the tonedef blog

Today is day 5 that Thing 1 has had to miss school. Monday and Tuesday were planned due to the trip to Band Mom’s folks. But, Wednesday morning Thing 1 woke up good and sick. She had a low grade fever and general crappy-ness. Band Mom also did not feel well. At luch time Band Mom called and Thing 1′s temp was around 101. When I got home from work Thing 1 was up to 102.4. So, I got her dressed and took her to see the doctor. They said yep she’s sick. DUH. Maybe its the flu, maybe a sinus infection, maybe its cholera. Okay they didn’t say cholera, but I knew she was sick and I don’t have an M.D. So they gave her some Motrin at the office for the fever, and gave her two prescriptions, an antibiotic and something to help her cough at night so she can sleep.

Thursday, she woke up pretty bad again. Fever around 102. Home again. Now she’s upset ’cause Thursday is music class. By bed time her temp was 98.7. Cool maybe Friday she can go to school. NOPE. Wake up temp 102+ again. Band Mom called the school to try to get her work for the week and found out Thing 1 is like 1 of 10 or more that are out with this. They asked us not to send her back until her fever and general health are completely normal. Apparently parents have been sending the kids back too soon and just passing the disease around like a joint at a Dead concert.

The one awesome thing about this is that Thing 1 is so upset that she is missing school. She thinks her teacher is going to be mad at her for be absent for 5 days. She also is upset that she missed this weeks letter. (They cover a letter a week in Kindergarden.) Its kinda neat that she wants to go to school. I think if Pooh missed a week of school with an illness she would be thrilled. I guess thats the difference between 15 and 5. I was probably the same at 5 and 15.

Any way, I hope she’s feeling better tomorrow or she’ll be really bummed. For New Year’s Eve, the Canonsburg Chamber throws a skate nite at Southpoint. Its from 6-10 and there is ice skating, and on the indoor soccer field this year they are having activities with the Wild Things and Riverhounds. Since Band Mom is so involved we automatically go to volunteer and help with the event. If Band Mom and I have to go and Thing 1 is stuck home with Grandma and Grandpap, I think she’s gonna be bummed.

We’ll see…

The day after Christmas the family packed up and headed down to the Beltway to visit Band Mom’s folks. Band Mom’s dad has been out of the hospital for a few weeks now, so we headed down to visit. Since Band Mom prefers not to drive the I270 and Beltway portion of the trip, she took the first leg from Washington to Breezewood. Forcast for the day: chilly but clear. Actual weather: snowrainice. Of course that only lasted until Breezewood. Band Mom got the joys of crappy weather in the mountains. I had clear sailing all the way to the Beltway. We actually got out of the house on time for a change, but because of the weather were still a little late in arriving.

We went to our hotel first to check in. This time we stayed at an EconoLodge. I was leary, because the last time I stayed in an EconoLodge was in McLean, VA where I went for training a few years ago. It was one of the nastier motels I’ve stayed in ever. Luckily, this one was pretty nice. And it was nicer than where we stayed over Thanksgiving. That place smelled…literally.

Anyway, after we checked in got settled, we went and picked up the folks and took them to dinner. Actually, Band Mom’s mom took us to dinner, we just drove. Band Mom’s Dad seemed pretty good. After dinner, we went back to their apartment to visit for a while. The kids played on the floor and in the lounge accross the hall, while Band Mom and her mom went over some paper work. I think they found the right meds for Band Mom’s Dad. This is the best I’ve seen him in a year or more. He was watching the kids play. He even tried to pick up Thing 2 to give her a hug. I say tried ’cause she’s heavier than she looks and he is not physically very stong any more. But it was good to see him enjoying the kids.

When the kids started getting tired, we headed back to the hotel and watched some TV and went to sleep. The next day we found the only negative to the motel. The Continental Breakfast sucked. First off, the coffee maker in our room was screwed up, and the one at the breakfast was out of order. If you ever want a cranky Band Mom take away the coffee. The juice dispensers were also out of order. The only thing they had was some cereal and bagels. Good enough for us, but some juice and coffee at least would have been nice.

When Band Mom’s folks were up and ready we took them to the bank. Actually Band Mom went to the bank with them while the kids and I went to the Rite Aid to pick up light bulbs and sunglasses (I can’t believe I can’t find my sunglasses) and wander around for a while. After about an hour Band Mom called and we went and picked them up. We took a trip to McDonald’s for some lunch, then back to the apartment for some quick pictures and goodbyes. We needed to get back since Thing 1 already missed two days of school (yeah no vacation days because of the stupid stike) and I needed to go back to work on Wednesday.

We got going a little later than we planned so I hit some traffic on 270 from rush hour. No biggie. At Breezewood, we didn’t want to take too long so instead of the usual Gateway or buffet stop we just took a quick pee break and look around the Crawford Museum and Gift Shop. (We actually got some gifts for my folks for the next holiday/birthdays.) Then Band Mom took over driving and we headed on down the road. Since we didn’t eat at Breezewood, everyone was starting to get hungry so we stopped at the next plaza on the turnpike and had some grub.

We were almost home and figured there was still time to get the kids home and bathed, and have my sister stop by to say goodbye since she was going back to NC on Wednesday. All of a sudden after we passed the Bentlyville exit (30 minutes from home now!) traffic came to a stand still!!! What???? Then we were routed off of the Interstate at 84. It turns out a bridge fell on the highway between 84 and Washington. So it took another hour to get home. We still had my sister come over and had the kids in bed around 10 so not too bad.

All in all a good Christmas weekend.

Well Christmas morning came and the kids knew that this time it was Santa who brought presents and put them under the tree. I think that Santa and Band Mom and Dad did pretty good this year. The kids ripped through all the packages. Tossed the clothes to the side and started playing. The only thing is SANTA NEEDS TO REMEMBER FREAKIN’ BATTERIES. Oh well, Shrek Operation and Lite Brite have to wait. Also Band Mom and Dad need to remember the one joint biggest gift when wrapping presents and have it out for morning, not handing them a big old bag that was stuffed under my desk for a month with a VSmile in it. Luckily, the gift itself made up for the lack of pretty paper and a bow.

I think Band Mom was happy this year with her gifts as well. For a change, I didn’t wait until Christmas Eve to go shopping. I actually bought my first gift for Band Mom before Thanksgiving. That is damn near against my religion… Also, Bim helped out by placing an Avon order from Band Mom’s wish list for me. Band Mom also got jewelry (two pair of earrings; one from each little one) and a surprise of the new Gauntlet game for the PS2. (that I bought on Christmas Eve Eve, but it wasn’t Christmas Eve).

Band Mom treated me good this year too. She finally gave in and got me the network adapter for the PS2, and a couple of games. Also she must enjoy being beaten silly ’cause she got me a DVD game of Name That Tune ’80s Edition…

Later in the day we packed up and headed to Grandma and Grandpap’s house. Here are two people that definitley get into the spirit of giving. Everybody got a ton of stuff from Grandma and Grandpap. That includes me and Band Mom. We had to leave some stuff there because it didn’t fit in the car (which is a minivan by the way) without the third seat in it.

Pooh’s dad dropped her off at Grandma’s house so she had double the stuff since we brought the gifts from our house to Grandma’s for her to open.

Well, I hope everyone had as good a Christmas as the Maurer clan had this year.

On Christmas Eve Eve (December 23 for those that couldn’t figure it out), Band Mom stayed up wrapping presents for the family. She stacked them on the coffee table and then came to bed. The next morning the 2 little ones got up before Band Mom and I. They went downstairs to watch TV and play. Band Mom and I were awakened when they came trucking back up the stairs screaming “HE CAME! HE CAME! SANTA WAS HERE!”

It took a little convincing, but they finally accepted the fact that the gifts were not from Santa. And, yes, he would be coming tonight.

So Christmas Eve was spent fixing up the house and baking cookies (for Band Mom, not me). Then we headed to Grandma’s for dinner and visiting. Then back home to get the kids in bed early so Santa could visit.

One thing everyone (okay most) look forward to during this time of year is the annual Christmas bonus from their employer. This year I must say my new employer, West Point Products was quite generous. In addition to the monetary bonus, I got a small gift card to Wal Mart and a small gift card to T.G.I.Friday’s. Plus a coffee mug and some candy. Oh and the luncheon. This is probably the best bonus I have received. This is just one more reason I am really happy working at WPP.

This bonus got me thinking about other bonuses that I have received from other companies. Last Christmas I was working for Commonwealth Marketing Group. The bonus there wasn’t too bad. As a percentage of salary, it was probably kinda close to (yet still less than) what I got this year.

My personal favorite crappy bonus though was a few years ago when I was working for Ciber (Pittsburgh). I had been busting my ass on the project from hell for a couple of years. Wanna know what the Christmas bonus was? I know you do. When I opened the card that was delivered (a nice holiday card you know like a Hallmark or some such), what did I find inside? $40 worth of Giant Eagle gift cards. Whoo-hoo. Won’t the kids love some brocolli for Christmas! And maybe I’ll buy Band Mom a special bonus bag of Doritos and still have enough left over for some cookies for breakfast on Christmas morning… To top it off, I later found out that because I was on the project from hell and keeping it above water and out of court, I got double what the rest of Ciber Pittsburgh employees received. Didn’t I feel special! (oh did I mention that they probably didn’t even pay full price for the cards since Giant Eagle was one of our largest clients. Now I don’t know that for sure, but c’mon).

My point is I hope everyone got the bonus they deserved and if not always remember there are other places out there. According to the commercials Monster can work for you.

Saturday was the time for a grown up birthday party. So where do we all take Bim for her birthday? Dave & Buster’s. If you don’t know what Dave & Buster’s is, its like Chuck E. Cheese’s with better games, better food and more booze. Oh, and no annoying talking rat. Not that Chuck E. Cheese’s isn’t fun. We had Thing 1′s 5th birthday party there and the kids loved it. Not a ton of fun for the adults though.

D&Bs is too much fun. I could blow an entire pay check in there if Band Mom would let me. Band Mom did let me spend some money Saturday though. I got my gaming fix in for a while. As I expected Bill spent most of the night shooting things and Rock spent most of the night racing cars, motorcycles, atvs, anything with a steering wheel or handle bars basically. One of the fun things was racing in linked games. They have a bunch of games where you can play with or against a bunch of other people, and one of those is Daytona USA which can take up to 8 people per game so we all got to race at the same time. Kinda funny with Bill, Rock, Bim, Bo, Band Mom and I yelling at each other while racing.

One other crazy game they had there this time was called Air Raid. You have to walk into this little theater basically. There are 8 seats and a giant movie screen. The concept is you are 8 anti aircraft gunners in the middle of a battle. Its pretty sick. I played it a couple of times. If it didn’t cost 3 times as much as most other games in the joint I probably would have played more.

Anyway, I think everyone had fun Saturday, and Happy Birthday to Bim.

If I don’t post anymore this week, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanuka, Festive Festivus or whatever you and yours celebrate around this time of year.

Things are starting to get back to normal in our house. Band Mom is back. I am no longer playing single parent. So its time to head out and get some groceries. We haven’t done a real grocery run since well before Thanksgiving. The kitchen was starting to feel like we were in Old Mother Hubbard. So after work Tuesday, we decided to bundle up the crew and make the dreaded trip. And since we needed more than just food, we had to go to Wal*Mart. Obviously, ours was not the only family who has not been to the store in a month.

So we find a two seater buggie and start off. We need tons of stuff. Then as we’re walking past the shoe section, I figure now is as good a time as any to get some new boots. Mine are pretty dead and have turned into my grass cutting shoes. I need something for the cold and wet. I settled on a cool pair of black steel toes. Didn’t really need steel toes, but I liked the boots. Band Mom did not have as much luck looking for boots for Thing 1 or herself unfortunately.

Well, we’ve now been at Wal*Mart too long for the kids. They are getting fussyhungrytired. Luckily last year they put a McDonalds inside our Wal*Mart. So Band Mom says she’ll finish shopping while I take the girls to get some dinner. Somehow we finish our meal and find Band Mom has just started into the food area. ???????????? She spent the whole time getting some new close for the kids. Okay well that was needed, but…

After over 2 hours and more than $300 we finally get home. We shouldn’t need to shop for another month…

Saturday night Rock had a gathering for the holiday season. The band showed up as did Bim and Bo and some former members of Shot:30. Travis, not technically a former Shot:30 member, but he was the sound guy for the pre-Shot:30, Fair Warning. Ed showed up. For those that don’t know Ed, he played bass for Shot:30 for a while while Jimmy Rogers was on haitus. Ed was the best guitar player that was ever in Shot:30, and he didn’t even play guitar for us…Finally, Sal came out for the fun. Sal, played guitar for Shot:30 for a while and we haven’t seen him in quite some time.

Sal and Ed are hermits. They hide out at home and write/play music. Sal brought a sample of some of the stuff he has been working on lately and I bugged the crap out of him until he let us hear it. WOW. I have always liked Sal’s playing and writing, but he is definitely getting better as time goes by. Ed as well was kind enough to let us hear some stuff that he and former Shot:30 vocalist Jason have been working on. Again WOW. Ed is a sick writer and guitar player. And Jason sounded better on the stuff they are recording than I have ever heard him. I can’t wait to both Sal and Ed finish (and copyright) this new stuff so a) I can get a copy and b) more people can hear some of the stuff they have been doing.

On another note, Band Mom is back home. She got home on Sunday. The kids and I definitely missed Band Mom this week. Its nice to have her home again. Her dad is home from the hospital and her folks are probably going to be moving back to this neck of the woods by Spring ’06. It will be nice having them closer. The kids don’t get to see them as often as they would like sometimes because of the distance.

Oh well. Thats all for now. I should probably get back to work.