Another Birthday has passed...

So last week was my birthday. Yee-Haw....Getting older...but I don't feel that old. Had a great party with family and a few close friends. I decided to break out the grilling uniform. Yep, that's me in my Camo apron and hat. It got some looks for passers by, but my family understood I am not right in the head. So we just did burgers and dogs. None of my true grilling talents were exploited.

And then it came to gifts...

I got a lot of great stuff, from grilling tools to a rechargeable automatic wine bottle opener to clothes. A lot of great stuff. But my favorite gift came from my wife.

Ok, I have to tell a quick story first...

When Sarah and I go to bed, the bedside table is on my side of the bed. So I have to turn the bed side lamp off every night. Well, there are some nights I get all cuddled up in bed, really comfy waiting for Sarah to get in bed. So she finally does, and says, "OK, turn off the light." For a joke some nights I will clap my hands real loud twice, and say...."Crap, it didn't work."

So as you can guess at the bottom of the gift bag, there wrapped in tissue paper...my very own Clapper! Yes, right out of the bad commercials you see at Christmas Time...



So that is not the best part. That night I decide to install it in the bedroom on the bed side lamp. It works like a charm. I am clapping to beat the band....Lights come on, lights go off...Again and again. Finally I get my fill, and drift off to sleep.

Hours later I am awakened to a really bright light in my eyes...the lamp is on. How did this happen...

During the night Sarah started to Cough..."Cough Cough" Lamp comes on..."Cough Cough" it goes out. She is facing the other way, and doesn't see the light show her allergy draining cough is producing. After being woken up twice, I say forget about it...I reach up and flip the lamp off. Problem solved.

So from now on, Sarah is not aloud to cough in twos...

Buyer's remorse before you even buy it....

OK, so as you might remember, I have told you in the past I have a few addictions...McDonald's Sweet Tea, Survivor, and Animaniacs...

But I have recently started a new addiction. Ebay! Yes, Ebay. One day at work, I started looking at the deals and I was hooked. Things from my past, like a Sega CD, Nintendo 64, M.A.S.K. toys, Ataris, Star Wars Action Figures...Man, you can find anything on there.

One day on my lunch break, I start surfing around for some of the video games I grew up playing. Not so much the Nintendo, but the Sega CD. I love that thing, everything from Sewer Shark to Sherlock Holmes....it was GREAT! In college, it was the N64. Their were several up for bid in ebay. The 007 game was awesome. I could not tell you the hours I wasted, when I should have been studying. Too many to count.

I also found my very first video gaming system, the Atari 5200. What a beauty this was. Old school, and I found one on Ebay...so I started bidding. I figured out what the problem is...it's the whole dollar or two at a time thing. Ohhh, I really want this, but someone out bid me...but it's only a dollar more....yeah, you do that 13 or 14 times, and that thing starts getting expensive. And this was the case that caused me a very stressful evening at home.

So at work I had done the whole dollar more thing a few too many times. And I was in for an Atari 5200, one controller, and 2 games....for more than I really wanted to pay. And there is no taking back bids....OK, so with shipping this is not going to go unnoticed by the wife when she checks the bank statement. And did I really want the Atari THAT bad? NO, I guess not.

So that evening, as time is running out on the auction, I am watching my phone...Yes, there is an Ebay App. 5 hours 32 minutes...Still the winning bidder. 4 hours 48 minutes...Still the winning bidder. I finally break down and tell the wife. But I justify it. I say, hey, there are some old toys on there that I own that will sell for like a hundred bucks...so I will more than pay for my Atari, and make some more....OK?

She was actually really cool about it. Shhhheeeewww, dodges a bullet there.

All the sudden my phone goes off. It's an alert from Ebay..."You have been outbid!"

2 hours and 14 minutes to go. YOU CAN HAVE IT!

So...have I learned my lesson? Nope, probably when I get done writing this, I will go back to Ebay and see if I am still winning on the auction for the "Shiner Bock Beer" clock...wish me luck, and happy bidding.

This is just more of my "Life on Ebay"...wait, doesn't have the same ring to it..."Life in Headphones"....yeah, that's better!

Time to Upgrade!

So for the last few weeks, The wife and I have been looking for a different vehicle for her to drive. The Blazer she had was getting up in miles. And it was getting to the point it was starting to nickel and dime us to death with repairs and things like that. So we decided to trade it in. We decided on a Ford Edge. We did some dealin' with our local Ford dealer, who just happens to be a sponsor on my radio show. There were a few things we were looking for. It had to have the Vista roof. No, that is not a bad Windows program that runs the roof. It is a dual sunroof that pretty much makes the entire roof glass. Eli really loves to look at the clouds, or the stars through the roof. The other MUST was the Sync system. That is the computer installed that links your phone and Mp3 player with the car. You push a button and tell it to "Play Garth Brooks" and it does. Plus you can tell it to "Call Mom Mobile" and it plays the calls through the car speakers. Really cool stuff. So once we told the dealer all the stuff we wanted...he went to work to find it. It took a couple of weeks. But then I get a call, and he tells me to come take a look. It was everything we wanted. So this past weekend, we did the deal, and now Sarah has a new car to drive. Here is the beauty sitting in our driveway.



So we are really enjoying the new car. And Eli LOVES to ride in the EDGE!

An End to An Era....

Well, it was a sad day Monday around 99.3 WCJC. For the past 6 plus years, I have been here on my morning show every day I was suppose to. Now, that doesn't include vacation days that were planned. I had to call in sick for the first time.

This was all set into motion on Friday morning when I get a call from my wife saying that Eli was sick at daycare. So my parents were nice enough to go pick up the little sicky boy. I was scared to death that I was going to catch his flu bug. And this weekend would not have been the weekend for any of us to get sick. Saturday our day was full of plans including a dinner with my in-laws for Valentines day. And then Sunday I was scheduled to sing at church.

So after getting Eli home Friday evening, and he is starting to act like he is feeling better. Good! We all wake up Saturday feeling fine. Hmmm, maybe this flu bug is going to miss us. We go to dinner, which was wonderful! As we get home Saturday night, I was getting to bed thinking, man I hope I don't get sick through the night, because I still have to sing in church.

Sunday I wake up early because I have to sing in both services. I feel fit as a fiddle. Sweet. So the singing goes really good. I will have to post the video as soon as I get it.

We head to my folks house Sunday after church, and Sarah starts to feel sick. Ohhh no, maybe we aren't through the flu. So she feels crumby all day. So as I go to bed, I feel great....until I get up with Eli around midnight. I take a drink of water, and BOOM....I feel it hit my stomach, and I know that the flu bug had got me.

I was up through the night until around 5:00am. I called someone from work, and said, "I am not sure what to do. This is a first."

So they get things taken care of, and I miss my first day of work in over 6 years. My sports guy said it best...The Brett Favre starting streak is over...but I am now back to my "Life in Headphones."

So what have I been up to?

I know 95% of blogs start with "Sorry I've been away for so long" or "I've been busy"...

Well, I have done both of those in previous posts, so this time, lets get right to it!

Work has been crazy. We got through the holidays. Lots of fun stuff around here, from "Topping off the Trailer", Angel Tree with the Salvation Army and a whole lot more.

Got through the New Year, and then around a month ago, we had a big change in the Morgan household.



Yes, that is a cast on Eli's leg. So how did it happen? If you ask Eli, he will tell you..."Daddy did it." It is true, I did do it. Now, before you call Child Protective Services, let me explain.

We were at a birthday party for one of our friends kids. They have a big heated garage, and that is where the part was. It was winding down, and we were planning on hanging out with them after the party.

So Eli was playing on a tricycle that was in the garage. Since it was too hard for him pedal...me being the great dad that I am, I start pushing him around the garage on the tricycle. Oh what great fun we were having, UNTIL....

Eli's left foot comes off the pedal, goes between the pedal and the wheel, and twists around. As you are cringing reading that, just imagine the fright that I had when I look down and see it. So we get him out...he is screaming. We take the shoe and sock off the foot...and he is not calming down at all.

After a few minutes of trying to get him to calm down, we decide to take him to E.R. On the way to the hospital, he falls asleep in the back seat. So we are thinking, maybe just a sprain. After X-Rays, the doctor comes in and lets us know that it is indeed broken. They put a splint on his leg, and send us home. A few days later we have to go see a specialist about his leg. He lets us know that he has to re-set the bone. This involves him being put under anesthesia.

He goes through the procedure just fine. And now he has a "red Boo-Boo leg." So he can't walk on it, so there is a lot of crawling, and a lot of carrying our heavy two-year old. But it is not slowing him down one bit. He is climbing up on furniture, playing with our dog, and doing all the things a two year old would do. So this is just something we have to get through, and I think Eli will come away just fine!

It's The Great Pumpkin...

So it is getting to be Halloween time, so a couple weeks back we decided to get Eli his first pumpkin to carve. We headed to the pumpkin patch. Sarah found 1 Fun Farm. Not only did they have a pumpkin patch, but they had fun events for the kids. So we got together with our friends, Farm Boy, and Farm Girl, and headed to Farmland to the 1 Fun Farm.

Wow was this place great! They had fun activities for the kids. They had a Corn Box...like a sand box, only filled with Corn. They had a huge slide made from a drain pipe. Plus the Cow Train, three little pigs, and the corn maze. One of my favorites was the duck races with the old water pumps. You can see all the fun in the slide show below!

So then a few weeks later, we got together with our new neighbors, who just happen to have a little boy just a little bit older than Eli. Their son needed his pumpkin, so we headed to a different pumpkin patch! This time we headed to Drennn's Pumpkin Kingdom.

This was another great pumpkin patch. We took a hay ride, got a couple more pumpkins and even picked up some apple cider.
But the highlight for me was the Trebuchet. What is that you ask? It is a siege engine used during the middle ages. It used counterweight to launch rocks, or whatever at the opposing forces. In the case of the trebuchet at Drennen's...it launches pumpkins!!! How sweet is that! The has a small one, but it would still launch the small pumpkin a couple hundred feet.

Even though I didn't get to use the launcher, it was fun to watch. But we recently carved up the pumpkins we had...and they all turned out really good. That is mine on the left...looking evil. Sarah's is in the middle, and Eli's of course had to be Toodles from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

So the pumpkins experience was a great one!

More fights...

Yeah, another black eye. About a month ago, Eli got me again.

This time, playing on the bed in the "Man Cave." Yes, I have a Man cave in the house, and the bed is there for all the times I make Sarah mad.

So it was about bed time, and Eli and I were back in the man cave playing. We were hiding under a blanket so he didn't have to go to bed. He thought this was very funny. I tell him to yell at mommy.

So Eli pops up from under the blanket. "Mooooooommmmmmmmmy!!!"

From the other end of the house, Sarah yells back, "Eli, I'm gonna get you"

Eli grabs the blanket, and flings himself back onto the bed to hide under the blanket.

BAM. Back of his hard little head into my eye socket.

After I stop seeing stars, I slowly get up out of the bed, and grab a bag of ice, sitting there thinking, yep, he got me again.

I love it when people would say to me, "So what's the other guy look like" I say, "Short and cute with a hard little head"

A little preview, coming soon, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and a trip to Oubache State Park.