Monday, March 30, 2009

Great weekend with the boys

This weekend was a lot of work, but ended up with an early birthday present and a lot of fun.

On Friday I got out of work early to go to an physical therapy appointment for my wrist tendinitis. It was a pretty standard appointment, but they added Light Therapy for pain relief. They basically shine a very expensive flashlight on my wrists for a while. It seems a little voodoo-ish to me, but it did actually seem to help with the pain. Anyway, after that I met up with Dina at the church where her Mothers of Multiples group was setting up for their Spring kids' sale. Dina was working the setup, so I took the kids home and took care of the night routine.

Dina had to work at the sale on Saturday morning, and the kids got us up bright and early, so it was a full day. Since I was up early and had a little time, I grabbed this video of Griffin off our camera and put it online. He's singing his "tractor song" from his trip to the zoo the previous day. The kid is ready for metal:



Dina stopped at home after the sale and finished packing for her well-deserved night away with girlfriends in St. Cloud. She took off and the boys and I did a lot of playing the rest of the day. One of our favorite things is to get a bunch of musical instruments out and just make a lot of noise. I love it! I usually play my didge, and we all have a good time.

The night was a bit long, because when Caden or Rohan wake up at night they expect their mama to be there with them, but we got through it with a fair number of hours slept, so I was happy.

On Sunday I spent a lot of time catching up on cleaning and other domestic-y stuff since I basically just messed around all of Saturday. When Dina was on her way home she told me that she was bringing an early birthday present home. She picked up Guitar Hero: Metallica for the Wii, and also picked up the drum kit for Guitar Hero: World Tour. We didn't buy the full kit with drums when we bought the game around Christmastime, so it's cool to have the drums now. Awesome birthday present! Dina also picked up Endless Ocean and Mario Party to take advantage of a "buy two get one free" deal at Target.

I waited to play GH: Metallica until the kids were sleeping. Man, that game is fun! It was a lot like playing bass along to tapes (here, for you kiddies who don't know what tapes are) when I was a kid. More game-y, of course, but the feeling is similar. The available song list is pretty good; there's a good selection of non-Metallica songs in addition to tons of Metallica stuff. I did pretty well playing bass on Hard mode, and guitar on Medium mode. Then I decided I needed some more tendinitis, and cranked up the difficulty for guitar on All Nightmare Long. I was defeated. Here's why (this isn't me, but shows how crazy the song is):

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Brew Log

I decided to put my log of homebrewing online rather than just keeping it on the computer.

Brew Log

I used Google Docs because it seemed like the easiest way. We'll see how that goes. Here's to watching the list get longer!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Monday already? I'd better blog.

Another weekend, another blog post. I should change the title of this blog to "This Is What Corey Nash Did Last Weekend." Something is better than nothing, though, so here goes.

Friday I left work a little early and picked up a pair of prescription sunglasses at the local eye doctor's. I haven't had sunglasses that I could see clearly through since...ever. It's pretty sweet. I kept wearing them even when I didn't need them, because it's so nice to finally have them...in the house...at night...while sleeping (kidding, but I wore them a lot). After picking up my sunglasses-of-wicked-awesomeness, the family and I got in the minivan and drove out near St. Cloud to pick up a Creative Memories shipment for Dina. We then drove over to Duelm, MN, for a benefit dinner for my cousin's husband, who has been having some pretty serious medical problems. It was a GREAT turnout, and it was good to see a lot of family that we haven't seen in a while. It was fun to let Griffin run around, Rohan toddle around, and Caden get passed around. We stayed until late evening, then headed home.

On Saturday Dina had a display table at a local trade show during the day, so I was at home with the kids. In the morning we had a lot of fun playing, and after lunch we went to visit Dina for a little while. After we got home the kids took turns sleeping, and I did some cleaning and managed to watch the Battlestar Galactica series finale. Wow...from epic space battle scenes, to character story fulfillment, to head-scratching mysteries, the finale had something for everyone. It wasn't perfect, but it was very, very good (though I can see how it could be frustrating for those looking for the answers to every loose thread). That night we all went to bed very early and got lots of sleep, which was great, because we all needed it.

Sunday was a busy day. We got up and I made waffles for breakfast, then we starting cleaning the house and doing laundry. After lunch when one of the twins was taking a nap, I bottled my batch of Liberty Cream Ale. I ended up bottling outdoors since it was so nice, and man, that was really a treat. Bottling takes some time, so I basically got to sit out in the sun for a good long while. It was a bit windy, but it felt good to soak in the sun. Griffin was outside playing all over the yard, and he kept running up to the table I was using to try to help me. "I'll help you stir! Can I soak a bottle? Can I put the cap on? Can I give you the caps?" It was pretty cute.

Later Dina and I started getting the deck ready to be a play area for the kids. We have a water toy that's basically a waterslide for toys, and a plastic toddler's swingset that we put up on the deck. We're going to install netting around the railing and a solid gate to block off the stairs, then Dina will be able to hang out with the toddlers on the deck while Griffin plays in the yard.

After that I took care of Caden and Rohan in the house while Dina and Griffin planted a bunch of flower and vegetable seeds in little starter pots. That'll be a fun project for the two of them to share through the spring and summer. It's always good to give Griffin some one-on-one time with Mama since he has to share so much of his life with his brothers.

After the kids were in bed Dina and I stayed up late wrapping up a bunch of household stuff we wanted to get done before the weekend was done. I was tired this morning, but it felt good to get a lot done over the weekend.

Is someone still reading this? Amazing...it can get pretty boring. Normally my "weekend journal" posts are kind of a letdown by the end. Well, time for that to change! My posts will end with pizzazz from now on, this I swear to you! So, for this post, I end with...fireworks!



Yeah, still kinda boring. But you're still reading. ;-)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Weekend update: Kobolds edition

What an awesome weekend! Friday night Dina had the first part of a scrapbooking retreat she was hosting at our house, so I took the boys outside for a walk/trike ride as the weather was getting so nice, and then got to hang out with them downstairs. Caden and Rohan are more fun every day as they move from babyhood to toddlerhood and start to develop their personalities.

Saturday during the day was the second part of Dina's retreat, so I got to hang out with the boys all day. We went and played at Ridgedale (they've got a pretty fun kids' playground area), had lunch there and did some driving around after we were done. We tried to find a park for Griffin to play in since it was so nice, but it was far too wet everywhere.

Saturday night was the St. Patrick's Day party at Ryan's place, with A Flock of Kobolds providing musical entertainment. The Kobolds are a few friends (Ben, Ryan, Lundo, Travis, and myself) that play traditional Irish music, sea chanteys, and pirate songs. It's brilliant. I play Irish tin whistles (and occasionally the didgeridoo), but that night was the first time I'd actually played with the rest of the guys, having previously been practicing to their prior recordings. It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to hear and see some of the recordings. The only bummer was that my wife had to leave early in the second set due to babysitter drama (so she missed all the dirty songs). Funny enough, though, when she left, the CD that in the car was the Kobolds rehearsal CD I'd made, so she said she felt like she was listening to the show on the radio.

I plan to post pics and/or videos if I can get my hands on 'em.

Sunday was a day to catch up on things around the house. It was low key and a perfect after-party day. And FREAKING GORGEOUS outside, which really lifted my soul.

Aaaaaaaand now it's back to work.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Brewing: Liberty Cream Ale

I realized I'd never posted pics of brewing before. So now I have!

This is me chilling down the wort (what will become beer) before adding the yeast.


Here I'm moving the wort to the fermenting bucket.


All sealed up and ready to ferment:


In a week I'll transfer it to a different container for secondary fermentation. Then a week after that I'll bottle it. And two weeks after THAT I'll be drinking delicious, delicious Liberty Cream Ale. Woo hoo!

Friday, March 6, 2009

New music toys

I got some new music equipment (a.k.a. toys) recently, and they're pretty cool. Last weekend when we went to Groth Music I picked up a couple of Irish tin whistles, one in the key of C and one in the key of D. Here's how the D whistle sounds; I'm playing the intro to Haul Away Joe.



The C whistle has a harsher, less woody sound to it, but I don't have a sample right now. The whistles are fun, but yesterday I bought something that's even more fun. A guy I know was selling a used didgeridoo. It's not an authentic Aboriginal one or anything, but hey, it sounds okay and it only cost me ten bucks, so I'm pretty happy. Here's what it sounds like:



I have lots of fun playing it. The kids love it, too. Oh, and my wife is very embarrassed by how goofy I am in that video. :-)

Turns out that playing the tuba in high school was fantastic preparation for playing didgeridoo. Can't wait to get better and play some more!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Serious lack of pics lately

I've been terrible about posting pics lately. (I've been only slightly better about posting words, but that's a different subject.) Anyway, here's a current pic of Caden and Rohan. Dina took them and Griffin to the Children's Museum yesterday, and Dina's friend snapped this pic.


If you can't tell, that's Caden on the left, and Rohan on the right. It amazes me that some people still can't tell them apart!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Layoffs

I came in to work today, and my boss took me aside and told me "layoffs are happening today." My job is safe, but a third of the people who work on my team are gone. Things are going to get tough now, because we lost some very skilled people. It sounds like there are quite a few layoffs from all teams here. I'm thankful I still have a job, but I feel pretty helpless for the people who no longer do.

The farewell emails are starting to flow in; I hate days like this.