WTF?

Just a quick post. 

A month or so ago the husband asked me if I had any interest in doing the NYC Half Marathon again. I told him no effing way, go shit in your hand and make a fist.  He pleaded with me and gave me the line c'mon it is a lottery, what are the odds of you making it in again two years in a row.  Apparently the odds are really fucking good! 

Yeah, I got in, found out last night as I was giving the boys their four star dinner on the road, aka McDonalds.  I noticed I had an email so as I was waiting in the drive thru line I opened it and there it was- Congratulations, we'll see you on March 18th.

I starting cursing a blue streak out loud and the boys think something bad happened- which it has.  I explain to them the situation and they are laughing at me.  I drove like the husband- very fast and some might think a bit aggressively- and got us home in four hours and two minutes with only one pit stop.  My youngest was very impressed- he did not think I had it in me to drive like his step father...

My first question to the husband was did you get in too?  If you did not you have to do the training with me.  He did not.  Seriously- why can't I get this lucky with the good damn Mega Millions or Power Ball?

This morning was target practice in the back yard for everyone with their bb guns.  Let's just say we all need practice...

A regret and a redneck Christmas

So our Christmas cocktail party to meet the neighbors went quite well.  I make that assertion based on the fact that everyone pretty much stayed for the entire time allotted.

I and the husband have always joked that we live in the gayborhood.  We really only have ST and PJ across the road from us but we found out there really are quite a few other gay couples right up the road from us.  We invited them and when they got the invite they asked the husband if the could bring their tenant.  The husband asked me and I said "Tenant?  Yo mean their third because clearly they are a threesome and they are being polite."  To which the husband said no you are wrong.  Well they arrive and they are dressed in holiday attire and they are quite nice.  During the party as we socialize and get to know them we find out the tenant is from Eastern Europe and married to a sister of one of the couple...at which point the husband looks at me with that look of OMG you are right!  Victory never tasted so sweet.

As the party was winding down my brother's car got stuck in our rather wet yard.  He was totally stuck.  I and another guest tried pushing him out and he finally resigned himself to calling roadside assistance that comes with his car.  I am inside chatting with the remaining guests and one of our neighbors comments "You know if we had lesbians here he would have been out of the mud by now."

Christmas was great.  On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner With ST and PJ.  The meal was great and we had a good time.  We then got home and watched the season finale of "American Horror Story."  Christmas morning the husband was like a little kid!  He could not wait to open presents.  He got a composting bin thing since he has been talking about starting composting all summer.  He was excited for that.  HE also got a bb gun to handle the squirrel issue.  I got him the good old reliable Crossman 760 which can shoot bbs and pellets.  Of course he has a scope on the gun as well.  The other big hit was he got an apron- red naturally as he is Latin- embroidered with "El Jefe" on it.

We were hosting Christmas dinner- just the boys, ST and PJ.  I went to pick the boys up at 7 PM.  When they got in the truck I told them they could not open presents until after dinner.  Dinner was very simple- the husband made roast chicken, oven roasted garlic rosemary potatoes, haricot verts and oven roasted carrots and parsnips.  It was great.  I made roasted apples with cinnamon and nutmeg for dessert with homemade whipped cream.

The boys then got to open the rest of their gifts ( I had dropped off their bean bag chairs at their mom's the day before- a big hit for in front of their xBox).  They got the usual clothes and whatnot from grandma, some new xBox games, gift cards to BBY and of course they also got pocket knives and bb guns.  Seriously, how redneck is that- knives and guns for Christmas?  They were agog at the bb guns. 

Monday morning it was off to grandmother's house.  I have the boys for their Christmas break this year and they wanted to spend it with their grandparents.  It did not matter how much I pushed a beach vacation instead- they wanted to go north- the little brats.  Actually I am totally psyched at their ages they willingly want to spend time with their grandparents.  We brought along the puppy and drove up.  We arrived in time for Christmas dinner of roast beast with mom and dad, my aunt and uncle, two of my aunt and uncle's children, one cousin's spouse and children and said cousin's father in law.  The meal was great and by the end of dinner I had quite a glow.

Tuesday was a shutter day- as in don't even open the shutters.  I and the boys did not even shower, lol.  Tuesday night I had drinks with two of my best friends who are in town for Christmas.  Yesterday was dinner and movie with dad for the boys.  I was quite excited they did not choose Olive Garden for dinner.  We are stepping up as we had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  the server was quite cute too, lol.  We then saw Sherlock Holmes:  Game of Shadows and it was great!  Robert Downey , Jr. and Jude Law make a great team in the movie.

Today the grandparents took the boys to an indoor water park.  I am staying home with the pup as I did not bring his crate and he can't stay alone for that long anyhow.  We will got out to dinner tonight at a local Italian place right down the street.

Tomorrow we will veg out again and then we are having dinner with a girlfriend who is in town for NYE.  Leaving Saturday to go home.

As the year ends I look back and realize there really is only one regret I have- I saw Suckerpunch twice.  Other than that I think this was a pretty damn great year.

I have not even looked at my emails for work nor BBRG.  I have no clue what is going on and I like it.  I did get around to reading the only non-fiction book I planned on this year and it was pretty damn good.  I can see why it made BBRG's list of best reads for the year.  Mom borrowed it after I finished it and she is enjoying it.

"...State Farm is there..."

The weekend was pretty busy but in a good way.  We got quite a bit done ahead of Christmas.

My oldest actually went to a friend's birthday party and sleep over Friday night so I just had to pick up my youngest.  We had our usual dinner with ST and PJ and it was quite nice.  The husband made this amazing tuna dish but we told my youngest- the picky fussy pain in the ass eater- he was eating albacore since he is not a tuna fan.  He finished it of course.

Saturday morning was one of the highlights of the weekend.  I went to pick up my oldest and when I saw him I noticed he had ink on the left side of his face.  Apparently he was the first to fall asleep at the sleep over so off course his friends drew a penis on the side of his face, lol.  Classic!  HE did not even realize it nor did his mother until I pointed it out.  We called him penis face often during the weekend.  I also gave him advice for when he gets his friends back:  Use a black Sharpie and draw it on the forehead.  Or I suggested he shave off just one eyebrow- that is great and has happened to me in my rowdy youth- and much more devious as it cannot be washed away with soap and water, only shame works...

Saturday was allotted to decorate the house for Christmas.  That entailed getting more lights- both "twinklers" and regular lights.  the husband had me up a ladder wrapping the branches of one of our dogwoods with red, mulch-faceted spherical bulbs.  He was concerned that I would staple thru the wire when attaching the lights to the trunk.  I told him relax, it won't happen.  Of course the first staple- right thru the wire, lol.  Nothing electrical tape can't fix though.

The two holly bushes got the old school white lights (old school in shape only, all our lights are LED).  The small yew got the twinklers.  That took most of the day and then I made grilled cheese and tomato soup for all of us for dinner.

Sunday was allotted for the tree, wreath and any other accouterments  we might get.  The tree was fairly priced.  The husband wanted a large wreath for the front bay window.  We got a 48" wreath and he nearly choked when he found out how much it was going to cost.  We also ended up getting a swag for the front door to hang under the knocker.

I really cannot believe these asswipes from MF Global are using the Enron defense, or as some refer to it he Shaggy defense- you know- It Wasn't Me.  I may be mistaken but I thought the whole Sarbanes-Oxley law was enacted to prevent this situation?  It is real simple- the management of MF Global should all go to jail.  I gotta think there is some mid-level operations guy sitting on a beach somewhere because he successfully skimmed millions of the illegally co0mingled funds...

Is it just me or has France gotten tres aggressive in pursuing an  activist foreign policy?  they led the charge on Libya and they are clearly leading the charge on Syria as well.  I have heard rumblings that we and our NATO allies are building up forces along the Syrian-Jordanian border...perpetual war, do we still have a Republican President?

When the husband and I lived in the city we were your typical apartment renters- we barely knew our neighbors in passing.  So now that we are country gays I told the husband we should get to know our neighbors.  To that end we are having a Christmas cocktail party this Saturday.  I did invite my brother who lives 20 minutes away but other than that it is no family, no one from the city and no co-workers.

Last night we met with the caterer.  The husband wanted to do this ourselves and I said no, we need to socialize and meet our neighbors not work.  The role reversal is ironic as I am usually the cheap frugal one and he is the extravagant one.  The caterer was great and I am glad we went that route.  Will let you know how the food is in a later post.

The boys are coming even though they are with their mom this weekend.  I spoke with her and I am picking them up Saturday afternoon and dropping them back off in the evening.  They will also pull coat check duty.

On the invitations I wrote "Holiday attire not necessary but welcomed."  That of course caused a tizzy with many of the husband's friends. As for me I went and bought totally preppy red cords with little white snowmen embroidered all over.  I also got a Christmas plaid tie and matching ribbon belt.  The husband told me I had to wear a black shirt- fine.  I really wanted a red, sparkly, lame jacket and matching Santa hat but thought that would be a bit over the top....

Live free or die and other things I've learned recently

My birthday was great!  The boys got me a bunch of B-movie sci-fi/horror dvds.  I did not have the heart to tell them I had seen all of them because for me it was more important that I got a gift from them.  One of them is Sharktopus  which the husband and I had watched when it premiered on the SciFi Channel.  It's only redeeming quality is Kellan Lutz is in it.  The husband out did last year's gift (it was a chainsaw) by getting me a cover for the bed of the truck.  Totally psyched and installed it, took pics and posted them to the tome of mugs.  I got two comments that made me laugh- one from a  friend saying he didn't picture me as a pick-up truck type immediately followed by another friend saying he never pictured me as the type that would name my pick-up truck- I did, Black Betty.

Thanksgiving was great!  Mom and dad arrived the day before and we celebrated dad's birthday.  Thanksgiving day itself went as smooth as silk.  The husband made an amazing meal and we had a total of nine people for dinner.  The highlight for me though was the husband admitting the center piece was really good.  The story behind that was he sent me a text Wednesday afternoon to pick up decorative squash for the table.  Have you ever tried to find decorative squash the night before Thanksgiving?  Yeah well let me tell ya- impossible!  So I improvised, picked up two small acorn squash and a bag of pine cones.  The husband was not happy.  I placed the squash and pine cones quite artfully wit candles and thought it looked quite good.  Everyone agreed with me.

Mom and dad were staying until Sunday so Saturday I went and picked up the boys and brought them over for lunch with their grandparents.  The boys o course started telling their grandparents gift ideas once mom prompted them.  They were not shy either let me say.

The company Christmas Holiday party was last week.  I decided to get a hotel room one block from the office- given my history it was the prudent thing to do.  It was a lot of fun and I was done by 9 and back in my king-sized hotel bed 20 minutes and two pizza slices later.  I think I even flirted shamelessly with my secret bf at the office.  Everyone else stayed out much longer.  I hit it early and hard and was happy with that strategery- besides I was leaving early Friday. 

The husband and I went up to the Granite State to visit MP.  She and her bf SJ have been renting a house up there.  SJ however had to go home to deal with a family health issue so it was just the three of us and the kids.

It was very relaxing even though MP put me to work moving firewood from the woodshed to the house.  The husband took the kids on a hike thru some trails while I did that and they had a blast even though they all came back wet and extremely muddy.

On the drive back Sunday we stopped off to visit the sister-in-law at her college.  It is a beautiful campus and it was great to see her- I cannot believe she is already a junior.

My views on Europe have not changed.  It is real simple- the math just does not work.  Everyone is talking bout how they are going to double the EFSF and leverage it.  Well you know what- if you double zero and then leverage it it is still zero.  Just saying.

I got into a fight discussion with a co-worker.  He is the eternal optimist and tells me I am always too negative.  I counter I am realistic- you can do the math, it will not work.  He finally agreed and said why don't we just do debt forgiveness?  I am all or that but the thing is it will cause a lot banks to fail and banksters to lose their jobs.  That is why the banks have bought and paid for all the politicians in the West. 

This weekend we are putting the lights up outside and the tree up inside.  We also have the boys to help so that will be fun.

This week so far has been eventful for my train rides home.  Monday night there was a fire on the train and last night I found it those signs saying it is a crime to interfere with the train crew operating the train is true.  Apparently a passenger got into an argument or became abusive and harassed one o the conductors.  So the next stop we sat there for 45 minutes waiting for law enforcement to arrive and arrest and remove the passenger.  Due to that I missed my classes at the dojo- sweep the leg!  I am not taking the train home tonight- we are having dinner with TK and other friends in the city at some new hot spot- Whitehall I think.  The husband is driving into JC and we will take the PATH back there and drive home.