It's "Whats Up" Wednesday!

Movie Review:

Valkyrie-Descent, really gives you an impression of what some are willing to sacrifice for the the good of the world.

Seven Pounds-Pretty Good, its hard to find a disappointing movie with Will Smith in it.  I liked the story.

Twilight-Good, expected a lot more action and blood, but the story was good.  Go see it with your wife and not the guy you share an office with, the kissing scene seemed very awkward and uncomfortable with Jeff (I am glad that it felt awkward and uncomfortable with Jeff).

The New Year's resolutions are falling like dominoes, but I'm determined not to give up.  Although I am eating like crap, I am going to the gym most days.  Doing fairly well taking my shoes off in the garage, not drinking Diet Coke is pretty difficult, as you can see it is Wednesday and I am updating the blog, and I have been getting to bed at around 10pm lately.

Carson and Nancy dancing through "the tunnel" at the Detroit airport on our way to Sault Ste. Marie.

Evan, Carson, and Alexandra.  One of the moments they were not fighting over a toy.

Carson is not too sure about sitting on Santa's lap.

4 days into the New Year

After catching up on some of the Blogs that I really should read more frequently, I have decided that for me the better ones are the more concise short rants.  After my last diatribe never seemed to never end, my future blogging will be short, sweet, and to the point.

So as I sit her typing and enjoying my Sunday caffeine free Diet Coke, my co-pilot, Carson is in the chair next to me watching "Monster Inc.", Larri is napping on her bed, and Nancy has gone to bed (she isn't felling so well) the temperature outside has fallen to unimaginably cold, somewhere between -10*F and -50*F.  For those readers in the more southern locals that can not comprehend such a cold, count yourself lucky.

We arrived back from Canada(as I like to say, returned to the civilized world) and a wonderful Christmas vacation with the Brunos on Friday.  We had a white, cold, Christmas, followed by a wet, cold and finally white, New Years Eve. Nancy and Carson immediately began feeling sick. Carson seems to be feeling a little better.  Unfortunately for Nancy I believe that she has what kept me on the DL for about a month.

Saturday I drove out to Palmer to pick up Larri from the dog-sitter.  I was so happy to see her and get her home... for about 10 minutes.  Then she reminded me of all of her hyperactive neurotic antics.  Larri needs to make some New Year resolutions herself, something along the lines of, don't piss off the hand that feeds you!

Wednesday I'll share some pictures of our retreat to the Eastern Frozen North and if time permits maybe a couple of movies reviews.

Chao!

Happy New Year!

1st of all, I will start by saying that I agree that it has been quite sometime since I last made an attempt to update Carson's Blog.  That being said and affirmed, the phone calls, letters, and e-mails can now end.  It is my intention to keep the Mis-Adventures updated, and in fact it has made the #6 spot on my New Years Resolution list, which has at this time a total of eleven items that I will resolve to overcome, overpower, over-compensate for, overcook, and/or over-dramatize.

1. Lose weight/get into shape.  Of course this would be the ever present 70-80 lbs. that have become the perennial #1 on this list.  2009 will be it's last appearance, it is time to retire the cankles ( n. An aesthetically unfortunate physiological condition which leave its victims with no discernible narrowing of the ankle between the calf and the foot.  History:  The word is derived from the combination of the words calf and ankle.  Victims of this condition are advised to avoid the following:  ankle boots, ankle strap shoes, anklets, ankle socks, ankle tattoos, high-top shoes, and any other footwear or leg wear that might draw attention to the cankle region) and man-boobs (n. what guys get when the eat to many apple fritters) and get myself in some sort of shape other than pear like.  The usual malnutrition tactics and the occasional brush against a weight bench or "stair-bastard" aside, I haven't decided on a concise plan of attack.  The idea of joining a local boxing club has been in the back of my mind.   The notion of beating the hell out of someone because I can no longer satisfy my Big Mac addiction is quite appealing. * Reality check for a moment...I will most likely be the one getting the hell beaten out of, too which my recourse will most likely be crying into a soon to be empty Big Mac box.  Damn those all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun, damn them to HELL!
2. Get more rest.  I know this seems like something that is a slam dunk.  How hard can it be to get yourself to go to bed earlier?  In all honesty I would say that kicking my heroin addiction ( #8 on the list back in 95') was easier.  There just doesn't ever seem to be enough time in the day to waste.  Some theorize that this may tie into the the success of this years #1 resolution.
3. Eat Healthier.  This will be problematic, and has made it to #1 on my list of Abandoned Resolutions for 2009.
4. Personally Apologize to every "Rapper", "Hip Hooper", "O.G.", and all other self proclaimed artists that advertises themselves as a daddy, a form of currency, an inquisitive canine, an adverb, a pronoun, or phonetically spelled nuisance for failing to recognize them as Talented.  I'm certain that my dog can discharge more talent in her morning bathroom break then these idots have mustered in any of the faux gold/platinum records.  Peace!
5. Never put off what can be done today until tomorrow.
6. Keep Blog updated.  What a chore this can be.  I must remember my intended purpose of this project.  A quasi dairy that I and others can look back at in the years to come and in most cases laugh at and not laugh with my mis-adventures.  It also gives me a place to use words that I would never endeavor using in an actual conversation.  Quasi, problematic, or concise just don't find a lot of work around my day to day conversations.
7. Be grateful for what I have.  My brother-in-law, residing deep in the heart of Texas, says it so simply in one way or another, he is truly blessed and sincerely believes it...and he is married to my sister!  All kidding aside, from time to time I catch myself day dreaming about this very thing.  Of all the paths in life I could have followed, the one that I have chosen has lead me to such a wonderful life, at times I fill guilty for how fortunate I really am.  Ricky Bobby said it best in his prayer at the dinner table in Talladega Nights,"dear Lord baby Jesus, lyin' there in your ghost manger, just lookin' at your Baby Einstein developmental videos, learnin' 'bout shapes and colors.  I would like to thank you for bringin' me and my mama together, and also that my kids no longer sound like retarded gang-bangers.  Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers in the South call you: 'Jee-suz'.  We thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell.  I just wanted to take time to say thank you for my family:  my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome, striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or TR as we call him.  And of course my red hot smokin' wife Carley, who is a stone cold fox..." anyway, you get the picture, I am very blessed, and need to remember that.
8. Take my shoes off in the garage.  My red hot smokin' wife Nancy, who is a stone cold fox is obsessed with ensuring that the entry way to our blessed home is kept dirt granular free.   In the past I have dismissed this as some-type of OCD.  But trying to hide the fact that both myself and Larri ran around with our dirty shoes on I realized just how much of a mess can be made.  Sorry sweetie, I will now leave my dirty nasty shoes in the icy cold garage.
9. Take my job seriously.  Lets face it, I am way 
   overpaid for what I do...not necessary for what I am supposed to do.  I have taken a few strides in trying to make my work more interesting to me; I'm teaching a 2 credit course at UAA this semester on sanitation, I took a course on pollen and fungal spore identification at the University of Massachusetts in November, and I plan on becoming certified by N.E.H.A as a Food Safety Professional.  3 years of government work has final caused me enough guilt to make an effort to redeem my sense of self-worth and desire to do something with my life.  And you know my job is somewhat important, I think, and should be done with some level of professionalism.
10. Read.  I am embarrassed by the amount of books that I own and have not read.  At some point they must have interested me, why else would I have bought them.  I want to have read half of them by this time next year.
11. I admit it, I am a addict.  I love it's harsh effervescent tang and the nail biting suspense of the effects of aspartame to the human body help me maintain my "bad ass" image.  I will limit my consumption to 2 a week.  One on Wednesday night and the other on Sunday night.

                             

        

So this is the blueprint for the Year 2009.  If I am successful, you should be kept well aware of my progress.  However in the event that #6 begins to waver, I would encourage you to pester me on my progress. 

Our best to you all, have a Happy and Safe New Year!

Boys Night Out!

We went to the park, just up the road, at Jewel Lake.

We swung on the swings!

We slid on the slides

We chased geese that didn't want to be chased.  

We discovered that where there are a lot of geese, there is a lot of geese poop!

We talked about important current events... you know the usual; the economy, the election, who was a better Batman:

Michael Keaton (must have needed the money), Val Kilmer (incredibly gay, I'm certain he will leave this one off of his resume), George Clownie (yeah that's right I said Clownie, what a jackass!), Christian Bale (hands down winner), or Adam West (high marks for his smoothness with the ladies).

Finally we decided to have a Nutri-gran bar and get out there.  If we hurried we might be able to get a good seat at the "Great Alaskan Bush Company"

Oh yeah...

Sunday was Christina's Birthday.  And of course we didn't call or send a card (I forgot to mention that in Laura's post, but we didn't send her a card either...sorry), but want you to know that we do think of you often, but apparently not on your Birthday.

For what is worth, Happy Be-Lated Birthday wishes from all of us in Alaska, and we are looking forward to seeing you in the Sault soon. 

Happy Birthday Laura!

Today is Laura Bruno's Birthday.

Oh course by the time we got home we were certain that you had passed out from what was surely a very exciting 28th.  Birthday.

We all wish you a very Happy Birthday and hope that the year to come is even better than the year that has passed.

See you in December.

This the Boeing 747 400F.  Weighing in at 910,000 lbs, a wingspan of 211.5 ft, and an overall length of 225 ft 2inches.  It is powered by 4 Pratt and Whitney PW-4056 turbofan jets, if I understood it right, each produce 60,000 lbs of thrust.

Moving on...

This is the cockpit of the 747.  All I can say is that I have a new found respect for what a pilot has to do to fly one of these things.  

This is the entrance to the flight simulator that is used by UPS pilots.  From the outside it looks more like a boat then a plane.  But let me reassure you that once you walk into to this $15,000,000.00 video game you very quickly forget that you are in a "simulator"

Meet Vincent.  Vincent's job is to make sure that the simulator is working properly.  Apparently, and I will vouch for this, this simulator is so realistic that pilots can log flight time on it as if it where an actual jet. I met Vincent through Nancy's Canadian connections.  Vincent is from Quebec, so he has one of those really cool French accents.

And this is Jill...my co-pilot, also known on the flight deck as "Iron Eagle".  The importance of the co-pilot was proven during take off when the pilot, aka "Slider", almost throw up all over the cockpit.  Luckily, the very capable hands and stable inner ear of "Iron Eagle" was there to ensure a safe flight.

It is also worth mentioning that Jill is also from Canada.  Aside from the normal peppering of "EH!' throughout her speech, her accent really isn't as cool as Vincent's.

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

Carson vs. Larri

Carson has wedged his head under the gas meter and can not move. 

Very funny now, very tragic then.

Larri...what can be said about Larri?  She has her moments of genius, they are fleeting, but they do happen.  Most of the time she is looking for her blue ball, and heaven help you if she needs help getting it.  

Do you want to know what the most annoying sound in the world is?  It's Larri whining!

an afternoon at the park with Mom.

Swimming Pools, Racing Bikes, Granddad, and Fig Newtons.

Today I find myself with a little time to try and get the blog updated.  Apparently I have had a bout with strep throat which earned me a shot in the butt with some penicillin, or as the "doc in the box" called it, "a thick liquid that may take a 

while to push in.  Not the words you want to hear after being asked to drop your pants and lace your hands on the table.  Today's illness du jour is quit possible bronchitis.  I have 

taken the day off and am trying to get an appointment with my local medicine man Dr. Scott DeBerard.  Anyway on to more important thinks.

This of course in Nancy during this years Eagle River Triathlon.  She does really well in the pool, although she says her time was slower this year...I couldn't tell, of course I'm looking at her butt more then the clock.  After swimming further then I drive in a day, Nancy runs outside, dripping wet, puts on her helmet and jumps on her racing bike.  Her team affectionately refer to Nancy's bike as the "Tank" because as racing bikes go it is extremely heavy.  I believe that Nancy is only trying to keep the playing field level.  If she had a fancy super duper light as a feather racing bike she would obviously no longer be competing with the other racers, but rather instigate accusations that Nancy may be using performance enhancing drugs...this is the same reason why Nancy has refused to enter the Tour de France...it just isn't worth the hassle.

Vic and Carson are up in

 the bleachers at Chugiach High School cheering on Mom.  Nancy's Mom is up there too.

Vic and Carson going for a walk while we wait for Nancy to finish her race.

Carson has become a huge fan of the fig newton, but who isn't?  Our little guy can almost cram 2 whole FNs in his mouth at one time.

My last white water rafting trip

Ray Ban Preditor Prescription Sunglasses...$350.00

Nova White Water Adventure's size 13 neoprane dry suite boot...$0.00 (for me at least, probably cost them $20.00

John Christian custom made platnum and 18k gold wedding band blessed by the Catholic Church...$2600.00

My fat ass back on dry ground...priceless. (and 20 lbs of King Crab)

Bath Time...

All of that bitch'n about Global Warming...

Former Vice President and inventor of the internet; Al Gore must really have known what he was talking about. These photos are clear evidence that because I changed our light bulbs from the energy consuming candescent type to the earth friendly fluorescent type, and because of all of mindless followers of the "Americans are bad and we should feel guilty for ruining the world, and I'm going to make myself feel better by offsetting my carbon foot print with carbon credits" mantra. Well, I take back every condescending comment I have made about those who obviously have done such an excellent job in changing the way we live and how we use the polluting energy of our world. In a matter of months they have reversed the warming effects, that were not more than a month ago, presumed to heat the earth the point of melting the ice capes and making life on earth unbearable. Friday, April 25th 2008 Anchorage received over 17 inches of snowfall with in 13 hours.
Thank you to all of the tree hugging, dirt loving, granola eaters everywhere; all of your hard work and sacrifice has not gone unnoticed.

So now that you have saved us all from that crisis what is next?
The weather forcast tonight (April 30th) is calling for more snow! What the hell is going on?

Manageing my Mid-Life Crisis and other fables

So this past week I have managed to make it to the 37th anniversary of my birth. To help me cope with the realization that I am a full fledged adult with real responsibilities I have decided to do a few things that a lot of you have expressed as "stupid, crazy, senseless, thoughtless", etc.
Last week I convinced my adoring wife to let me buy a motorcycle. That is her under Nancy's butt. I am having a tough time coming up with an appropriate name, at first I thought, Gertrude or Shadowfax...but then I thought it's a damn motorcycle, its not like it's going to come when I call it. The 2008 Suzuki GSX 650F is a thing of beauty (more so when Nancy is setting on it, not so much when I'm setting on it). The electronic fuel injected in-line 4 cylinder engine purrs along getting almost 50 mpg. Now I have this motorcycle which has been a lot of fun riding to and fro. The weather is starting to get to the point where I'm not shivering after a ride to work.
So as if this wasn't crazy enough, today is the day that I am making the switch from tried and true aggravation of the PC to the hopefully less aggravating and more intuitive iMac. I am also planning a revamping of this blog, that may even turn into a fully functioning website. This might take some doing, but I will be sure to let everyone know before hand. Enough about me for 5 minutes...

Carson has really gotten pretty good at pushing his little cart around the driveway lately. He has taken his first few steps without holding on to anything. This was really pretty funny to watch. It happened the day I brought home "Gertrude"(see it just doesn't work). Carson was in the garage walking around with his cart, and when he saw my bright and shinning motorcycle he just let go of his cart and walked over to it and give it a hug. He hasn't been too interested in trying walking without his cart since then.

From time to time Carson finds some pretty interesting stuff laying on the ground in the driveway. From time to time it is so interesting he wants to try and eat it.
"Yummm, this looks tasty!"

Larri of course is still Larri. Unaffected by any tide swings of life. As long as she has her ball and someone to throw it for her all is right with the world.

Carson vs. Stairs

When having your very first Birthday, its important to practice a few days before so you know what to expect.