Revenge Of The Egg

About two years ago Tay had an incident with an egg in our microwave (for the full story read http://shantasilver.blogspot.com/2008/03/tay-story-with-pictures.html ). Ever since then the sensor that told the microwave that the door was closed never quite worked right. For a long while we could push it closed really tight, fool the microwave into thinking that it was closed, and then let it work. As time went on the let it work part didn't. Lately we've had to hold the door closed the entire time. Not too inconvenient when nuking a hot dog for Aiden for 25 seconds, but pretty ridiculous when trying to make baked potatoes.

So, the old one got replaced this weekend, and I am feeling pretty handy for doing it all myself. There were a few moments when I agreed with the directions that said you should do it with two people, but a few choice words and some perseverance, and all is done. I forgot to take a before picture, but here is a during:


And here is the after:

The End Of A Season

Well, Annivalenbirthtine Day has come and gone, and Tay is now 29! I must admit that this little exercise has done me some good. I have a greater appreciation for how wonderful a wife I have, and I am much more willing to celebrate things for her. She even convinced me to throw her a party. My introverted self doesn't always look forward to having my house invaded and crowded, but we always have fun anyways. To continue tooting my own horn, I also cooked dinner for her on Sunday, and took Aiden all Monday, so that she could have the day to accomplish some things around the house that she has been wanting to do.

A good friend of mine mentioned at the party that I am extremely lucky that my wife's birthday falls on Valentine's Day because Hallmark advertises the day for me for a month prior. There is no way that I can forget! I'll have to think on that more next year. It still wasn't enough to convince me to buy Hallmark brand cards this year... : )

Below are some pictures of the beautiful and extremely yummy cake I had one of Tay's friends make for the party.

One of the funniest events around the party was how Aiden was so excited for birthday cake for mommy. We had told him that we would be having a party and that he would be getting birthday cake. He asked about it all day, and when it was delivered he had the hardest time waiting for the party to actually come around. We caught him once having pulled a chair up to the counter with fork in hand about to start digging in! Below are some shots of the culprit during one of the many instances of telling him that he had to wait longer...

Aiden's New Gig

We've found a replacement activity for Aiden's preschool. Gymnastics! Or 'nastics as Aiden pronounces it. It is definitely more up his alley. Lots of physical activity, minimal structure. He gets to go every Monday for a 45 minute class. At first I thought that this would be too short, but it is just right. The kiddo is actually starting to get worn out after 45 mins of straight out running, jumping, climbing, hanging, crawling, swinging, balancing, and rolling. Since I had the day off today, I got to take him to the class (the pictures below are from a couple of weeks ago though). It was a lot of fun to see him enjoy himself so much. I doubt the Olympics will be in his future, but we'll keep taking the 3 hour naps this class leads to!

And finally what we were going for, the kid is tuckered out...

Your Crystal Ball Ain't So Crystal Clear

A Thank You & A Thumbing Of The Nose

Over the past 6 years I have almost daily parked the truck in unmonitored Park & Ride parking lots throughout NE Houston and in random surface lots downtown, sometimes even overnight. On Wednesday morning I had to do a continuing education test, and parked the truck in the Greenspoint area for 3 hours. So, either my luck ran out, or Greenspoint really is that bad. My radio had been stolen when I got back to the truck. This occurred sometime between 7:30 and 10:30 in the morning near a busy street, so it is not like it would have been easy.

However, I must say that whoever pulled this off was a very courteous professional. They left my jacket, bag, and even the pocket change I keep in the cup holder untouched. This being the 2nd time the radio has been stolen, and also considering the other theft incidences with the truck (4 stolen hubcap covers in Dallas, and 1 stolen tail light assembly in Kingwood), I can honestly say I was most impressed by how tidy and undamaged everything was left this time.

Now, having said that, I can say that whoever did this, while having skills, is a real DOLT. Dude, you took an 8 year old radio that only worked about 2/3 of time anyway. You see, the connections on the removable face plate were wearing out, so frequently whenever buttons were pushed nothing would happen. Try fencing that, genius! LOL

I will mostly miss having a clock and the pirated copy of Jay Z's most recent CD that was in the CD player. Which leaves me wondering if this was irony, karma, coincidence....