Family Visit

We can't start the blog without giving a nod to the Vikings loss on Sunday. At least Favre is consistent. The Packers played terrible in the 2007 NFC Championship game, but by some miracle were in it and the game went to overtime. They won the all important coin flip and Favre threw an awful, just awful pass to center field that was intercepted. Three plays later the Giants kicked a field goal and went to the Super Bowl. The Vikings had 4 turnovers and 6 fumbles on Sunday and were somehow still in a position to win the game. On third down from the 33 yard line, a 50 yard field goal, they got a stupid penalty putting them in a 3rd and 15 situation, a passing down, and pushing that field goal to an unlikely 55 yards. Drum roll please. Favre rolls right and pulls a Favrey, throwing across his body to the middle of the field - late. A decision that probably leads to a pick 75% of the time. A no, no. A vintage Favre play. A play that was picked off sending the game into overtime instead of the chance for a long field goal. For all we know the kicker may have missed it anyway but Favre being Favre will shoulder the blame even though his teammates turned the ball over three other times including twice inside the Saints 10 yard line that likely would've put the W stamp on the game for the Vikes. So, the Vikings got all of Favre this year. The unlikely come from behind wins - San Fran comes to mind (last play of the game was a 31 yard TD), the automatic playoff bid and the low, low, low of losing by throwing an interception. You don't make the playoffs without him but you have to pick yourself up off the ground when he loses too. Enjoy the Favre. And for the record I woke up that morning and decided I was going to root for Favre, not the Vikes, because no self-respecting person could root for the Vikings, but for Favre. (By the way I think I would cut A. Peterson. Every time he touches the ball he fumbles. People call him the best back in the NFL? Laughable). I actually had a mass text typed out to send to all my buddies on that third down play saying how incredible it was old man Favre was going back to the Super Bowl, that I deleted and dropped my phone with a jaw dropping grin on my face when he threw the pick. Vintage Favre. Going out Favrey style. You have to love the consistency. I can't wait to take Quinny to Canton to see his induction. Five years, if he actually retires. He'll be 6. What a great event that will be for father and son.

And now the weekend. The good news is the sewer people showed up and will take responsibility for fixing the pipe. That means for a job of this size and the government doing it we should have a crew of 34 at the house this week tearing up the drive and replacing the pipe. That's 3 people to do the work and 31 to tell them they are doing it right. Oh, I forgot they need to rotate for breaks. At any rate we don't have to pay for it so that's good. We of course had our weekend home improvement project as our kitchen sink sprung a leak in the actual faucet portion causing water to drip back down the stem and into our cabinet. That would be great if we had an aquarium under the kitchen sink, but as it is we don't. So, my father-in-law, Poppa Steve to Quinny, was in town and we got a little bonding in, albeit uncomfortably on our backs wedged in our cabinet under the sink to replace the leaky, aging one. I think I'm actually starting to enjoy all these fix it moments. Carrie got an improved sink with more north/south space and we fixed the leak. Everyone was happy but my checkbook. I am turning into quite the Bob Vila over here and am nearing our next house can be a "fixer-upper" stage. I've seriously got down plumbing and with the recent sewer education, painting, and some electric work feel pretty good. I have a tile job looming so I may be venturing there. If I throw in some cabinet work we may get a whole new kitchen here soon.

Carrie's parents rolled into town in Florida style - in a convertible. You can tell all the visits to the island lifestyle have put a little palm tree attitude in them. They flew into Orlando and had a gorgeous mid-70 day to take the 1.5 hour drive across the mid section of sunny Florida. We had just gotten back from a walk with Quinny in his new wagon and Lucky getting his much needed exercise. We spent the afternoon catching up, playing ball and enjoying the sun on the porch. We got to visit some more the next morning before they had to take off to catch their flight. It was nice they got to see the little munchkin. He's pretty agile on his two feet these days running around. His new thing is getting the dog (or you) to chase him so he'll take a toy, like the pooch's bone, and start running with it daring Lucky to chase after him and is laughing all the way. Good fun for both. The dog takes quite a beating from poor Q who is really into hitting right now. Carrie got smoked with a flyswatter this weekend. I think we are entering the discipline phase. Is it too early for time outs? He's throwing things all over the place with herculean strength. Incoming! Geez, that was a sippy cup full of milk - those things pack a punch! I can't even tell you how many times I've been straight cold clocked with a remote to this beautiful face. I'm working on double bags under my eyes as it is, a black eye I don't need to add to the Halloween look.

He's turning into the human garbage disposal too. This kid could win a hot dog eating contest right now. No food is safe in this house. He went after a kiwi the other day. The thing was so sour he made a hilarious face, but pounded that thing down slice after slice. I broke a piece of string cheese in half and gave him his half thinking he'd bite off the end. No, not this kid. He stuck the whole thing in his mouth and started chewing. When Carrie's folks were here Nana Sue was feeding him some fruit and he crammed so much in at one time that we started making fun of him and when he started laughing melon was popping out of his mouth - whole pieces. There was too much in there. His belly is so big his innie has, and I'm not making this up, an outie. He popped his belly button just like Care when she hit full pregnancy threshold. He loves rubbing the ol' buddah too. It's so great. I can't wait until it gets a bit warmer and he can go shirtless. There are some awesome pictures coming down the pipe. Here are a few from the family weekend.