Family-Life

I was staring at myself in the mirror a moment ago, washing my hands, thinking of a time years past, when I sat across from a Hazel Eyed woman: “Why do you keep doing that?” she asked. “What?” “You keep doing sign language when you’re talking. Why?” It was the Fall of 1999. That summer, I thought I’d lost my soul mate, the woman who’d taught me a little bit of sign language. Her name was Whitney. I loved her so much I couldn’t see straight. Even this sparkling gal from Menifee County couldn’t cheer me up. ...

I enjoyed Memorial Day quite a bit. Our trip to Kings Island (formerly Paramount’s Kings Island) was great. I would actually call it an achievement–we didn’t overtire ourselves, and we never had a desire to strangle one another. For the Combs clan, that’s an achievement. We got there at 6pm Friday, having checked-in to our excellent Courtyard Inn in Blue Ash and settled our stuff. A 20 minute wait for our Gold passes later, we were in the park and headed towards Nickelodeon, standing in awe of the new ride, Diamondback. As I’ve tweeted and Facebooked—WOW, what a ride. Beautiful, graceful curves–it’s a transcendent beauty that’s really themed the wrong way. The ride’s not a snake at all, it’s a tour de force of elegance and grace. A shark theme would have been better. ...

So, Sunday, I decided to do something completely out of character–I took a nap. My wife took one look at my cranky-pants self after church and said, “You need a Nap for Jesus.” Which is a polite way of saying, “Jesus, Harold…take a nap!” Anyway, my bizarro dream went like this: [Interior. Lab environment. Soft lighting, muted hum of machinery] Serge: Hello, Harold. I’m Sergey Brin. This is Larry Page. You might know us…we founded Google. ...

It’s been a long journey from terror, to disdain, to abidance, to curiousity, but now, HERE IT IS:

School’s back in session, the teacher’s hungover, the class is catatonic, and the assignment is “Essay on what you did over Christmas Break”. * * * Over my Christmas break, I enjoyed my family and relaxed. This was a novelty; usually by the 3rd day I feel cooped-up and restless and turn into a complete asshole. During this week-and-a-half, I really had no desire to put my fist through a wall, run away to Mexico, or otherwise dig a hole in the back yard and jump in it. ...

I don’t know if this is common or not, but when I have prolonged time off work, I find it nearly impossible to relax. I always feel like I should be doing something or working towards something, even if it’s at home. Take right now, for instance. Whitney and I are granting one another some alone time today. Joey’s in Louisville until tomorrow night, and Maria’s enjoying her post-Christmas toys. She’s taking the morning shift watching Maria, and I’m taking the afternoon. ...

Ah December, the time to give, receive, and splurge on a really neat wireless plan. For the last 3 years, in true Dave Ramsey fashion, Whitney and I have been prepaid Virgin Mobile users. I’d say subscribers, but there’s no subscription–you pay-as-you-go, and pay only for the calls and text messages (“TXTs”) you use. On the whole, it wasn’t a bad system. The phones were chintzy and low-tech, but they worked reliably for voice and text. Between the two of us, we were averaging $42 / month. Thing was, Whitney wouldn’t carry her phone–she didn’t like it, and wouldn’t have it around for emergencies. ...

yeah we’ve totally fallen off the Dave wagon….bu… Whitney - Dec 2, 2008 yeah we’ve totally fallen off the Dave wagon….but I have a cool new phone! lol. I REALLY like Harold’s orange phone. If mine came in orange I would SO be there! His has actual keys and they are backlit which is awesome! The ONLY thing I really hate about the iphone is how I have to, to quote CR, “keep eyes glued to the screen” as it’s all a touch screen - including the keyboard. I prefer the QWERTY boards on the blackberry curve and samsung blackjack…..and wish the iPhone took video like the blackjack. but other than that it is INCREDIBLY cool. ...

New England Vacation Album Yeah, lots of pics of hotels and airplanes, I know…

Wanted to snapshot this so I remember it when Maria’s 30, has kids of her own, and they keep her up all night. So, Whitney and I watched Mr. Holland’s Opus, then tuned-in the election coverage at 10:20 pm to get some returns (at the time Obama only had 200+ of the 270 needed). Maria was a bit fussy, but fell back to sleep around the same time. Then, the fun began. ...

Quid Pro Quo On the surface, it looks so innocent. “Something for something.” Equality. Fairness. “I got my share.” “S/He owes me that.” “It’s my due.” “I know my rights.” Yes, friend: You can know your rights and your due right back into your cave, where no one will lament your passing into eternity. If every action you take is ticking off a chit on your list, it means nothing. If you love someone only enough to do up to your responsibility, you love them not at all. Love may not keep a record of wrongs, but it ought not keep a record of “rights,” either. ...

No, for those of you scoring at home, this isn’t about me moving out of the bedroom; this is about Whitney and I moving our bedroom upstairs. Since I moved into the house in June of 2005, my bedroom’s been in the suite, on the Northeast corner of the 1st floor. Yes…the dreaded (or desired!) first-floor master. Atop our story-and-a-half house are 3 bedrooms: One for Joey, the nursery for Maria, and what had previously been the playroom/guest bedroom. ...

I’ve got a guy driving in from Indianapolis this afternoon; perhaps this is the BMW’s last day with me. Part of me’s not taking this so well…I got up nauseated and I was very cranky, right down to being very mean to Joey at the breakfast table. Which caused Whitney to get really mad at me (rightly so). I apologized to him on the way to school for it, but still…I’m just OFF today. ...

…or “Whitney gets car fever” So Saturday, before Ike started tearing through our area, our intrepid family went a-Cincinatti’ing. Yep, swimming pools, movie stars, and the best MINI dealership in the world. I hadn’t been to Cincy MINI since last August, when a mishap with my radiator drain plug had me driving 120 miles roundtrip for a $2 part. Whitney hadn’t been there since spring of 05, when we had the Pup in for its last dealer service. ...

Quite a busy weekend…I’m expecting to crash sometime today around 10am, actually. High & Lowlights: Friday, Whitney tore a ligament in her right arm. Best quote from that belongs to her doctor: “I can either tell you you’ve got a torn ligament, or I can take X-Rays and tell you you’ve got a torn ligament.” So, she’s on restricted duty for a couple of weeks. Praise report: Mom’s CT scan came back clean…the doctor said she was doing fine and had no indications of cancer almost a year after her surgery. Woohoo!! ...

…going into Williams-Sonoma expecting there to be free food, just like Saturday afternoon at Sam’s Club. Alas, it was not to be. We did get out of the mall with a brisk walk, some family time, and $4 under budget. w00t!

Actually they did have samples - a greek salad com… Whitney - Aug 1, 2008 Actually they did have samples - a greek salad composed of coloured peppers, vinaigrette, and goat cheees. Unfortunately I’m allergic to two of those three things and you were rubbing the maximum mini by found on road dead by that point so I didn’t bother pointing it out. S’ok. usually they have nut bread when we walk so I wasn’t expecting much anyway. ...

Among Joey, Maria, Whitney, and myself, we must have every allergy going. Nuts, milk, pet dander, pollen, mold, cigarette smoke, dust. If it’s a biggie, we have it. And we live in the allergy capital of the world. Arizona keeps looking like a good second option.

Welcome back to school! Time to start the process of turning impressionable youngsters into marketing machines. Thankfully, we don’t participate in that as I COMPLETELY disagree with it. But wait! This year marks a first. The legislature slashed the budget for public schools so THIS year even tho Joey’s attending a public school, there are classroom fees, art fees, etc that have to be paid. Enter Pampered Chef. Everybody LOVES pampered chef (tho I’m personally sick of it - mostly because I lust after it badly and can’t afford most of it). However, if you happen to have disposable income: ...

Disposable Income…I bet Pampered Chef sells a ni… Jeff Roberts - Aug 5, 2008 Disposable Income…I bet Pampered Chef sells a nice container to store that in.