As I sit here tonight, sipping on a Cosmopolitan (the official 2009 holiday season drink), the hours are slowly ticking down to the end of another year, everyone is finally asleep except me. It has been another busy day during our 2 week break. Christmas has come and gone, the tree sits lonely in the corner, I can hear the dried out needles drop onto the floor. Another reminder of the quick passage of time. So for fun I went back and looked through all my digital crumbs, the online record of 2009 that I left to see in aggregate what our year was like. All my blog posts, tweets, photos or whatever else that provides a convenient archive of a personal historical record, for everyone to see. It will be interesting to go through this stuff years from now, and if any of my future kin are reading this, “hello from 2009!”

Earlier this week Trisha asked me how I think this year went. I couldn’t really give an answer, it wasn’t a great year certainly, it was just a good one. We had an even mix of both good and bad things, as I suspect most have had this year. Looking through all this material confirmed it. Sure we did a lot of great things, the kids went through some major milestones (its amazing watching these two grow older), and I had some wonderful experiences that I won’t soon forget. If want to see the highlight reel check out the holiday video I put up last week. We also had a couple of setbacks, minor annoyances really. When I look at the whole, and seeing what others have gone through, these are nothing in comparison. I am grateful that I have such a wonderful family, we are all healthy and the future looks bright. New Years is a wonderful time, it allows for the big reboot, a chance to wipe the slate clean as they say. So lets all give 2009 a kick out the door together, and welcome with open arms a shiny and bright new 2010.

Happy New Year!

But did it ever come? I have to say the weather around here certainly has been really lack luster for summer. Except for this weekend its been unusually cool. Seriously I want my money back! Is that possible Tom Skilling?  You know by now I would have posted things on here about all the wonderful things we’ve done so far, and sadly it seems like we really haven’t done that much but yet we actually have.  If you follow my twitter stream there’s all kinds of stuff going on.  We’ve gone to Michigan (and we’re going again one final time next weekend), Durand a couple of times, downtown to the Field Museum, a NIN show, the St. Charles Riverfest right off the top of my head. We’ve also had a great time doing stuff with the neighbors too. Seems like a lot doesn’t it? How come I feel like its been wasted?

Maybe its the old familiar feeling in the back of my brain that school is just around the corner, and I’m regretting skipping Lollapalooza this year. Nah not really, it was damn hot this weekend.  You know its funny I have not been to actual school in such a long time, yet it still haunts me for some reason. Its like I’m afraid I’ll wake up in class one day in my underwear. I suppose working at NIU doesn’t help. But now I can transfer these anxieties to Erik, who will be starting Kindergarten in a couple of weeks. That just blows my mind that he’s actually starting school.  Our little Erik is going to school! Holy crap they are right the time just does seem to slip away.

Its getting late, time to sign off and get ready for my final week of summer hours and then its back to the ole grind stone.

Listen to the audio version of this post:

Sorry for the poor audio production..need to get a better mic!

Well now, its been quite some time since I’ve actually written something on this blog so I suppose something should be in order right? Hell, I’ve been busy okay? If you really want to keep up with my daily doings just follow me on Twitter, or on Facebook, although I essentially treat those as the same platform. I think the lack of effort on here is mainly due to my Nintendo Wii addiction, thanks for that one family! I just can’t seem to get enough Call Of Duty 5 (and now Guitar Hero)  in every free minute of my life.  So, lets recap whats been going on around here for the last few months:

• We just came back from Las Vegas, commonly reffered to as ‘The Big Out’ (no kids!).  It was a friggin good time, so lets just say what happens in Vegas…. No I can easily boil the 4 days down for you;  Walking, drinking, eating, gambling, drinking, walking and did I mention walking? If interested check out the photos in the gallery in the link above.
• I finally finished the basement! Well, mostly. There are a couple of things left to do but by golly I got it done. It only took me almost three months. We decided the heck with it why not just do the whole thing. I would have a photo of the finished product but its already been taken over by kid toys, which is obscuring my fine work. I don’t feel like cleaning it up either.  Yeah ever since I finished I’ve been on a lazy streak.
• Erik and I went to another Monster Truck Show! Cars were crushed, the kids went wild.
• The kids have been busy growing up (its what they do best.). I can’t believe my baby girl is now a toddlin smack talkin toddler.  Lauren is something else I tells ya, and so damn cute.  Erik is just a massive ball of energy. For a kid who doesn’t eat much, where the heck are his batteries?
• I turned 36. I won’t go further into details on this one.
• Working.  NIU was keeping me busy with plenty of overtime stuff this past winter. By the way is Winter finally done? This was a brutal one.

So there ya have it. 3 months or so packed into a nice little list. Exciting and impressive I know.

Well, its that time of year already and I suppose a post of sorts wishing all the best for Christmas and all that is in order. Christmas is here again, and as usual it seems 2008 was just a blur. It has been a year of many ups and downs, but we are ending it on a high note. May 2009 bring us all hope, health, peace and prosperity (and no more basement flooding!).

The days are long and warm, the kids run around outside with glee…

and I have a huge backlog of house projects to complete as well. I’ve been slacking for two summers now because of school. Well, I have no excuses now, the joys of home ownership have taken hold, its time to buckle down and work that list. Man, its a big one. Some of this stuff is leftovers from last year that I couldn’t finish! Lets take a look at the rundown of some biggies..

• Replace breezeway storm doors (1 done! and oh my God it works right!)
• Power wash the house
• Plant Veggie Garden
• Stain Deck
• Stain deck chair
• Fix Dryer Vent
• Finish trim in living room (started that one last year!)
• Replace fly screen sliding door, again (purchased and waiting)
• Cut down dead trees
• Caulk sidewalk at front stoop (mostly done)
• Minor outside painting of door frames
• Figure out why the dryer isn’t drying (%&*@#! POS just bought a new one) New dryer installed now
• Condemn the swing set
• and probably a bunch of stuff I can’t think of at the moment.

Ah the cost of home ownership. Yeah yeah, you must be thinking I’m such a whiner. Well, I am! This sucks! I want to kick back instead but hey who doesn’t. Think of this list as my motivational tool to help me get this crap done.

The Storm Door from hell project…Nothing is ever easy around here

Just a quick post to say, car shopping sucks! We have too many options, requirements limitations…

New or used? SUV or Mini Van? 4×4 or not? How much is that a month? How much gas mileage will we get? Does it have a third row? Will my head explode? Gah! So,we’ve gone from thinking minivan, to CUV (too expensive), SUV, and now back to Minivan. Lets just get a cube truck and get it over with! Pathfinder, Pilot, Pacifica, Quest, Sienna, Mazda 5, Smartcar….I can’t keep them straight anymore.

I CANNOT STAND THIS CRAP! Once again, we have an indoor pool in our basement. Lucky for us, we happened to be downstairs at the time and were able to nip it in the bud before the entire place floated away. But still, what the hell! We didn’t lose anything (Trisha would have preferred the couches to drown) because we learned from last time, plastic totes baby. But, we did end up losing all the padding from our not even 3 months old carpet…grumble. I was up with the Service Master guys until 4:30 Am today. As I said to Trish on New Years, “So, whats the January surprise?” I was off by 4 days.

I spent all day installing a new pump and backup system..FUN!

Its that time of year again. Time to rush about and finish up Christmas shopping, time to fight the crowds, stress out over holiday plans, listen to that same damn holiday song for the 26th time. Amidst this Christmas frenzy, our growing little family would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. But please, no fruitcake!

Merry Christmas from The Korioths Ollie, Trisha, Erik and now Lauren!

Update: Trisha just kicked my butt on grammar.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Wow, this year has just flown by I can’t believe its already here. Who am I kidding? I say this every year.

Have a safe one and don’t eat so much.