ManleyHouse News

Fall 2008

Dec 22 ~ House lights

I finally get the house lights completely up and again the wind knocks some more off. I can just see Mother Nature laughing at me. It's the section over the garage. I'm not putting it back up.
~Brett

Dec 18 ~ great motivational speech
We had a guy give a speech on living a happy life. I was a bit reserved about going but I’m glad I did. I’m not the kind of person who likes seeking emotional rewards, at least not any more than anyone else, but this was really good. He spoke of nothing I hadn’t heard before. None the less, I left feeling very good.
~Brett

Dec 17 ~ I pledge to wage war on rum via a naval assault

As many of you may know I have a dearly undeveloped passion for sailing. Perhaps this is due to the many hours locked inside a corporate cell. Perhaps it’s because my real father was a pirate who stole some Aztec treasure and sent me away to a loving family in order to cover up his hideous curse. Or perhaps it’s just a natural extension of my propensity to drive slowly. Any way, considering the new years, I think that this is a good opportunity to once again vow to sail the high seas in search of God, glory, and Rum. This is certainly no commitment to do it this year. But in time, with money, and holding a good wench at my side this dream will come true.
Check out the battleplan

~Brett

Dec 17 ~ Lucius is forward facing now.
I think he likes it.

December 4 ~ New header
We have a seasonal look this year, if you didn't notice. And yes I am putting up house lights. I usually do. Icicles, they are the easiest to make look right.

The beer is bottled! 102 bottles. The scottish ale yielded 53. That's 4 more than I've had out of one batch.

~Brett

November 30 ~ Light show
We hit the Jacksonville Landing boat light show parade and fireworks. The boat parade is fun for the first 20 boats. After that it's pretty dull. The fireworks were incredible as usual. They do this waterfall of fire pouring off the two bridges that the landing is situated inbetween.

~Brett

Nov 24 ~ Beer
The Scottish ale is in the primary. Tom came over and helped brew. We broke in my 6 gal wine carboy. I needed to use it because I’m also brewing a porter for the holidays. I figure with so many people coming for the holiday one batch isn’t going to cut it. Both are heavier brews. Not stout heavy but dark and full bodied. I figured a case of Yuengling will fill out our holiday beer needs.
Katherine came over to, and the girls (and kids) played about. Valerie made potato collard soup. I know, sounds ugly, but it’s really quite good.
~Brett

Nov 23 ~ Date Night
In a desperate attempt to embrace our more romantic years Valerie and I rented a babysitter so that we could go out on a date. It was very nice. We hit a local restaurant and enjoyed throwing our wits together to discuss all the important issues in life. You know the ones: why the blonde chick from Grey’s anatomy is unpopular and where Palin goes from here.
After missing our movie time, we stopped into some department store and walked around aimlessly till our curfew. We watched half of IronMan before we crashed. What a wonderful night.
~Brett

November 16 ~ Check out my new car!

Fine, its not actually mine.
~Brett

November 15 ~ Lucius Birthday.
It was an eventful day to say the least. Tristan woke up the night before and said his ear hurt. So I called to make a Doc appt. While I was on the phone, I figured I’d ask about Lucius, who was running a temp on and off for the past 5 days. We went in at 4 pm. Tristan had an ear infection, poof- antibiotics- All good. Lucius had an ear infection too, poof- antibiotics- All good. So it was not just teething. But then Mrs. Lauren listened to his lungs… he was wheezing, apparently pretty bad (but he seemed fine). After 2 breathing treatments, steroids, 4 prescriptions, 1 breathing machine, and 2 hours - we leave.

Everyone was at the house, family and friends. We were late to our own party. Thank goodness for my parents. Dad made the dinner. Lasagna. Mom got the cakes out of the oven and finished cleaning up the house. Katherine and Tom made salad and bread.
Lucius enjoyed his party. Spaghetti was great. Cake was even better. Presents were fun. I think Tristan and Jack enjoyed opening them more than Lucius but that is what we expected.

So the long weekend begun after the party. Lucius had breathing treatments every 4 hours. So no Sea World for us this weekend. We will go at Christmas.
Long story short, 3 doctor visits, 1 ER & 1 urgent care. We are all doing better.

~Valerie

November 12 ~ Computer is back up
For those of you who didn’t know: Our computer has been down for some time. We had a run in with the 2009 XP spyware virus. Then either the virus or my tinkering hosed up the system. Fortunately my refined sense of computering enabled me to fix it in just 4 short weeks.
~Manley IT Department

November 8 ~ Ashton and Mercedes Visit
To continue the geekin theme, we played warhammer 40K table top. Ashton has been getting into painting the figurines and we played for the first time. It was different than D&D… no role-playing.
~Brett

October 1 ~ Geekin
I had a guy’s day away from the family. Well, maybe it should be called a Geek’s day. I played D&D with a neighbor. I’ve never played it before. We played table-top at a gaming shop, about 7 of us. It was fun, a little less role-playing than I expected.
~Brett

October 25 ~ Camping
A wonderful 24 hours away from the house. We went to Goldhead Branch State Park, about 45 minutes from the house. It’s a nice place, I wouldn’t travel a 1,000 miles to see it but it’s great for being so close to the house. At sundown Jack got a little concerned about when we were going home. The smores seemed to change his toon, though. Lucius was a handful as he insisted on getting on the ground which was a no-no. Check out the pics
~Brett

October 17 ~ Lucius takes the prize
He is walking...at 11 months. Not just taking a step but actually walking from room to room. Tristan and Jack took longer. Yeah Wolfy!

October 16 ~ Soccer is over
They had a lot of fun. The YMCA didn't keep score, not for the under 6 group. I think the coach did, but who cares right now. We have a ton of photos, email us for the snapfish link.

October 14 ~ Warning: Political thoughts
I think that the most pointless debate raging among politicians these days is abortion. Don’t get me wrong, I recognize it as a very important issue to MANY people. But, it’s a non-issue as far as realism is concerned. Polls have shown that the majority of people in the US are pro-choice (with limits). 6 years of a combined republican presidency and congress have done nothing to overturn the issue. The “neocons” haven’t dented popular opinion. Sure they have snuck in bits of conservative legislation here and there – stem cell restrictions and some strings attached to international aide. But overall – nothing.

So, while people on both sides will viciously defend their beliefs, nothing will really happen politically. It’s a non-issue. I think its too bad to. Here is an issue that is non negotiable. You MUST share your party’s opinion to get nominated to the presidential level. I’m not saying that there are no cross-overs. There are. But, they are not contenders for the presidency. Constituents tend to "purify" this "incorrect" thinking.

I think that healthcare is the biggest issue we face. Whatever the fix will be, or should be, I have to admit that the price is getting high and shows no sign of relief. Especially with the increasing age of our population. I don’t have an opinion on the solution. That’s why I think it’s the biggest problem. You cannot tackle a problem that you have no direction on.

The only opinion I have is that I don’t think that we should further tie healthcare to employment. I think this creates an extra layer of bureaucracy and power. We complain about big business and then we want to give them more power over their employees? Group policies give great bargaining power to the participants but they then isolate the non participant. I think that’s why so many young people don’t have insurance. This opinion is flexible though.

~Brett

October 14 ~ Camping
I am so excited about camping. I really want to get out. Valerie says that if I finish the shelves and disassemble the desk I can go – I am on it this weekend. Doesn't it look like it wants to be camping? I think so.
I know, I know, I'm considering putting a hitch on the Harley. The teals match.
~Brett

October 12 ~ School thoughts
Precal rocks! It’s like a rock to – hard. But easier than I remember. I think half the class has already dropped. Maybe I’m geek’in out but I think that transformations and matrices are more fun than creating a lens blur in photoshop. I wonder if Calculus will be cool.
~Brett

September 28 ~ I’ve been kickin it with Rehab
The band, not the program. I was into Harry Belafonte and some big band stuff , still am, but I’m liking the harder tone right now*. Ms Perry is nice to.

~Brett

*Note to parents – Do not crank up the explicit version of the bartender song in the presence of children. Moms tend to get cranky about it.

September 28 ~ Trailer
We retrieved the pop up camper from Lake City. It is now cleaned up and stored in our garage. I still need to put a current propane tank connector on it, replace the original tires and replace the license plate mount that our dearly beloved Samson chewed off. Also, the tow lights are still not working (never mind I towed it from Lake city to home- Jedi hand wave). I’ll trouble shoot it.
I was worried that it would be musty and moldy on the inside, but it was in great condition after a simple bath. I think its about time for some camping!
~Brett

September 21 ~ Soccer
Tristan won his first soccer game, now they are 1-3. He scored two goals! I don’t know soccer really well but I don’t think in the big leagues they let regular player actually run into the goalie box. But, this is peewee soccer after all.

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