2011, 5 Down 7 to Go.

Wow, 5 months have gone by. What have we done?
Well, we reinsulated the house. Which included putting insulation on the headers in the basement, sealing the all the holes with expanding foam. But the biggest, hardest,dirtiest job was adding blown insulation to the attic. This was a huge job, which involved crawling around and insert vents in between the trusses. I am very happy to have had a friend helping me with that and feedi.g the machine as I was blowing the insulation into the attic. I added about 13-14 inches to the previous 4-5 inches. My goal was to get to R-50, which was done
We also got our furnace relaxed and relocated. We also got a new water heater which is high recovery and more efficient. No more running out of hot water when the house is full.
May was a busy month with the opening of the trailer. We moved to a new site last year. We are in a new section where no one had ever setup camp before. So our first visit was a bit surprising. Our trailer had gotten out of level. So we spent a bit of time releveling it. Our deck had done the same thing. Now we are ready to enjoy a summer of.fun at the trailer.

40th Milestone.

Having just turned 40 I have been reflecting on my life.

When I turned 20, it was about asserting my independance while trying to heed my parent's teachng> I was learning to really take care of myself, becoming who I am, starting to mature but yet still being young. I was fit and strong and getting stronger.

Turning 30, I had been married for almost 3 years, my daugther was crawling around my feet. I was starting my family and developing my career path. I was learning a lot of hard lesson concerning life, taxes, money and so on.

Now that I am 40, I can say that a lot is behind me. Many lessons have been learned, many lessons hard to be learned over and over. The career is on a stable comfortable path. The thing that sticks out the most throughout my life is where I have placed and continue to place my values. Everything I do is for my family. I work to afford things for my family. My work hours have always revolved around spending time with my family. My leasure time is spent doing things with my family. I teach my kids and I learn from my kids. I love my wife and kids and I am loved by my wife and kids.

At 40 I do not feel like I am over the hill. There is a steady climb. There is still things that I can learn and I certainly feel like I am going to contribute to this world for years to come. I am going to continue to put my family first and spend as much time as I can with them.
I realize that the challenges that I am going to face are going to be different than those I have so far. But as life progresses, we have to have to follow and adapt.

On a different note.. the Turning 40 bday cards are really good.

Not as easy as I thought.

Keeping this blog up is certainly a challenge. I wanted to stay on top of it but life keeps getting in the way.
I guess occasional updates will have to do until I can get into the grove.

what is a friend?

I hear the word friend used in many different ways. What is your definition of the word FRIEND?

Sens 5-2 over the Thrashers

Well that makes 4 wins in row. not bad. With that win the Sens are 5th overall in the east. This team has been playing very differently in the last couple of weeks. They seem to have more confidence.and thing.are.working for.them. I certainly hope that things continue this.way. The dormant talent seems to have awaken. Spezza is in a groove. Kovalev is a huge factor.
All of this.plus good but the schedule is not letting up. Tomorrow the Canucks are in town and Saturday they go to Boston. We'll how they look after the weekend.
Go Sens Go

Sore back.

I've been coping with a sore back.for.years. Mainly middle low back. When it becomes unbearable I would pop a couple of.Robax and all would be good. I had gone a while without any back issues until last week when my upper back started bothering me. It is generally fine until I move a certain way then I get a shot of pain all the way up my neck and shoulder. Really annoying. Gotta find a stretch or something to remedy this.

Hockey still my passion

I have been enjoying watching hockey. With friends, with my son and daughter or by myself. I love watching the Senators play. This year they had a slow start to the season, but lately they have been doing good. Do I hope that they do even better yes.
But I'm a realist, I don't expect them to win the Stanley Cup. So far it looks like they will be a contender to make the playoffs. Still early though.
I see other teams in the east that are stronger, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington (if they get a solid goalie....watch out)
I see one of them coming out on top. But if the Sens play any of them I will certainly root for the home team.

Still a long season ahead...so GO SENS GO.

Long time since I've been here.

It's been over a year and half since I've been here. Nothing like stumbling upon your own blog. Life has changed since I was here last. Maybe I'll find the time to elablorate on that in the next little while.

Little Brother married

We just got back from an awesome weekend where my little bro (Patrick) got married to a beautiful girl (Emmanuelle aka Manue) They are now in Cuba enjoying a honeymoon. The weekend was filled with joy and good wishes. My kids were the flower girl and ring bearer and they looked really good this weekend. They did a great job. They had a great time at the reception dancing with everyone. Pat looked handsome and Manue was gorgeous. Their wedding was anything but traditional. The priest interviewed Pat and Manue in front of everyone. He also got everyone in the pews involved and gave everyone a chance to add some words of wisdom. The ceremony suited Pat and Manue to a Tee. Everyone was having a great time and there was a natural flow to the evening.
Congratulations little brother. You are loved and your new wife is loved just as much. You two enjoy your lives together.

Happy New Year!!

Hope everyone is having a good time tonight and that you are all being responsible. Happy New Year and we will see you soon.

Saying goodbye to man's bestfriend.

On Monday night, we had Bernie put down. Let me tell you it wasn't easy thing to do. I really didn't want to go through with this. I struggled with ways to prevent this. When it came down to it, we simply do not have the money at this point in time. About 6-8 weeks ago we noticed that he had a pink area on his underside. We didn't know what it was, so we took him to the vet. That visit was close to $400.00 with well over $200.00 in medication. Turns out that the pink that we saw was a rash of some sorts that was oozing pink fluids into his fur. We did everything that was required and the rash that he had in that area cleared and all was good. The treating process was difficult on us, since one of the medication that he had to take gave him "cotton mouth" which caused him to drink a lot of water, which in turn caused him to pee a lot too. Not being able to be let out fast enough at times, he ended up peeing in the house. That was frustrating, but once we understood what was happening, it was easier to cope with it.
Everything seemed to be fine after the treatment was done. Money well spent, so we thought. Until a few weeks ago we discover that it was back, In a week, the the 6x6 inch infected area had spread out to most of his underside. We had to make the hard decision. If money was no object, as it is for some, I would have spent the 3-4-5 hundred dollars a month to have him treated, but as it stands, that is not the case here. Over the years a few other symptoms of old age have found their way in. He has really bad teeth, which the vets say can contribute to Heart, liver and kidney failure. He has had bad joints. Generally in the winter when he needs to navigate in the deep snow he has a hard time walking afterwards. Every now and then he had a hard going up and down the stairs.

We had Bernie for just over 8.5 years, he was about 1.5 years old when we got him. He was a gem. The best dog I have ever come across. He was gentle with children, rarely barked, when he did it was usually a yip. Mind you he did have a scary bark if he wanted to bark. But in the time that I have had him, I have heard him use it less than 10 times. People that didn't like dogs liked Bernie.

Coming up with the decision wasn't easy. It certainly didn't get any easier as the time got closer. I really didn't expect to find myself balling my eyes out as we where at the vet's office. I balled for hours...literally. My eyes are wet just thinking about it now. I loved that dog, he was my dog. I was the one that he obeyed, followed and generally speaking stayed close to. I was his master. I really do miss him, but I know that he is no longer suffering.