Good News For The Man!!

My husband is a blackjack junkie! I’m telling you, when we were in Vegas last November he would be at the tables until the wee hours of the morning. He would be coming to bed as I was getting up to start my day. I didn’t mind too much, he won more than I spent for the whole trip! But now that we are home, he spends a couple of hours playing blackjack online. There isn’t as much money involved, but he still loves it. He’s gotten the older boys into it as well. For the moment his claim is that it helps with their math facts–you know, addition on the fly!! As for me, I prefer something a little less pocketbook endangering! I’m all for backgammon ! It’s a game of skill as much as it is a game of chance. It basically comes down to the roll of the dice, and what you choose to do with what you get. Sometimes I play it safe the entire game and sometimes I’m a ‘renegade’–but most of the time, I just enjoy it. We have a backgammon board game in the house, but no one is willing to play with me, yeah, I’m just that good! So I will have to continue to get my ‘hit’ online!

For those of you who enjoy a good game, there’s more news on the blackjack/backgammon front! Now with a click of a button you can log in and play with the largest community of online gamers. Because of the fact that Backgammon Masters offers their platform in 14 different languages, they have attracted a global audience. You can literally sit in the comfort of you living room, and play with friends from around the globe! Bulgarian is the newest addition to the language list which includes other’s such as; French, German, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Danish, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Chinese, Italian, and the second language of this blog, Japanese.

Log in, and find out for yourself how fun it is to meet and greet friends from all over!

Bike Equals Exercise!!

Do you ever sit and look out your window at the snow and wish it was Summer? Well, not even Summer, just warmer? That’s what I’m doing right now. It’s freezing here in the Windy City and I really can’t imagine it ever warming up again! I know it will, but for the moment–it’s a long ways away!

This year Grayson gets a new bike. All of the kids get one when they turn eight. Finally, a nice ‘big kid’ bike rather than the little one that used to have training wheels on it. Sitting here looking out at the snow I think I may just get me a lady comfort bike as well. The boys are still young enough to want to go hang out with mom and ride a bike with her! There will come a time in the not too distant future when that will be the ‘un-cool’ thing to do. So I better take advantage of it while it lasts! It’s also some good exercise and a great way to just get outside. When I lived in Japan, I rode a bike everyday. If we were going anywhere, some where close by or twenty miles away, we rode our bikes. It was great! I’m not willing to give up my car just yet, but now that we are living in the suburbs I can totally see me on a bike!

Thirteen More Bloggers I Read Everyday!!

Thirteen Bloggers I Read Everyday 1.Leigh 2.Owen 3.Steph 4.Tess 5.Pips 6.Greg 7.Jason 8.Ami-Chan 9.J. Scott 10. Slobokan 11.Hoto 12.OnWebCheck 13.Chilli **These aren’t in any particular order, and if you aren’t on the list…Fear Not! I have other blogs with the rest of my list! Have fun! For the rest of the list, check out The Alexa Project

I Feel So Smart!!

Christmas day when my brother in law was sweetly trying to get my new laptop hooked up to the wireless router–he SHOT my network. I say network because something happened to the modem and the router, and let me tell you…it wasn’t pretty!

He came over the next day to see if he could fix it, and after HOURS of working with the ATT phone tech guy, he was told that the only thing he could do was to get a new computer. I beg your pardon? This is a new computer, not as new as the laptop–but not even a year old yet!

So I’ve struggled the past few days trying to get the laptop to read the internet connection, and it would sometimes and not others. I was not a happy camper. Last night my brother in law told us to call ATT and have them send us a new wireless modem. It should be free according to him. Not according to them. They wanted $100! So then we could go up to Best Buy and just buy a new modem–but I wasn’t thrilled with that prospect either.

I knew that Bob had done something to it–and it had to be possible to ‘undo’ it. Well, after three hours of frustration–I got everything up and running! I even have the laptop up and running on the wireless network! I know I always call myself ‘techno-stupid’ but I honestly have to say…I Feel So Smart!!!

Long story short—I just posted this using my desktop–it’s been out of order since Christmas, and it just feels so good to be back!!

My Depression Is Back–But Leaving!!

It’s Christmas weekend! How amazingly cool is that? That means that my kids are out of school, there is a Christmas program at church on Sunday, a Christmas Eve party on Monday night, some Santa help from the older boys a little later on Monday night, and then the in laws come to watch the kids open their presents on Tuesday morning. This really is my favorite time of the year. I am battling a severe depression this week that had me on the phone with my mom in tears. And the strangest thing is–I’m perfectly happy today, and NOTHING has changed. There was no reason to be in tears the other night, it’s just this wacky imbalance in my brain.

I was driving to the grocery store and Grayson wanted to play ‘our’ game. He names an NBA player, then I name one and so on until someone can’t remember one. I do take pride in the fact that I kick his tush every time we play. I told him what was going on inside my head and even told him that we were going to the store for sweet potatoes and carrots and that I would forget two or three times while we were in the store. So he promised to help me. I then remembered we needed regular potatoes as I missed our turn. Finally, after 2 missed turns we made it into the parking lot and into the store. We got the potatoes and sweet potatoes and headed to the check out counter. Did you catch it? I forgot the carrots. So we wander over and get those and check out. By the time we got home, I had made 4 wrong turns, and nearly forgot the carrots. Grayson was laughing at me, and I let him know that it was all because of these problems in my brain. That trip would normally take what, 30 minutes max and it took us nearly an hour. This was why I couldn’t play the NBA game with him. Could you imagine anything more agitating to a crazy person than a memory game???

Christmas Parties!!

I just got back from taking ‘Holiday Treats’ to the elementary school my kids go to. Grayson’s class wanted Ice Cream Sandwiches and Jake’s wanted a Halloween repeat of Pizza Rolls. Both very easy for me to make. I was supposed to help in Grayson’s class, but I made arrangements with my husband for Friday (tomorrow), but the whole school is doing it today. Why? Very strange! I did just find the book that Jake needed to turn in today–so I may have to make a run back to the school.

The Heat Man!!

I have to go out to the old house today to meet the heating guy. It’s not too big of a deal, but I have to meet him between 9 and 10 which means I get to meet up with the lovely rush hour traffic into the city. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been on the expressway here in Chicago when it isn’t rush hour. Who knew the afternoon rush hour actually starts around 1:30 pm!! Ok, so not that bad. But the drive to Elmwood Park should only take about forty five minutes, so I’m pretty sure it will take around an hour and a half. Add in two cranky kids and an overly excited puppy (yes, he wants to go) and it should make for an interesting drive! I will definitely be stopping by McD’s for my morning “Cup Of Sanity” aka 1 large Diet Coke!!

New Domain!!

With the purchase of my new domain, I now have four. This one, Cheffin’ It, Scale Hoppers and now Nykaza Family. This is more than I ever dreamed of. I remember a few years ago, I paid for this very domain–but was never able to get it up and running. I wanted a website really badly–but had never heard of a blog-and didn’t have anything to sale. Well, that and I lacked the technical know how to do anything with it. So it was a total waste of $15.00! But now–I have it back, and it’s up and running! That’s kind of cool!

Chicago Bulls!!

This is the photo that was taken when my boys went to the Bulls game last Monday night. They look cute, and I’m going to order this picture for their wall. Every time they go to a game, I get a picture like this, so it’s becoming quite a cute little collection. This night was Luol Deng Bobblehead night. The came home with three of them. You would think they were made of gold for the love that my boys have for them. Their next Bulls game is against the Pistons, and it’s Ben Gordon Bobblehead night. They don’t know that–they will adore that one since they’ve met Ben Gordon.

Best Christmas Gifts!!

I have spent the morning finishing up the wrapping! I have one gift left to wrap, and it’s for Barrett. Since he won’t leave my side, I can’t really wrap it right now!

We really don’t go “all out” for Christmas, although you know–the kids really get a TON of stuff. Most of it, the things the already need. Both older boys are getting the lounge pajama pants–they would normally just get them now, but with Christmas coming–I decided they could way a few weeks, and have something else to open. That didn’t really come out of their Christmas budget, but will add to the Christmas haul.

My boys are fanatic sports lovers. They get that from their dad. Early on I could see some of that stereotypical father/son behavior starting, and I decided it was up to me to put an end to it. How did I do that? Bonding moments. Moments with just dad and his boys. So the kids get tickets for their birthdays and Christmas. Last Monday was the Bulls game that Jake got tickets for on his birthday. The three of them got home after 10 pm on a school night, but all I heard from them all (including dad) was how amazingly fun it was. I was thrilled for them. And so with Christmas here, they will be getting another ticket to a Bulls game with dad–only dad also decided it was time to introduce his boys to his favorite sport…hockey! So hiding amidst the branches of the Christmas tree there will be tickets to the Bulls game for both boys and a ticket to a Blackhawks game. Needless to say, those two things took up the bulk of their Christmas budget–so I’m padding it with things like their basketball season at the Park District. Again, not normally Christmas, but they will open that as well.

The most important part of Christmas to me is family, and that is why there are tickets. Everything else is just fluff. Seeing these boys come home having had a great time with Dad is priceless. It’s teaching them some basic things about being a dad that I hope they can take and pass on to their kids.

As for Blakelynn, last year she got Diego tickets with Dad. She got to go last March, and I still hear about it today. It’s a memory that she cherishes as well. For Christmas she is getting a ticket to the Nutcracker with mom and Gramma Jo. Well, it might be mom, or it might be Grandpa–depending on when we get the tickets for. She will love these moments with us as well.