsaber cake and ice cream. During it he lost his tooth, it was not that the cake was hard.


He and his friends had a lot of fun. That evening we went out to eat, he wanted to go to Sizzler (he had won an award for a free meal and wanted to use it) and he called his Grandma Platis to see if she would come too. We all met at the Sizzler and had a good meal. After that we came home and Grandpa Platis and Grandma Pauline and Nathan came over.

On Christmas Eve, Grandma Platis came over again to spend the evening with us. We ate a terrific ham dinner and relaxed. Logan scored some great Christmas gifts from Grandma (we are allowed to open Grandma's gifts on Christmas Eve) and we put together some Star Wars Legos. After she left and Logan went to bed, Kristy and I watched our annual Christmas Vacation movie and played a quick game of Simpsons Scene It that we got from Grandma.

The next morning Logan slept in till 9:00 and ran downstairs to see if Santa came. And sure enough he did. When we got downstairs, Logan had already sorted the gifts out. We all had a great Christmas, I scored some awesome candy and some nice clothes. We stayed in all day playing games and eating candy. While we were eating some breakfast, Logan lost his second tooth of the week!





On Boxing Day we went to visit Grandpa Papoo (Platis) and Grandma Pauline and ate some baklava and played some games. We spent all day there all snug and warm with them and my sister and her family.


All in all it was a very pleasant Christmas and a great one to end the decade with. I am already looking forward to next year.

Happy Birthday Logan!

Day 52

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!

Seven years ago today my little buddy was born. He has been such a blessing in this household, he has such a keen sense of humor, a helping hand and a cute smile. He is always wanting to play with me and cuddle with me when I need it.


So what exactly happened seven years ago?

DISCLAIMER: First time pregnant ladies should not read this or those with weak stomachs. This does get pretty graphic even without pictures.

Why is it that when we hear that a lady is pregnant we tell her all the awful things that happen at birth? Survivor's guilt perhaps? Because when people tell you how beautiful it is and how grand they are really lying? Okay, that is not totally true.

Kristy was due with Logan on Christmas. My mom and sister's family came down to see us (we were living in Salt Lake at the time) before Christmas since we were probably not going to venture up north to Logan (about 2 hours by car) with Logan coming anytime. Kristy was complaining of pain but it seemed like it was not serious. After a nice visit with them, Kristy went to bed early. The next day was Sunday, she was still in some pain but we went to Church anyway. Kristy must have been feeling a bit sick since she came home halfway through the services. I told our Bishop that I should go home to make sure she is okay and they said they would cover teaching my class. I came home and Kristy was really feeling it. We had our annual family Christmas party so we packed up our food and headed to her mom's house. I thought I should bring our hospital stuff "just because". Kristy was really in pain, she could barely breath and she couldn't even get her shoes on.

We hopped in the car and went to her mom's house. We get out there and I could tell that she was in labor. Her sister Sherry came out and saw Kristy's face and body language and immediately knew that she was in labor. We still went inside and we delivered our food all the while both Sherry and Kristy's mom were yelling at us to leave to the hospital. I felt bad for Kristy's other sister Ranae and her husband Gregg. She was pregnant with her first and they were pale as ghosts when they saw Kristy.

The hospital was about twenty minutes away but luckily traffic was good and we made it. We walked in and I told the lady that Kristy was in labor. The nurse took her to the first room to examine her. The nurse peered down there and quickly looked again. Then she grabbed another nurse for a quick second opinion. The second nurse yelled out "We better get her in a delivery room before she gives birth!" Both Kristy and I were shocked. Apparently she had already dilated to a '7'. I asked the nurse if I should grab our stuff and she said "You better just get your camera now if you have it! And hurry!" I ran back to the car and got on my cell and called Kristy's mom and told her. I then called my mom to pass the news.

By the time I got back, Kristy was already having hard labor. The nurses didn't have time to hook her up to any machines. Our doctor came in (he was the one on call) and saw and he was still in his suit. He peered in and suddenly the water broke and he gets up and smiles "I better get my stuff on!" Kristy did get hooked up to the machine that tracks the contractions and in between one we drew her blood, but only barely. The doctor came back and we were on our way. We were at the point of no return. Kristy had no time to get the epidural, there would not be enough time to get it working before she would deliver.

Now let me give you my opinion on being there for a birth. I don't want to see it. Not at all. I don't care about seeing the 'miracle of life', I just have absolutely no interest in it. I will be there supporting my wife but that doesn't mean I have to watch it.

Everything was progressing really well. We were a few contractions away from the birth of our child. Suddenly our doctor yells out "It's crowning! Wow!" Now what would any person do after hearing that? You would want to take a peek at what he is amazed at right? So I forgot what I was doing and I looked. What I saw only last a second. No, I didn't faint. I got squirted. Yes, you heard me. SQUIRTED. The baby shot right out and I got hit in the hair, all down my face, on my shirt, on my pants and on my shoes. I was covered with baby juice! I about hurled. The nurses were all excited and wiping the baby off but what about me?! I wiped myself (as much as I could) on Kristy's hospital gown sleeve. It got me in the crevice of my mouth!


(That is how I felt after I was squirted upon with Baby Juice!)

Kristy and I decided not to find out the baby's sex. The doctor announced it was a boy but neither of us were surprised. We knew it was Logan.

They gave me the baby and they had to assist Kristy. Unfortunately for her, she had quite a rip and she had lost a lot of blood. She was close to having a blood transfusion. I remember seeing Logan and his big eyes. I welcomed him into my family and I looked up and I saw Kristy's sister Sherry and her kids. I motioned them NOT to come in just yet. I didn't want her kids to see the buckets of blood all over.

They finally came in with the rest of her family. It was convenient for the Christmas party right? I let her parents hold Logan while I called my family. Kristy recovered and finally I came home. It was strange to come home all by myself. The first thing I did? I took those jeans off and washed them. I threw out the shirt and socks. I couldn't sleep that night so I put together our new entertainment center that Jennifer and Justin got for us.



It was worth the squirting to get Logan. That doesn't mean I liked it, it just means it was worth it.

Happy Birthday Kristy!

Day 33

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTY!

As you can tell, it is my wife's birthday today. We plan on celebrating by going out to dinner and to do some shopping. And of course get our usual chocolates at Alvey's.

To celebrate on the blog and in true blog fashion (meaning I stole the idea from Andrea) I am listing twelve things I love about her. Why twelve? Just to be different.


I love that Kristy is funny. That was one of the first things that attracted me to her. She has a wonderful sense of humor. Now that we have been married almost twelve years, all it takes it just a look and we both know what she is thinking. And usually it is funny.

I love that Kristy loves her family. She loves and supports her family and loves to be around them. That is important to me.

I love that Kristy loves MY family. I absolutely love that she has taken in my family. There have been times where I have been sick for my family get-togethers and she just goes by herself. She will do stuff with my sister or mom (mostly both) without me.

I love how dedicated she is. Whether it is her own business or with her work with the youth in our Church. She will do everything she can. She takes her responsibilities very seriously. Which is great, it keeps me in line. When we were first were dating she was part of USU's Cross Country team. So she is a runner and loves to run.


I love that she is active. She tries her hardest at eating right and exercising. She is quite an athlete and I love that she is willing to play sports. She can get pretty competitive too. But I find that hot.

I love that she loves the Simpsons. There are a lot of people who think the Simpsons are awful and that you shouldn't watch them. I am not like that at all. I love the Simpsons. I was a bit worried when we married that my Simpsons-watching days were over. But they are not. We can watch them anytime. For those that know us really well, we quote it ALL the time. We will hear something and it will make us both think of the Simpsons. All we have to do is make eye contact and we both know what we were thinking. It is pretty scary.

I love that she supports me no matter what. From quitting my job to collecting comics, Kristy has always supported me. She makes sure I have time to myself when I blog and write my novels. She has helped and supported me many times.


I love that she will try to like what I like. For those that know me well, you know that comics are a major point. She still won't read them like I do but she has read some comics. And she will go to any comic book movie with me, on opening night too. She is thankful that I introduced her to Hugh Jackman. And going to see concerts I want to see.

I love that she is an excellent cook. I knew this early on. But she can certainly cook. And she will try new things too! She makes the best homemade Carmel (and I am not a huge fan of Carmel) and turtles. I am quite happy that she is not one of those wives that manage to burn water.

I love that she is a good mom. She takes time to play games with Logan. She takes time to read with him. She is always complaining that she doesn't do this enough but she does.

I love that she is good with money. Now she will claim she is not but she is very good with money. She can run a tight ship when needed. I am constantly amazed how she can save and spend with coupons. I never buy anything full price anymore. I will never pay cover price for my comics now. She taught me to work hard for a good deal.

I love that she has a sweet tooth. Whether it is runs for ice cream right after we put Logan down for bed, or her making four different types of sweets for Christmas, I am one happy camper. I don't have a sweet tooth, I have a whole mouth of them! And she can make and run for treats anytime.

Okay that is twelve. But I left the last and most obvious one out. She is smoking HOT! And she keeps getting hotter. Which is sad since I am heading the wrong direction. Look at this recent picture, she just gets more and more hot!



Thanks Kristy! I love you very much.