It's Grillin' Time...

Well folks, since it was briefly in the 60s and sunny outside, I was almost duped into believing it was Spring. Actually, I still believe it, only because the snow has sadly melted away, and those (in)famous April showers have started early. Last weekend, while the sun was still sunny and fun was still funny, we went and got ourselves a patio dining set for our deck. Ever since getting our house, I had been eagerly awaiting the day when I could eat a nice dinner out on my deck, in the fresh air. When it happened, it was a nice reassurance that heaven does not exist in an afterlife.

What's next, then? Well, if you must pry (and please do pry, otherwise you might as well skip over to the next random blog), it is time to put the next piece of true American life on my deck: a grill. I have begun looking for an inexpensive, not necessarily large, gas grill to leave out and use regularly. I would, of course, prefer a charcoal grill for the flavor, but with a gas grill, stepping just outside to put on a few dogs, burgers, or, once I find where and how to procure it, carne asada. I think it would be durned sporty to be the local carne asada man.

Where to go for a good, cheap gas grill, you ask? Go ahead, ask. I won't mind, go ahead and ask away. See? Was that so bad? It's okay, I couldn't hear you anyway. You sure are a nutter.

So where to get a cheap gas grill? My first few attempts have been over the local listings at Craigslist, and it seemed that I could make it another success story. For under forty bucks, a not-so-pretty but working gas grill from someone who just upgraded to a larger unit could be mine. But sadly, I have been burned. The last person I wound up playing phone tag for five days before he called me up last night to say that he had actually sold it. I don't care for that sort of wheeling and dealing much of time. I would just like to say this: please, if you are dealing with multiple people when selling an item, let the potential buyers know that there are other parties vying for your stuff. I was sorely disappointed, truly.

Now, after all that rubbish, I am ready to start looking at cheap, new grills. I'm not looking for a side burner (I have a stove fifteen feet from my deck; they can see each other) nor a grill that can cook through a water buffalo. So now here's a legitimate question for both of my readers: how much power do I need to just cook up burgers, dogs, chicken, and the occasional steaks? Does the BTU value make any sort of difference? I don't yet know what sort of surface area I need, but not to worry, I won't be getting anything sight unseen. I'm just wondering if there are particularly hardy or troublesome brands or other things to look for that I might miss. Please, dear people out there in radioland, answer my call~

What happened to me now...

What the heck could have possibly happened in my life to make me a new subscriber to Better Homes and Gardens?

A First For Me...

Yesterday held a first for me. It was the first time I have ever had to take a sick day for family illness rather than personal. On Monday, Austin apparently had some sort of bug and threw up twice at school. Poor little guy, I felt awful for him. What made me feel even worse was that although I gave the daycare my cell number, the signal does not always go through, so I didn't learn about it until after my afternoon Jazz class ended at five. I really wanted to be there for him and get him home to recuperate as well as ease my worries.

I'm not exactly sure what my feelings were on Monday afternoon, other than to simply get to my son. I really despised myself for not catching the phone call when it happened. Maybe it was a full feeling of being powerless or helpless. He was there, at school, not his mommy nor his daddy there to take him into our arms and clean him up and get him to rest his poor tummy. All I really know is that I didn't like the situation one bit.

Of course, by the time he got home (he's getting picked up by Mommy these days), he was fine and chipper, just like usual. He rarely shows when he's feeling sick, almost to the point where I don't think he really grasps the feeling of illness. Lucky him...

So I called in and took the day off to make sure he relaxed and got fed smaller portions of food to ensure his stomach would stay settled. Sadly, it meant that I had to plop him in front of the television most of the time, but I consider that more of using a tool to keep him still and allow his body to recover from whatever it was that got him so sick.

It was definitely a first for me. I have not had to take on the caring father role before like that; it was all new. Lots of things in my life, although I knew they would eventually happen, I never really saw myself actually doing. Let alone at my young age (which I think makes it an exceptional challenge.) C'est la vie~

A New Beginning...

Ah, the world does keep on turning, and change occurs constantly. The big change was that today Michelle started her first day working for Target Corporate down in Minneapolis. She managed to take the bus on her own and be nearly forty minutes early. It's only about three o'clock now, but after waking up a little after five this morning, I'm doggin' it a bit. After this week I'm sure we'll be quite used to the whole early routine. How odd and strangely sudden-feeling it is to be up and about and living and working as though we are grown ups. Seems like only a year ago I was living it up in college, hitting the pub for happy hours after classes and work, looking forward to the future with hardly a thought in my head...

Of course, I still don't really have a thought in my head now. Some things just never change.

I'm just so proud of Michelle, she's taking a huge new leap, and it's going to be a lot of running around the Target building, lots of corporate training, something I don't know if I'd be able to hack without inciting a riot or launching a union revolution. But she's a much better employee than I, so she'll do well. I completely envy her taking mass transit down to the city, especially since I've now gotten word that in 2009, there will be an actual rail system coming up our way along Highway 10 (for those readers who know this area) that will connect to the light rail of the cities. Plus, the cool thing is the transfer station will be where they're building the new Twins ballpark, so life will definitely be sweet. Y'know, except once there's a new ballpark, ticket prices will never be at the $6.00 cheap seats again, and I'm almost certain we can kiss dollar dog nights goodbye as well.

To top off her commute, Target offers a beyond sweet deal for taking transit. For under thirty pre-tax bucks a month, automatically deducted, she gets a card she can use on MetroTransit (the city bus and rail system out here) as much as she wants, wherever she wishes to go. Consider the fact that a single round trip for her down to Minneapolis during rush hours is five fifty, and it becomes an absolute no-brainer. I tell you though, spouses should get those cards, too. Get to baseball games without paying parking or even driving around the Metrodome? I'm there!

The Season is nigh, and a man can dream~

Oh the White...

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened. The weather I'd been waiting for... real snow! Lots of snow! Tons of snow (literally)! And all in the course of less than twenty-four hours. This is what awaited me outside my door on Sunday morning:

It almost hides the beauty marks on my car! And aside from the car, you almost wouldn't have even known we had a driveway there.

Technically, our town only got about thirteen inches of snow, but around my entryway, the wind blew a larger amount toward my garage and door, so once I had shoveled a little bit, I could finally see the ground...

Yeah, I hadn't even gotten to the driveway proper by then.

Okay, and this picture is here just because I liked the snow drift above the front door (that's still there) that's just waiting to fall onto some unsuspecting religious solicitor...


But amazingly enough, I pulled through, as well as some or all of my back, and single-handedly cleared my entire driveway. I think it's durned impressive, as well as cool to see yourself eighteen inches below the level of the rest of the world.

So yeah, just as my always wonderful wife reminded me, my neighbor was kind enough to loan me his snowblower halfway through. And thank goodness for that, because I'd probably be dead otherwise.

It was a bigger storm than has hit the region in several years, which really just goes to show how lightweight the winters have been out here compared to the Eighties and Nineties. But who knows what the future will bring, and I'm sure there will be plenty more big storms to turn me into a proper Minnesotan. In fact, as I write this, a two-day long snow storm has just begun.

In huge news out here, Michelle got a new job working for Target's corporate offices in downtown Minneapolis. It is an incredibly huge opportunity for her with lots of room for advancement, and will be a wonderful boon for our fledgling family. I'm so excited for her, and I'm glad it finally came to them offering the position after a couple of very long, antsy weeks. After her good interview at the offices two weeks ago, what did we do? Went to bookstores in Minneapolis. How about that for knowing what makes you happy?

That's about it for now. I'm getting over some kind of rubbish that made as sick as I felt when I had a pox cursed upon me years ago. So I leave you with a couple family photos:

Some Late Christmas Pictures...

These here are mainly for Ken 'The Claus' Howenstine, but good for anyone to enjoy.




I honestly don't know where he picked up the wide-eyed smile. Doesn't it throw you off a bit? I think he knows it does, because he's done it to me at dinner, too...

My Family Just Keeps on Growing...

Meet Tyrone, the newest member of the Fryer Family:

He is my birthday present from my amazing wife. A rather large five month old kitten, Tyrone's very docile and cool, which is good since if he was high-strung, living with Austin would be a bit of a crazy nightmare. Right now he's snoozing under the couch where I'm typing in our spare room. Just to give you an idea of just how cool he is, here's him blending in well with my jazz instruments:

We absolutely love him. There's just something about having a cat around that makes this place feel more like a proper home to me. Much like my aunts and my father, life isn't quite whole unless we have animals around, cats or dogs, preferably both. Tyrone's already so big for a kitten (which makes me doubt his age a bit), but he still has big ears and some length of his tail that tells me he'll be getting bigger still. At least he's got a good looking mug on him for when he takes over the neighborhood come spring. Plus, he's got a nice strong motor in him. It's definitely a sound I have missed.



I love Tyrone already; it happened as soon as I picked him up. And I love Michelle, completely and absolutely. She was mocking me when we were driving Tyrone home, saying that if I'm this bad for a cat, how will I handle when we finally have another child. I just said that I'll probably wind up holding the baby for about a month straight.

Gotta love those birthday animals~

Since When is it February!?

Okay, please, someone explain to me how it is already a week into February. We just celebrated the New Year, I still hesitate a bit when writing the last digit of the year, and there's barely any snow on the ground. I guess it means the world needs another update from me by now. Just when I think nothing has happened, I turn around to find that worlds of change have happened without my notice.

Starting this month, I'm not only teaching Jazz Band after school. I've started a new class called Digital Animation, where kids learn to create short films using traditional drawings, stop motion, and time lapse techniques. The digital part comes in with the tools we use, since they're all digital cameras and computers we save and edit the images on. I think the coolest idea they came up with yesterday is a human clock. I'll post up the videos as they are created. Jazz Band has been going on for a few weeks now, and the kids are coming along quickly. We're working on great classics, such as 'Tuxedo Junction' and 'Caravan'. I'm still having trouble assembling a rhythm section, but the horns have had a good showing so far, considering it is a forgettable once a week rehearsal currently. Come Monday, I think I'll be having them sightread 'Satin Doll', just for my own peace of mind.

Michelle's been seeking out better work, and has even had a couple of really good prospects come up. Soon she'll be going through all those wonderful interview processes, which are always nice and nerve-wracking. We're both quite antsy, as her having a properly paying job for once will be quite a boon for us and make our lives noticibly more stable. Also, it would give me the chance to go back to school without it being an endurance trial. Please, if you have room in your hopes, send some thoughts to her.

The big news on the home front as of late is Austin becoming potty trained. It's taken us a long time, but he's there with fewer and fewer accidents. Michelle and I were completely beside ourselves with joy. Perhaps a little too much so, as that was the higlight of our month. The way I see it, all I have left to do is teach him how to tie his shoes, and the kid is set for life; I'll be done raising him. Other than that, he's just himself, good days and bad days. Mostly, though, he's been so happy to have his Grandma Pat in town.

For a nice long weekend, my mom flew out here to visit. I took a couple of days off to spend time with her, and she managed to survive the cold and eventual snow. I had been missing my family and friends out west a lot, so it was really nice to see her and have her around. Austin just loves her, and especially having her read to him. That voice reading stories came across as strangely familiar, since I don't have any actual memory of my parents reading to me; I simply know that they did. I was a little worried that she was starting to feel a little bored out here, since we didn't get out and do anything, just puttered around town. Michelle and I both had work, so she was on her own for some large bits of time. But she never let on that that was the case.

I dropped my mom off last night. She and I are always bad at goodbyes, so we kept it brief and I took off from the airport. The tougher goodbyes had to have been for Michelle and Austin. But, in all, I just keep remembering the fact that I'll see my folks again sooner than not, so it's easier to deal with. For now, it's life back to normal, though not really. We've had less than one third the normal amount of snow for this time of year, so I'm not shoveling anywhere near enough as I'd like. I'm odd and like to physically shovel. It's some exercise for me, and it gives me some alone time with tunes in my ears.

Toodles for now~