Sunday, March 12, 2006

Downtown Miles City





Here's a few pics from downtown. I've always loved the neons on the bars on Main Street. Took some pictures and sampled some wares afterwards. Had a few Bud Lights and a pizza and went to bed.

Coming from helping manage a liquor store, a few observations:

1. Montanans aren't too keen on Miller products. In every cooler, Bud Light outweighed Miller Lite at least 4:1 in shelf space. There was NO Miller Genuine Draft/Light.
2. Coors Light was a close second.
3. Tequila is not apparently as big here as in The Cities. Two bars didn't even have any behind the bar and one had a "generic" label gold tequila that wasn't even open.
4. The bars don't fill up until after 11:30 or so one server told me. One bar (Range Rider) wasn't even open Sunday or Monday because of how little traffic they get.
5. Very surprised at the amount of "Brokeback" jokes being told. Figured everyone out here might have had their fill by now. 'Course, this is Montana, not Wyoming.

Subs at 7am? Yes! And biscuits and gravy, too!

Can I just say that the Miles City, Montana Subway rocks! It opens at 7am for breakfast. Not a big deal for some folks, but for someone who can't stand eggs and thus has an impossible time getting breakfast, this was a godsend!

And yes, I'm serious about the biscuits and gravy.

The Historic Olive Hotel in Miles City, Montana








I decided to stay in the Historic Olive Hotel in downtown Miles City. Always wanted to do that and i
t was kinda cool in a kitchy way. Turns out I'm actually related to the new owners. They bought it from an Indian company that owns chains all over the States. The old company never put any money into it, so it was beginning to look a little raggedy around the edges. She told me how they just put in a new boiler and all the rooms would have individual heat. They're working on moving the bar back farther in the lounge so they can set up a new dancefloor in time for the Bucking Horse Sale in May. The dining room will be a big draw for the hotel and will be open next week. Dad and I are going to meet in Miles City in a couple of weeks, so we're gonna stay there for the night.

Here's some pics from the Historic Olive Hotel:
  • The first pic shows the lovely decor.
  • The second shows the gentle upslope at the end of the bed.
  • The third and fourth are to be looked at together to see just how small the bathroom was. Note in one of the pics the edge of the toilet and how close to the shower it is along with the bathmat. In the other, you can see the towel on the floor. Snugglin' close.

Oh yeah...forgot my pillow there today, too.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Things I WILL NOT MISS About Minnesota

  1. Minnesotans
  2. Salt
  3. Nobody understands how to say my son's name
  4. Traffic
  5. the term "Up North"
  6. how Minnesotans constantly bitch about the weather: in the summer, no matter what the temp is, it's too hot and they "can't wait for it to cool down" and in the winter there's either too much snow and it's too cold, or "there's not enough snow so no one can get on their snowmobiles and it might as well warm up then if we can't get on our sleds"
  7. Don't worry, I'll think of more

Statue Of Liberty

From Chris' camera. Posted by Picasa

It's Almost Like I Was There!

 Posted by Picasa

More from NYC


 Posted by Picasa

The Chryslter Building at Dusk

From the Empire State Building observation deck. Posted by Picasa

What I Got From Jenn From NY

I was only teasing about not getting anything. I asked Jenn to try to get a picture of the Flatiron Building for me. They never had a chance to get to it, but Jennifer did snap a picture of a building she thought was pretty neat looking from the top of the Empire State Building. Guess which one it was? Posted by Picasa

A Few Pics from New York

Jenn in front of Rockafeller Center Posted by Picasa

Fair's Fair...



 Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Six Days and 2034 Miles Later

It's good to be home. Posted by Picasa

My Wife Went To New York and All I Got Was...

Colter got an I HEART NY t-shirt, I got bupkis (it's ok, though...), but look what the lil' traveller brought home for herself... Posted by Picasa

Monday, February 13, 2006

I'm Up!

Nap's over, Pa, feed me! Posted by Picasa

The Orange Juice May Have Been Fermented

"How else do you explain me letting them put this ridiculous fox costume on?"Posted by Picasa

No, Daddy, Put That Back!

I think we go to the grocery store too much. The Children's Museum has a little area about the "real world" that has a grocery store, a bus, a diner and other things. Colter wasted no time grabbing a cart when we walked into the grocery and began filling it up. The good news is that he did load up on fruits and veggies and not ice cream, pop and chips (that's what he made Daddy put back). Posted by Picasa

No Fear of Water In This One

Whether it's the bath or the Children's Museum in St. Paul, he loves the water. Maybe it's because when he was taking his first baths in his little plastic tub, I was splashing him in the face with water and dumping cups of water over his head. None of that, "Oh no! You've got water in your eyes! Let Daddy wipe you dry and never let evil water hurt you again!" Not this boy, he giggled right from the start and has been know to stick his face into the water running out of the tap and is now pouring water over his own head, thank you very much! Posted by Picasa

Not Much Else to Add...

Cute as hell, and I love him. What more can Daddy say? Other than no, he is not five years old in this picture.Posted by Picasa

We Do Chicken Right!

Little-seen picture of Harlan Sanders from bathtime @ 19 months old.

"This is gonna cause more confusion than a mouse in a burlesque show!" - Foghorn Leghorn. Posted by Picasa

No comment!

Don't you vultures have anything better to do! Get a life! No pictures! NO PICTURES! Posted by Picasa

Better Present Part II

See? Peanuts everywhere! Posted by Picasa

What Makes a Better Present?

Posted by PicasaThe present or the box it came in? All smart Grammas know that a box of "peanuts" will always be the first thing the grandkid plays with, but it fades quickly. (not after a helluva mess is made tho')

Big Thoughts, small man...

How does Elmo come up with such funny stuff day after day after day? Posted by Picasa

A day early, but...

Happy Valentine's Day 2006. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Jennifer

A bit nutty but really quite sweet

-as defined by Knipschildt Chocolatier
www.knipshildt.com

I think that's pretty accurate!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Cheesecake...

The breakfast of champions (sorry Wheaties)! I'm so glad I work in an office with a female to male ratio of 20:6. I swear we must all be on the same cycle because it cannot be coincidence that we all want chocolate at the same time of the month!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

After a Long Christmas Weekend...


A nap is in order. Unless of course, you're doing the driving, in which case you munch on sunflower seeds while listening to Monty Python albums on your MP3 player (and try to keep it between the lines whilst you point your digital camera into the backseat).

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Book of the month - Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton

You know you've read a book one too many times when you can recite it by heart AT WORK. Great, now I can't get this outta my head...

Colter's new fave:

The moon is up
It’s getting late
Let’s get ready to celebrate!

It’s pajama time!

Pull on the bottoms
Put on the top
Get yourself set to pajama-de-bop

It’s pajama time!
Oooh yes, it’s pajama time!

Some are old
And some are new
Some are red
And some are blue

Some are fuzzy
Some are not

But we can all pajammy in whatever we’ve got
It’s pajama time!

Pajammy to the left
Pajammy to the right
(jamma, jamma, jamma, jamma, P.J.!)

Everybody’s wearing them for dancing tonight
It’s pajama time!

(jamma, jamma, jamma, jamma, P.J.!)

All around the room
In one big line
Wearing our pajamas and looking so fine

It’s pajama time!

Hop into bed
Turn out the light
You can have a party in your dreams tonight

It’s pajama time!
(Hush. Hush.)

It’s pajama time!
(Hush. Hush)

It’s pajama time!
(shhhhhh)

good night
sleep tight

Friday, December 09, 2005

Quote of the week

"It's like playing catch with a parapalegic"

-Brian playing catch with Colter (Colter has yet to realize if you put your arms out you can catch the ball)

Mime in Training

Communication is becoming a little easier for Colter these days, at least on his part. He knows what he wants to say, Mama and Dada just don't understand what it is he's trying to tell us. It all sounds like gibberish to us. Verbally, he's still stuck on "mama, dada, quack-quack, dis, dat" and the ever constant babbling. He'll look at us, babble as if he's reciting the Constitution and wait for a response. Fortunately for us he's figured out a backup method. He communicates via signs and expression. He's mastered "no," naturally, by furrowing his brow and shaking his head "no." He'll grab ahold of your shirt or miscellaneous body part and pull to indicate "take me here, I want it now" or "let me show you something." He also signs for brushing his teeth (circular motion by his mouth with his finger) and taking a bath (rubs his tummy).

Don't get me wrong, the signing is cute and all but Mommy and Daddy are anxious to hear our little man's voice. We still melt at the sound of "mama" and "da da da da da" but adding another word to the repitoire would help us out a lot.

Oh please don't let it be "why." I just know it's going to be "why."

Thursday, December 08, 2005

John Lennon (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980)

John Lennon – Beautiful Boy(Darling Boy)

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,
Darling,
Darling,
Darling Sean.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

The Incredible In-Edible Egg

Daddy made his first egg for Colter today. No big deal, you say, right? WRONG. To you, it's as simple as putting the egg in a cup, pour in a little milk, lay it into a little butter in a frying pan and fry it up, right? WRONG. To me, it's about the same as taking a dog turd that's been sitting in the sun a few hours so it's still soft, putting some butter in a pan and frying it up. I HATES EGGS! God, I hope he doesn't remember that I know how to make this for him. To make matters worse, he spit out the first mouthful I gave him. I thought, "you'd better eat this unborn chicken, cuz it's damn sure the last time I fry one up for you!" But, happily, he did down almost all of it along with a small pancake for breakfast this morning.

What did we learn today?
FLAMING DOG TURD = FRIED EGG.

(Gramma Jane can appreciate what I'm saying)

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Sixteenth Month

Sixteen months already. What did I ever do with my time before I had Colter? Everything is about him and 100% of my time revolves around him. I’m not complaining. As a matter of fact, I cannot imagine life without him.

Colter is at a really fun stage. He doesn’t talk much, Mama, Dada, car car, this, that and go is pretty much the extent of his vocabulary but he tells us what he wants or needs in different ways. He says “c’mon, let’s go” by tugging on my shirt and dragging me to where he wants me to go. Usually this is the kitchen to get raisins or his spoons. Yes, I said spoons. For some reason or another spoons are the most exciting toy at this stage. In the cup, out of the cup and in a very OCD kind of order. The spoon handle must be the part in the cup and the head must be sticking out of the cup. Each spoon must go in one at a time or all together, not two or three at a time. If more than one accidentally falls in the cup the whole process must start over.

He wants to know what every letter is. He’ll point to anything that has letters and will say, “dis.” He can distinguish differences between letters. For example, we’ll be reading a Dr. Seuss book and he’ll point to all of the “A’s” on the page. If you ask him to point to the “T,” he’ll scan the page and point to the “T.”

Colter’s down to maybe one nap a day which can be a challenge some days. Fortunately when he does sleep it’s usually at a 1-2 hour stretch. At night he’s usually in bed by 8:00 after bath time and “brushy, brushy the teeth” and up by 7:30 the next morning.

He understands comands; “let’s change your pants, time for a bath, can you pick your cup up?” What’s really cute is how he’ll give hugs and kisses and “snuggle up” when asked. The other day he came over to me while I was cleaning out the sink and yelled, “mama, mama” and put his arms up, signaling pick me up, and gave me a hug. I melted into the linoleum.

Favorite things:
Puzzles
Teletubbies
Jo Jo’s circus
Wiggles
Spoons
Bugs
Running

Can I Buy Your Magic Bus?


I want it,
I want it,
I want it,
I want it!

You can't have it!

Happy Halloween! (less gross version)



Colter's Gramma Jane sent a damn cute costume for him so we thought he ought to have an opportunity to show it off. What better venue than the Mall of America. We went to Camp Snoopy Friday night and Colter got his first taste of Trick or Treating. It took him a few stops on the "TorT" trail to figure out just what the hell those people were trying to do to his pumpkin bucket. Plus, I'm sure he was confused by his Daddy trailing along beside him saying "dibs" when the Salted Nut Roll and Double Bubble were dropped into the pail. Can't wait til he gets bigger and we can go to Valley Fair, he sure likes the rides. The only one he didn't seem to care about was the carousel. Not enough action!