This may be a long posting, go grab an alcoholic drink/bottle and your reading glasses! I am going to start the blog with the most current news and work my way back to the time when we were homeowners for only one week…..
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DOREEN! As you all may know a very special person had their Birthday this past Friday, December 5th. The birthday day started off with a wonderful surprise from Radica, who bared the cold and surprised Doreen in coming to Cleveland to surprise Doreen on her Birthday! FYI, Radica lives in Texas! To say Doreen was surprised is an understatement. I wish you could have seen Doreen’s face when she saw Radica walk in the door….it looked something like this:
Also, Doreen got to speak to her family members in Germany for her Birthday, which is always a treat and makes the Birthday girl very happy! For the Birthday we started off with a nice dinner at Crocker Park where Doreen and Radica caught up from the missed time the past two months…the food was delicious and the memories will last a lifetime. I sat there and was angry that the restaurant didn’t have Christmas Ale (if you have not had a Christmas Ale, please do yourself a favor and order some from Great Lakes Brewery). Ok i wasn’t angry, but I was definitely dumbfounded. After dinner, Doreen and Radica headed to a wine bar to catch up some more, from what Doreen told me it was 3 hours of nonstop talk and laughs. It was great to see how happy Doreen was on her Birthday….while they were at the wine bar, i headed to Dover Gardens to witness some of the best karaoke in Cleveland…..when I say the greatest, I mean the most pathetic singing of all time, but the best part is the people think they are good singers. However, I must say I have never been one to get up there and sing so I do give them credit and respect. More to come on Dover Gardens in a bit….
OK i have come to realization that women do not think their Birthday is just one day, but rather a week or a weekend. For instance, on Saturday morning Doreen asked me to get the newspaper since it was cold outside. Instead of saying “Mitch can you go get the newspaper?”, it’s more like “Mitch since its my Birthday weekend, can you go get the newspaper?” I love it. I can not wait until February, for all mankind I now pronounce male birthdays are for a month…to bad mine is the shortest month.
On Saturday D and Radica headed shopping and touring around Cleveland before the Birthday party night for Doreen and Mike! First, we headed to Beer Engine where a lot of people met up to eat and grab a few drinks before we headed downtown to Cadillac Ranch. A normal trip from Lakewood to Cleveland usually takes about 10 minutes, but because the snow was accumulating and the ice was forming it took us more like 30. I bet Radica was surprised! Cadillac Ranch was a great time, watching people ride a mechanical bull is hysterical and I can do it for hours. Happy Birthday Diamond, you old man! Oh and many thanks to Susan for coordinating the whole night, it could never have gone so smooth without you!
We ended the “Birthday weekend” with a trip to Mom and Dad’s on Sunday where of course Mom NEVER dissapoints with her home cooking! More to come on that too. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Maggie for the hospitality, great food, wonderful presents for D, and warm house! Great stuff…
Thanksgiving was a treat in itself with the nieces, nephews, and cousins. Mom cooked a wonderful meal, filled us all up on her delicious Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, etc. She is definitely the best cook I have ever been around and somehow someway she makes it look so simple. Doreen and I take mental notes every time she cooks. It is amazing to me how a family of all grown-ups can be expanded so quickly with all the newcomers the past few years. Congratulations to Kate and Rich on their beautiful baby girl, I can bet money on her becoming an Ohio State grad! Cayden and Maddy were absolutely wonderful, we wish they lived closer so we can see them more often. Maddy still seems to able to melt everyone’s heart by just giving “the look” and Cayden is a comedian and can make anyone laugh for hours. One of the classic moments of the weekend was Matt, Nicole, Doreen, and I went to Dover Gardens late on Thanksgiving for some Christmas Ales. Of course, Matt always likes to let everyone know he has entered a place, yells “Christmas Ales aorund” as loud as he can when he walks into DG, oh the looks on the bikers and regulars was priceless. I am laughing just writing this thinking of that memory. I won’t go too much into the Turkey Bowl in which all of the friends play a football game on Thanksgiving morning. To summarize the game in one word, sore.
Other memories from the weekend were we had our whole family and friends over to the house in Avon. It was a first time entertaining at the place, even though it was stressful (ok only i was stressed, D was calm), it went off great. I guess alcohol, Wii, and laughs can never go wrong! Also, Doreen and I headed for a road trip to Bowling Green University for a night in which my cousin Collin, aka The Drain, turned 21. Congrats bud! It felt great to be back at BG, eating stuffed breadsticks, drinking Busch Lite, and of course Ziggy’s!
Now onto the house. I have heard from many family members and friends the infamous line, “once you get a house, you will be forever busy”. That’s the darn truth. We have come a long way in the past few weeks, some of the new additions have been: blinds, captain’s seat (man chair!), plants, Christmas decor, wall paintings/pictures, kitchen table, ottoman, bar stools, grille, etc.! Does it ever end? We have had a lot of fun learning how to do ‘things” ourselves. Yes, believe it or not we can work a 16v drill now! The ground has been covered by snow, but about 2 weeks before it snowed, our grass started to pop-up….so exciting. Supposedly, the seed has hibernated until the winter and we should see some major progress in the Spring. Speaking of lawn, Ashley I will take a lawn mower for Christmas, thanks.
Other things that have kept us busy is shopping for the house and Christmas, work of course, oh and we got the privilege to babysit Alta the past Thursday. It was awesome, she played and giggles the whole time. She definitely has a personality that is amazing and so much fun to watch. That’s right, who was the first people to put Alta to sleep by themselves? Doreen and I! Ok, it was more Doreen, who bathed her and all, but i got to read the book…..is this my cat? no this is not my cat…..is this my cat? no this is not my cat. I am thinking about writing children books, all you need is three lines, and for instance the last line in that book is “yes this is my cat”.
We are looking forward to Alta’s 1st Birthday coming soon, Matt, Nicole and the kids returning to Cleveland for the holiday, family Christmas in Columbus, New Years Eve, house shopping, and WEDDING PLANS! Maybe the Browns can win a game in the meantime, but at least we have the CAVS and Lebron! WOOOHOOO! Go Cavs…
thanks for reading, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOREEN AND MIKE!
