Removing the season

Tis the season to rip down all the decorations and put my house back together. 

It amazes me every year when the tree is out, the furniture put back where it belongs that we have all this room! I can swing a cat in my library right now, if only it were in here right now. 

The more floor I saw today, the more I wanted. We began purging. Slowly at first, then momentum started. I began going through the bookcase pulling out old volumes that have no apparent purpose anymore - I really don't think I need parenting manuals for toddlers anymore. 

Unless....?

NO.

Nick nacks and trinkets, old papers and pamphlets, this room is jammed with crap. We are a society of crap, I just wanted to jump on the bandwagon. I secretly want to be a minimalist, but it's not in my heart to purge that much. At least now I can see floor, I can see the wall under the window. I can now look around and imagine what potential this space has. Oh what to do with it...

More crap!

Every January 6th we take down Christmas. Always the day after Kim's birthday. Kind of a tradition around here. But this year the 5th will be a nuts day and we aren't waiting. Instead of rushing Monday and Tuesday nights we did it all today. When I look around though, it seems as if there is a huge whole in the heart of the house. We do holidays to the nines around here, remember Hallowe'en? Every time we take it all down it's the same thing. We miss the crap. Now we're simply left with pictures of the kids, artwork of various sorts, bookcases, plants, and the normal everyday accumulatives of life. 

But something new this year, there is finally a place to put that chair that has been floating around the house for months.

Cheers.

New Year's Resolution time

Here's my resolution - stop making them. Or, if I do make one, put a time limit on it. Like say, one hour. That's about how long they normally last anyway. Last year it was to quit smoking. Yeah, that worked well, I just lit one. 

We all make them, and nobody ever keeps them. We resolve to get into shape, quit bad habits, be a better person, blah blah blah. Why bother? Why this particular date on the calendar to change your ways? Why not just be that person you want to be all the time.

Maybe this year I will make a resolution or two that I know I can keep. Maybe I will resolve myself to stop eating foods that give me heartburn. Not because I think I should, but because heartburn really sucks! Maybe I'll quit smoking - really, I will. Not on New Years though, there's a party to be had. Maybe sometime during January when I can't breathe anymore. (lecture coming, I can smell it). 

Maybe I'll resolve to make a better go of things at work, be a better manager, work harder to make a difference. Or, maybe I'll just decide to ride the rails and see how it goes. There's the solution - make two resolutions - one in either direction. Then you can't go wrong.  Give yourself a fallback position.

Maybe I'll resolve to be more active. This is something I know I want if not need. I want to get back into shape, I want to get out there and play ball, hockey, run, bike more. This is the only "resolution" I think I can keep. Just in case I fail I entered the contest to carry the Olympic torch. They announce the winners in May, If I get it I will have until December 23, 2009 to get into good enough shape to run with the torch. What I hear now is I have until May to be a lazy slob. After that I have to change my ways. I needed motivation for this one, the resolution didn't have the punch to get me off my ass. Maybe the Olympics will!

I also resolved to make more money this year. The jury's out on that one, I just haven't figured out how to accomplish this one yet. Stay tuned.

I resolve to be a good husband and father. This one isn't too hard, I love my family and would do anything for them. However, This one too could always use a fallback resolution. I could say that this year I will stop giving of myself and be a little more selfish. Nah. Then I'd get a reputation.

I do resolve this year though, to be more green. Drive less, recycle more, walk more, turn off lights, et al. My kids are wonderful with this concept, they're the green generation. They're the enviro-cops around here. And we listen! Growing up everything was eventually landfill fodder. I can't believe how much we recycle now, all thanks to the kids. Someone should buy me a Chevy Volt for my next birthday. Start saving.

Finally, I resolve to end all war, famine and disease in the world. 

I know this is impossible globally, so I'll start in my house. I will play arbiter, keep the fridge full and make sure the kids are healthy. This is probably the only resolution worth making. Take care of your family and they will take care of you.  Because, at the end of the day, they choose your retirement home.

Happy New Year.

Road Trip

Road trip today, off to see the wife's family in London. It isn't too far, just a couple hours up the road. The fog this morning is so thick I can't see the car across the street. This should make for a fun drive. I love taking these little trips, it's the excuse I need to have the kids clean the car out.

Cheers and Happy Holidays.

Merry Christmas

All I want for Christmas is my wisdom teeth out.

I went to the dentist yesterday to get a problem tooth removed. The dentist took one look at it and said yup, it has to come out. It was a wisdom tooth anyway, so no harm done. The X-ray showed it should be a relatively easy extraction. He froze the area, put me under the gas and got to work.

That's the end of things going right. 

First off, I had a reaction to the anaesthetic and went into an adrenaline rush. I started shaking and shivering uncontrollably. The tech put a blanket over me and the gas was switched to pure oxygen, but it didn't work. The dentist kept working, eventually I came down and relaxed. 

The tooth didn't want to come out. It started breaking apart instead of coming loose. He finally decided after about an hour that he would remove the nerves and send me to an oral surgeon. But when he got the nerves out, the tooth started loosening up. Now at this point, I have more tools shoved in my mouth than necessary, my lips are cut from them. My jaw is in so much pain that it makes the tooth seem inconsequential, and the gas isn't on, so I can feel everything. Three people working on this tooth while I'm recovering from shock, ripping my mouth apart for over two hours. It should have come out within a half hour. Not cool. He finally got the tooth by standing over me and reefing it out. Imagine my comfort. It turns out the roots were curved and the tooth impacted. It should have been surgery from the start, which after an hour the dentist reminded me of in no uncertain terms. He was not having fun either. 

After coming down off the rush I drove home in a snowstorm, and headed off to bed. Tylenol 3 in hand, I curled up in bed. I couldn't get warm, Kim put a hot water bottle at my feet and an extra blanket, but I couldn't stop shivering. All I wanted was something to eat, but that wasn't an option yet. I took about 4 hours for the bleeding to stop before I could take a couple of spoonfuls of apple sauce. More Tylenol 3 around 10, then tried to sleep. They even gave me a bag of frozen veggies (a Wilsonworld icepack) to keep the swelling down. Great, add cold when I can't get warm. 

This morning, the bleeding has stopped, and I started my day with more apple sauce, but I feel so week. Everything seems to be a chore, even coming down the stairs. I'm going to post this and go back to bed, nursing my cut mouth. 

This was the worst trip to the dentist I've ever experienced, anything from here on in should be a cakewalk. The dentist did a great job considering what I through at him. I know he was frustrated as hell, I joked later that I just wanted him to work for his Christmas break. 

Tomorrow is Christmas day, and I may have to have my dinner puréed. Not nice. The thought occurred to me to wait until after the holidays to have this done, I guess I'm glad I didn't wait, I would  be going through this no matter when it happened. At least it's done now. 

Hopefully as the day moves forward I will get a little stronger and this will begin to heal. Either that or I'm spending Christmas on my back.

Cheers.