Lots of Sitting Time Needed

Goodbye Old Blue, the end of an era. Today we got a new couch. It has none of my imprints. It feels like I'm cheating on my girlfriend (if I knew what that felt like). Fancy pantsy micro-suede. I hope it is stain proof because I'm going to cry myself to sleep on it tonight missing Old Blue. Tomato season is full throttle right now. I'm going to can my own tomatoes for the first time this year. I processed at least 10 lbs tonight and froze them. Round one of four I'm thinking. Winter will be good this year with some tastes of summer. Della has been a brat for the last three days. She's sleeping now but it's been loud around here lately. My 200th post. Nothing as exciting as the old ones but a milestone none-the-less.

Tour de ‘Boygan III

This Saturday Jocelyn and I biked to Falls for our close to annual Tour de ‘Boygan. This was the first year that we both had road bikes for the trip. I thought we would bomb up there in no time but a month and a half of not biking and ten miles an hour headwinds made for a slow five hour bike. It was way more brutal than I was expecting. Once to Randy’s house we showered up and met my mom and cousin Terri for dinner at Firehouse. The pizza was delicious as always and I ate way too much. After dinner my mom dropped J and I off at Hops Haven. We watched the first half of the Badgers game there. Since they had a live that was going to start during the second half we walked to The Skybox to watch the game in a better atmosphere. After the game was over Randy picked us up and dropped us off in Falls. We hung out at the O and caused a ruckus until bar time. Sunday, too sore to think about biking home, we had Rich drive us back. Sunday we watched in amazement as the Packers beat San Diego to start 3-0, amazing!

Buy Me Some Peanuts …and Diamond Earrings

It was Good Friday this week and there is no better way to honor the day than a Brewers game. I met Luedke and Hand at Dukes to have some happy hour brew before heading to the game. We bussed it to the stadium. It was a dreaded Brewers v. Cubs game. Luedke had the tickets and they were awesome seats but we were losing the whole game and dealing with Chub fans in that environment is a form of torture. L still had a ticket left and we called J to come meet us which she did. We stayed at the game for about five innings and then went to My Office for a few. Saturday Jocelyn and I went out to celebrate our one year anniversary. It was a perfect one year celebration with my perfect woman. We went to Devon Seafood in the new Bayshore Town Centre. It was a crisp night but only being a couple blocks away we didn’t have be outside long. The food at the Devon was outstanding! I got an amazing cioppino which is a like a thick, spicy bouillabaisse. After dinner was over I gave J a pair of diamond earrings for our anniversary. I may have shot myself in the foot and overachieved for a first anniversary present but J is worth every penny. I got the earrings at a going out of business sale and have been holding on to them for four months which is impossible for me to do, especially with something like this. I was able to wait though. She loved them and the night was perfect. We headed home, had some champagne and called it a night. Sunday was our actual one year anniversary but since we had celebrated it the night before it was low key. Sunday was also Easter. The only thing we really did was eat our cake top that Becky had air locked and froze for us. It actually wasn’t that bad. Nothing much else happened. I made a ham so we had some sandwiches and took it easy.

My Waist Is Size XX-XL

Not much doing this weekend. Friday low key and Saturday we ran up to Sheboygan to get Jocelyn's car fixed at my brother's. We didn't stay overnight though and after a stop at the Golden Chopsticks buffet and Piggly Wiggly we were back in MKE by seven. Sunday was action packed with my third annual Super Bowl party. Chappy, Katie, Adam, Stacy, Todd and Steph were the party goers at Apt 54's XL party. I spent Saturday night doing some of the food prep work. Sunday morning I woke up early to get all the food made. This year's menu included BBQ Pork on Sheboygan hard rolls, chicken wings, potato skins, cole slaw, taco dip, French onion dip, and black bean dip. As is tradition I made way too much food. Everyone rolled in right before kickoff and I immediately started shoving food down their throats. The game was probably the most boring Super Bowl that I have ever seen in my life. The Steelers beat the Seahawks by a final score of something to something. Even though the game stunk we had a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed the food and it's always fun to get together with friends for some revelry. Steph made a Steelers football cake that looked very professional. I wouldn't allow anyone to stop eating after the cake though, I had wings to get rid of. Even after the force feeding of my guests I still had a ton left overs. After the game everyone headed home and we cleaned up. It was another good time to add to the book of good times.

He’s An Island Boy

Another wonderful vacation in a tropical paradise. This Tuesday we left for St. Thomas to spend the week. We flew out of O'Hare at seven in the morning so we woke at four to drive from Milwaukee. We flew from Chicago to Charlotte to St. Thomas. St. Thomas is two hours ahead so we ended up getting in at about four in the afternoon. Jocleyn's sister Marissa lives on the island so she came to pick us up at the airport. The airport was pretty rickety but they really know how to welcome you. In Hawaii you may get a lei but in St. Thomas you get Cruzan rum punch, what a welcome. We collected our bags and got in the car for my first death defying introduction to the roadways of the islands. They drive on the left side of the road in the VI so that is the first thing that that you need to get used to. The second is that the roads are a lane and half wide without emergency lanes. If you go off the side of the road you're pretty much going to roll down the mountain. Well, the only way I can put it is all the drivers are nuts and the roads are nuts. The inclines are somewhere in thirty plus degree range with convenient stops on the tops of these hills. Then from the stop you have to navigate the one hundred eighty degree switchbacks and ninety degree turns that are one lane wide with two cars trying to use the turn. An explanation really doesn't do it justice. It's something that you really have to experience to fully understand the craziness. After a forty-five minute roller coaster ride we made it to the Ritz where we were staying. One of the reasons that we went to St. Thomas is because we got free lodging at the Ritz thanks to Jocelyn's mom and her fiancé Craig. Not only did we get a free place to stay but the place was absolutely amazing. It was a three bedroom, four bath condo with an amazing view and great amenities. We really were extremely spoiled and can't thank Craig and Jenni enough for letting us stay with them. We weren't the only ones taking advantage of the lodging situation. Jocelyn's aunt and uncle were also on vacation and staying in the condo as well. It was cloudy when we got into St. Thomas but as soon as we sat on the balcony overlooking the bay the sun came out and two gorgeous rainbows came out. It was a sign that this would be a great vacation. We sat on the balcony, had some rum, and enjoyed the weather. Once dinner rolled around we motivated ourselves to get ready and get some food. We went to Duffy's Love Shack the first night. When they say shack, they mean shack. This bar and grill was nothing more than a garage in the middle of a parking…