The Terrible Catsafterme

January wasn’t too bad of a month. A little excitement here, a little fun there. The weather was mostly tolerable and there were no major disasters. And as per usual, there was the usual dosage of sadness. For the most part I did a lot of hanging out with friends, with just a couple major event sprinkled into the month. The TV kept warm as I transitioned from Third Rock From the Sun to The Abbott and Costello Show.  Facebook poker became a new addiction, the NFL season wrapped up, and I also saw some light at the end of the winter tunnel as I began the early stages of planning out my trips for the year.

Most of the fun distractions were confined to the weekends throughout the months, although there were a few weekday exceptions. Beginning with Saturday, January 2, just after we crossed into the New Year – Christi and Creed came over that afternoon and we ran a few errands and had a nice lunch at Red Robin. That evening I went over to Kristy and Sly’s house for some Cassano’s pizza and poker with them and Jamie. I stayed the night there and the next morning I caught Ashleigh, Christi, and Stephen smoking in my basement and blew my stack. Needless to say, Ashleigh has been spending more time at Stephen’s than here.  

After work on Tuesday, January 5, I attended my former boss Sue’s retirement dinner at Bravo in Westchester. Nearly all of our department was there along with our Operations VP. Sue’s husband Bruce and kids Mike and Dawn (who you may recall I grew up with in the same neighborhood) were present as well. We had great appetizers, wine, and a nice dinner (I had the filet and crabcake with creme brulee for dessert), followed by a nice presentation to Sue. It was a great farewell to Sue as she transitions into retirement. My new boss Charlie had just begun work the day before.

Me, Sandra, Linda, Tonya, Teri, Sarah (hidden), Charlie, and Dan polishing off our Bravo

Carl presents Sue with her card while Bruce looks on

Bruce, Sue, Reuben, Carl, Dawn, and John

Sue and me

That Thursday, January 7, we saw our first snow of the winter that actually required shoveling. I did the first round myself and then paid someone $20 to do it when it snowed even more the next day. I made Ashleigh split it with me, since her help the day before wasn’t forthcoming. I’m so mean.

On Friday, January 8, I had a great time when Kristy and Sly came over along with Jamie and her kids Jake, Kathryn, and Reagan. This was the first time I met Jake and he joined us for poker. The girls watched Annie and we ordered Donatos pizza. All great people, they are.

The next day, Christi came over and invited Jason Heaton to come watch the first round of the Wild Card playoff games. The Bengals botched it completely and so did Christi, when she snuck out without saying goodbye. The entire weekend was consumed with the playoff games on both Saturday and Sunday as the Jets, Colts, Cowboys, and Cardinals advanced.

My ex-wife Carolyn’s grandmother Leona O’Connor had passed away on January 7 at the age of 86, and I attended her funeral service on Monday, January 11. Her Grandma was always so much fun when Carolyn and I would take the kids over to their house to play dominoes with her and her Grandpa. I always got a big kick of how they called each other ‘dearie’. It was nice to see Carolyn and her family. Carolyn was huge as she was expecting her first baby with her husband Brandon (whom I met for the first time) later that month. (Their baby Fiona Mae was born on February 2.)

That weekend, on Saturday, January 16, after watching more playoff games, I had another fun night with Kristy, Sly, and Jamie as we all went out to Elsa’s for a late dinner and Bad Juan margarita. We then went back to their house for more margaritas and a game of spades.

Jamie and me at Elsa’s

The next morning, Jamie found some disheartening news when her son Jake had to go to the hospital with chest and arm pains. They referred him to a cardiologist that next week and was told that he had an enlarged heart and was unable to play basketball for the time being, which is his greatest passion. It was very sad and disheartening for all (although his prognosis was much better after a second opinion from a pediatric cardiologist; hopefully he will be back on the court soon.)

That Sunday night, January 17, we celebrated Megan’s first birthday at Mom’s house. Megan’s birthday was actually two days early on the 15th. It was a well attended party with Grandpa Murphy, Mom & Bob, Bryan & Erine, Dad & Vicki, Aaron’s Mom Barbara, his sister Maura & Micah, Ethan and Jackson, his sister Jennifer, and of course Denise’s family.

We had a nice taco dinner, the opening of the gifts (with Adam’s incapable assistance), and the digging in of the birthday cake. I got Megan a xylophone since she loves music and noise – and Adam assisted with creating much with it. This event understandably merits the most photos – seen below. I took Grandpa home after finishing up the playoff games and swung by Kristy and Sly’s house, where they were watching Jamie’s girls Kat and Reagan.

Megan ready to dig into her loot

The expression on Denise’s face shows her appreciation for the noisemaker I gave Megan

Adam is more excited about Megan’s gifts than she is

Vicki, Dad, and Grandpa Murphy watch Megan open her presents

Bob, Erine, and Bryan

Aaron video records the proceedings while his Mom Barbara looks on

Maura aids in trash removal as Adam once again gets excited by Megan’s gifts

Like a 1980′s preppie, Megan slings her new sweater around her neck

Aaron’s lovely sister Jennifer records who gave what to Megan

Megan – the BIG ONE!

Adam looks as though he is going to be helpful…

…but on second thought

True, it is just as easy without using her hands…

…but hands need an opportunity to get messy also

Uncle Brad keeps his distance from the messiness

Blue eyes, brown face

On Monday, January 18, Mom, Denise, and Grandpa were having dinner at Fricker’s in Centerville so I stopped by to eat with them. The next day, I went to the basketball game that I would have watched Jake play in had he not had the heart issue. Sitting with Jamie, I spied my Grandpa, Jim & Jan, and Jan’s Mom Lois in the opposite bleachers. Turns out Eric was playing on the Bellbrook team, while Jake plays for Franklin. I didn’t get a chance to talk to them though was we hurried out to grab something to eat at Bob Evans.

On Saturday, January 23, I went out to eat with Kristy and Sly at Applebees, and then back to their house to play spades with them. Jamie came over after work and Kristy and Sly went to pick up her kids. Jamie left early and I teamed up with Kathryn to defeat Kristy and Sly in spades. The next day was the NFL Championship games that sent the Colts and the Saints to the Super Bowl.  That Tuesday, January 26, I met Jamie to sit with her at Jake’s Oakwood game.

On Friday, January 29, I met Heidi and her three girls at Chic-fil-A after work and she treated me to dinner. She came over after dropping her girls off at her parents afterward with a milkshake. I made popcorn and we watched the movie Knowing. I began catching my cold that night as we sat there watching the movie, which would be more than a two-week ordeal of coughing and stuffiness.

The next day, Christi picked up Briana from Columbus and they came over for the weekend. We watched Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and He’s Just Not That Into You on Saturday afternoon. Briana’s friend Brittany and Ashleigh’s friend Jamey all came over that evening. Christi also invited Jackie over, whom I hadn’t seen since her Dad’s funeral the previous May. It was nice to see her again, but since I was feeling under the weather, I turned in quite early while the others (apparently including Jason Heaton, who I never saw) continued to party downstairs.

Christi and me with Brittany

And that brought us into February, with me sick and weather cold. Working to get over the winter hump is exhausting. And February wouldn’t be any better…

And for the record, the Christmas tree is still up.

2010 will continue…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 6:38 am and is filed under 2010's - Early, Family Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.