12/22/2009 - 1/4/2010
We spent Christmas at my mom's home this year and we welcomed the warmer weather! We departed Bloomington around noon on 12/22 (due to BHS Finals) and Kim and I took turns driving all night. We arrived at my mom's house in Ormond Beach, FL on 12/23 at 6 AM EST. After much needed rest, the holiday season officially began.
12/24 - My sister and her family came down to spend Christmas Eve with us at my mom's. We celebrated with 22 lbs of King Crab Legs!
12/25 - We started out the morning at St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Ormond By The Sea. Later, my cousin brought his family down (he has 8 kids) to my mom's and we celebrated with Honey Baked Ham amongst many other dishes.
12/26 - Kim's sister Julie and her husband Ryan met us in Ormond Beach and we all headed down to Kim's dad's condo in Daytona Beach. The kids spent the day in the pool while the grown ups sat in the heated bar and watched football.
12/27 - My dad and sister Anna came down to Ormond Beach and visited with us for a couple days.
12/28 to 12/29 - We picked up Kyle's girlfriend Tori at the Daytona Airport on 12/28 and we spent a few days enjoying the beach and warm weather.
12/30 - We loaded up the Saturn and headed to Kim's dad's townhouse in Jacksonville. We spent an evening with Kim's Aunt Charlene visiting and eating seafood.
12/31 - Julie came down to Bill's house and we all headed to Jacksonville Beach to spend the day at Adventure Landing (water park, video games, mini-golf, etc.). For $10 per kid, they had unlimited access to mini golf, go carts, laser tag, and outdoor rides. It was a great deal and the kids had a blast. Later we went to dinner at our favorite Mongolian BBQ - Chun King on Monument Road in Jacksonville. Later Kim and Julie took the kids to the Jacksonville Landing for New Years Eve. I decided to stay home with Rex. Apparantly the Landing was packed since the BCS Gatorbowl Game was the following day (FSU vs WVU).
1/1 - The weather turned bad causing us to change our plans. Originally we planned to head to Glenn St. Mary, FL and spend the day with my sister Sarah and family but due to the storms we decided to press on towards Illinois. We departed Jacksoville around 10 AM and drove straight back home. We arrived home on 1/2 at 2 AM. It was -6 degrees F when we stopped for fuel in Leroy, IL. Welcome Home!
12/20/2009
Jacob wrestles for the BJHS Knights and competed in his first JV wrestling tournament yesterday. It was an intercity tournament at Parkside Junior High and Jake won first place for the 75lb. weight class. Jake's first match was a bye, Jake pinned his opponent in the second match, and out scored his opponent 10 - 3 in the final match. We're very proud of Jake! Here's a few pictures Kim took at the tournament.
Jessica and I attended another art lab at McLean County Art Center yesterday. We learned about mono and reverse type printing:
12/14/2009
Kim and I are very busy with a home remodeling project. We decided to replace all the flooring with hardwood and replace the counters and sink. While Kim and her friends were on their 3rd Annual Mom's Gone Wild weekend in Florida, I had a few contractors come over and measure our kitchen counters and floors in the living room, dinning room, and eat-in kitchen. The goal was to secure at least two estimates for each job and get a better idea of the materials we wanted to use. For the flooring I decided to get estimates from DaVinci Floor Covering & Designs and Bloomington Carpets. For the kitchen counters and sink I called on a friend who installs LG Solid Surface counters & sinks for a living and secured a second estimate from Lowes.
Bloomington Carpets won the bid for flooring and it will be installed the week of 1/4. We chose the Bruce Hardwood Flooring (Bruce Waltham Plank - Gunstock Oak). There was plenty in stock and we couldn't beat the price $3.79 sq./ft.. The least expensive flooring at Davinci was $5.99 sq./ft. Bloomington Carpets is basically a warehouse stocked full of brand named carpet, tile, and hardwood. They provide you with a quote for material and installation but you only pay Bloomington Carpet for the materials. You pay the installer the agreed upon amount when the installation is complete. We used Bloomington Carpets to repalce the carpet in our basement last year and we highly recommend them.
Lowes won the bid for the kitchen counters and sink and they too will be installed the week of 1/4. We chose LG Hi-Macs (Volcanics Collection - Basil VG22) counter and LG Solid Surface sink (Ivory 3118). Our current disposal is an InSink Erator, Badger 5 and it served us so well over the past six years, I decided to replace it with another model from the same manufacturer. I picked up the InSink Erator Evolution Essential. It's a 3/4 horsepower disposer that can eat bones or pineapple tops but does it very quietly.
Since we spent so much money on flooring and counters, we decided to paint and fix the banged up counters. The backside of the counter is also the front side of the breakfast bar. There was some water damage and wear and tear from kids kicking it. I replaced the laminate back and side with Red Oak paneling and hand finsihed it with two coats of stain and two coats of polyurethene. I replaced damaged cabinet baseboards using pieces cut from the laminate backboard I removed. Kim painted the kitchen Smoky Olive Satin to better match the new counter when it comes in. It turned out very well.
Today we had our furnace guy install an automatic whole house humidifier (Aprilaire 600 with outside sensor). In order to maintain complaince with the hardwood flooring warranty we needed the ability to control the humidity in our home. Actually the flooring warranty was just a good excuse for finally buying something we should have installed years ago. Every Winter we suffer from severe dry skin, dust, and static shocks that are so severe our DVR has rebooted just from me touching it. I hope to notice a big difference in warmth and comfort!
11/7/2209
Today is my 20th Anniversary with State Farm. Thanks for the great career, I hope I make it another 20 years. Football season is over for the Nolan family. Kyle and his BHS Raiders lost one game during the regular season and lost their first post season State Championship (Division 6A) playoff game. I don't recall Jake's win loss ratio but he and his Cougars had a great season. Their final game was under the lights on ISU's field in the pouring rain. Jake was sick, so we didn't make it. Jessica and her Washington Wolves Volleyball team completed their season today. They don't keep score at this level but she played well throughout the season. Kim and I are busy as always but still making time to have some fun!
10/18/2009
In October 1989, about four months after I got out of the Army and just one month prior to starting my career with State Farm, I came across a guitar store (3556 Beach Blvd.) that had a box of free kittens. I called Kim who was home from work recovering with stitches received after a box cutting incident, to ask if I should take a kitten. Kim said DO NOT BRING A CAT HOME! I knew Kim really wanted a kitten, so I brought Pookie home.
Pookie lived with us in our first apartment in Florida and moved with us through our three homes in Florida and two homes in Illinois. Pookie led a very full life, she outlived 3 dogs, 2 hamsters, countless fish and hermit crabs. Pookie even survived a vicious dog attack in 1994. Pookie slept on the front porch while I was washing my truck in the driveway. A rogue Chow ran past me and grabbed Pookie in his teeth and started shaking her like a rag doll. I started kicking the Chow and he dropped her and took off running. I let Buster (our Yellow Lab) loose to chase off the Chow but Buster ran off the wrong way. After I chased down my stupid dog and secured him in the house, I turned to the tree in the neighbors yard where Pookie had climbed. Pookie was out on a limb, severely injured, and in shock. I tried grabbing Pookie but my grip slipped and she fell to the ground. Kim scooped her up in a box and we headed to the Emergency Vet. After several days in the Vet ICU, Pookie fully recovered. Pookie was always a tough cat and lived most of her life outdoors in Florida. Pookie transitioned to an indoor cat when we moved to Illinois due to the 4 months of bitter cold each year.
Pookie turned 20 years old this month and although she lost her hearing and vision months ago, Pookie was still getting around just fine. However, over the past few weeks we noticed Pookie intermittently loosing control of her rear legs. Kim took Pookie to the vet and after a shot for pain Pookie snapped back. After a few weeks of intermittent mobility issues, Pookie lost total control of her front and rear legs yesterday. Earlier this morning, the vet thought it would be best if we put Pookie to sleep. Pookie is no longer in pain and likely hissing and scratching at Bootsie, Buster, and Rusty in pet heaven. We'll miss you Pookie, thank you for being a loyal and good cat.
10/6/2009
It's been another busy week for the Nolan family. Last Wednesday, I headed down to St. Louis, MO to catch the Kings of Leon concert with my buddy Pete, Darrell, and Darrel's wife Melissa. It was a great show, but I spent way too much money on cocktails. Friday night was Kyle's homecoming football game. The BHS Raiders took on Champaign Centennial and beat them 33-13. On Saturday we headed to Dunlap, IL for Jacob's football game. The McLean County Cougars was beat 46 to 14. Although Jake's team was beat, Jake made countless tackles and one interception. His name was announced over the PA more than any other Cougar. On the way home we stopped by the Burger Barge in Peoria for a big lunch. Saturday night was Kyle and Tori's Homecoming Dance. I assume they had a great time. I'll get some pictures posted once I get them downloaded... Jessica started volleyball practice and her Washington Wolves will have their first game in 2 weeks. Go Wolves!
9/27/2009
I drove down to Mattoon on Friday night to watch Kyle and the BHS Raiders take on Mattoon. The Mattoon Big Green Wave didn't stand a chance. BHS blew out Mattoon 41 to 12. Saturday morning Jacob and the McLean County Cougars had an away game in Peoria Heights. Unfortunately they lost 14 to 12. Jessica started back at the McLean County Art's Center for her monthly youth art labs. I suspect we'll be seeing many great works in the coming months. Jessica is a very talented artist!
Kim is busy as the Cougar's Team Manager and active BHS Boosters member. In fact we're hosting the Varsity BHS dinner this week (i.e. Homecoming Week). Football season is a very busy time of the year for our family but we're having a great time!
9/16/2009
Two Friday's ago Kyle and the BHS Raiders faced off with the Normal Community Iron Men for the Inner-city Tournament in ISU's stadium. BHS beat NCHS 21 - 14. This past Friday night we drove down to Champaign/Urbana to watch Kyle and the BHS Raiders face off with Urbana High School. BHS beat Urbana 41 - 0.
Jacob's and his McLean County Cougars had their season opener this past Saturday at White Oak Park. Jacob and the Cougars beat Woodford County 24 - 6. It's going to be another good year for football for the Nolan boy's...
My buddy Todd and I are co-owners of the newest team in the CIFFL (Central Illinois Fantasy Football League), the Green Bay T-Bag's. We drafted a pretty good team two Sunday's ago and after the first week of NFL action we are ranked 5th in the league and won the weekly football pool. Not too bad considering we drafted 8th in a league of 12 teams...
Kim is busy as always as the Cougar's Team Mom, assisting with the BHS Boosters, creating the Washington School Directory, and another season of CCD started this past Wednesday night where she teaches the kindergarten class. Jessica spent a week camping in Michigan with one of her friends and ran for student council when she returned but was narrowly beat out. Maybe next year baby!
8/31/2009
Last Friday night was the BHS Raiders first home game of the season. Kyle only played on the kick off team because the Raiders were pretty much playing catch up all game. At one point Danville led BHS by 2 touch downs. However, BHS came back in the second half and led by 1 point. As time expired, Danville kicked a field goal and missed but the refs called roughing the kicker, moved them 5 yards closer and they won by 2 points. Kyle made two tackles and one assist.
Saturday I took Jacob to the Oakridge Sportsman Club in Mackinaw, IL for a youth shoot. The event was for kids aged 10 to 16 and sponsored by the NRA, ILRA, and Oakridge Sportsman Club. For $10 per kid they supplied weapons, ammo, hearing protection, eye protection, doughnuts, coffee, soda, hotdogs, chips, etc. There was a pistol range, rifle range, trap shoot, and archery range. To top it off at the end there was a raffle for a shotgun, two rifles, and a ton of other outdoor gear. Even though there were 74 kids, every kid won something.
On Saturday, Kim and Jessica headed to the spa for a pedicure and then did some shopping. Jessica departs tomorrow for a week long camping trip in Michigan with her friend's family.
8/25/2009
Last Thursday the ICBMC rode down to Dave's cabin in the Lake of the Ozark's for our annual motorcycle weekend. We rode approximately 1300 miles in 4 days. We enjoyed beautiful weather and awesome roads. We rode from sun up to nearly sun down each day and spent the evenings floating in the lake drinking beer. It was a great weekend!
8/15/2009
I took Jessica to the Demi Lovato, David Archuleta, and Jordan Pruitt concert last night in Moline, IL. We took a company sponsored charter bus over to the Quad Cities for the concert and a nice dinner. While Jess and I were enjoying the concert, Jacob had several friends come over for a sleep over. Everyone is pretty tired today.
Here's a link to Kyle's senior pictures: https://www.collages.net/ConsumerSite/GuestLogin.aspx?username=nolan-rep&password=9809 The pictures turned our great. If you want to order prints or get a reference for the photographer, let us know... Barb is a friend of the family...
8/10/2009
Jake's Pony baseball post season ended a week or so ago. Jake and the Yankees made it to the American League Championship game but lost 10 to 6 in the fourth inning. The officials ended the game in the fourth because they ran out of time. Jake and his Mclean County Cougars, Junior Football League started practicing a week ago today. Jake starts 6th grade at Bloomington Junior High School in 2 weeks! They grow up fast...
Jessica started a new art class which runs approximately an hour and a half on Monday nights. I believe Girl Scouts are taking a break or at least I'm unaware of any other activities this late in Summer. On Friday Jessica and I are headed to the Quad Cities for a State Farm bus trip to see Demi Levato, David Archuleta, and Jordan Pruitt in concert. We ride up on tour buses, get dropped at the iWireless Arena, we'll grab dinner somewhere close by, then catch the concert. This should be a lot of fun!
Kyle is still going through a ton of medical tests related to his car accident a couple months ago. We hope to have him cleared to drive this week. There's one final test and another meeting with our family doctor and the neurologist but thus far everything has come back normal. Kyle's a Senior this year and next week Kyle's BHS Raiders start three a day's! Should be another great football season!
We kicked AT&T and Packet 8 to the curb. I replaced everyone's (Kim, Kyle, Jake, and Jessica) AT&T cellular telephone with a new phone from Verizon Wireless. Kim has the BlackBerry Curve and I ported our home number to her new cell phone. I replaced each of the kids phone with an LG eNV 3. I cancelled our home IP telephone service because with everyone having their own cell phone it seemed redundant to keep the home line even though it was fairly inexpensive. I still recommend Packet 8 to those who must keep a home phone and would prefer advanced features and low cost IP telephony. I had Packet 8 for three years without complaints.
7/8/2009 - 7/21/2009
First, I'd like to thank my mother for everything she did for us over the past two weeks in Hawaii. Mom you made the whole vacation not only possible but very memorable and exciting. I'd also like to thank my Uncle Charlie for putting us up on Oahu and driving us around the island.
7/8 - 7/13: We spent the first week at a rental home in Kona on the Big Island. The home was on the side of a mountain with ocean views and a pool. We spent one day at the Volcano National Park and hiked the Kilauea Iki Trail. The trail was about 4 miles, with 400 ft decent / ascent and rated as moderate. After leaving the Volcano National Park, we visited the Black Sands beach and the South point Complex. The South point Complex is the southernmost part of the United States of America (even farther South than Key West). We visited a playground and a couple white sand beaches and watched Kyle get his first tattoo which happened to be a 1/2 sleeve.
7/13 - 7/17: We hopped over to Kauai (Waimea) for our biennial family reunion. The reunion rotates between the mainland and the islands and this time the reunion was on the Garden Island. The extended family rented every cottage at the Waimea Plantation Cottages. My mom rented the Manager's Cottage for our immediate family and it became the central point for most of the reunion activities. While on the West side of the Island we drove up the Waimea Canyon and took many pictures. My mother also rented two helicopters from Jack Harter Heli Tours and my family and sister's family took a tour of the entire island. My mom, myself, Kyle, and Tori rode in a small helicopter without doors while Kim, Sarah, and the kids rode in a much larger helicopter with doors and AC. The views were breathtaking. We spent three days and nights celebrating our family reunion with activities, food, drink, and music. It was a very great time!
7/17 - 7/19: We drove to the North side of the Island and spent a few days in a condo in Princeville on Hanalei Bay (i.e. the location of the movie South Pacific). The views of the bay and mountains were inspiring to say the least. This must be what Heaven looks like! I could spend the rest of my days on this part of the Island. So not only did we visit the southernmost part of the Islands but we visited the Northern most part as well. We spent time at the pool, the beaches, and at the shops in Hanalei. For Jacob's birthday dinner I took everyone to the Dolphin Restaurant in Hanalei. The prices were steep but the food was excellent. I had a very large Ahi steak, sashimi appetizer, and top shelf pina colada's and was not disappointed. Jacob had the Alaskan king crab legs and his only complaint was it wasn't all you can eat ;-)...
7/19 - 7/20: Kim, Kyle, Tori, Jake, Jess, and myself hopped over to Oahu and spent a couple days with my uncle Charlie. He lives in Honolulu and let us stay at his house. Uncle Charlie took us to Pearl Harbor and the Dole Plantation and took good care of us. He prepared several local dishes for us and entertained us during our visit. My cousin Tammy and her kids were visiting as well and prepared a big meal for us and let me invite my friend Ro and his family over. Kim and I went to high school with Ro and hadn't seen him in 20 years, so it was good to spend an evening catching up and reminiscing about old times.
7/20 - 7/21: We spent the remaining time flying home. We departed 7/20 at 8:25PM Hawaiian Time and arrived home 7/21 at 5:30PM Central Time. We are exhausted but very happy to be home! We had a fantastic time on vacation and took hundreds of pictures. I created three galleries for your viewing pleasure: The Big Island Kauai Oahu
7/3/2009
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July, Happy Birthday USA! On 7/1 Kim and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary. We decided to lay low this year due to the new car purchase and our upcoming vacation in Hawaii. Earlier on 7/1 Kim picked up Jessica and Maya from Girl Scout Camp. Jessica had a great time and it appears the Girl Scouts have much nicer tents than the Boy Scouts (ie. wooden floors, framed canvas, and cots).
I spent most of the day looking at used cars with Kyle. This time we opted for a used car in lieu of a brand new Honda and took the savings and put them in a college account. Kyle chose a 2000 Cadillac Deville. The Cadi had 70K miles, heated leather power seats (with 2 memory settings), remote starter, back up assist, and great paint. The car looks, runs, and smells brand new and with a 32 valve Northstar V8 it was a great deal for $8500 (including tax, tag, title). If Kyle hits a tree with this boat it will likely knock the tree down. Here's a photo gallery of Kyle's new car: 2000 Cadillac Deville
6/28/2009
Happy Birthday Jessica! Our baby turned 9 on 6/27. We celebrated Jessica's birthday with a party at the State Farm Park / Pool and dinner Saturday night at Ming's (per Jessica's request). Jessica invited 32 of her closest friends to her birthday party but fortunately only about 17 kids showed up so it was manageable. We'll get the pictures downloaded and into a gallery very soon. On her actual birthday we spent a good part of the day at the Saturn dealership selecting a new vehicle for Kim. The 2001 Town & Country served us well over the years and made countless trips to Florida but it was time to retire the old girl. The new vehicle is a 2009 Saturn Outlook XR and is completely loaded. It took me most of the night just to figure out how everything worked. Here's a photo gallery of Kim's new vehicle: 2009 Saturn Outlook XR
6/24/2009
Happy Belated Father's Day to all the father's out there (especially my dad). Where do I start? Jake spent a week at Camp Ingersoll for the Boy Scout Summer Camp. He had a great time and survived a couple of severe thunderstorms including one that hit while we were visiting for family night. Jessica will be headed off to Girl Scout camp soon, otherwise she's been spending time with friends and enjoying Summer. Kyle and the rest of the BHS football team has started Summer training. Unfortunately Kyle was involved in a car accident a week ago tonight. While on his way home from work he passed out behind the wheel and his car crossed into oncoming traffic. He clipped an oncoming car and crashed head-on into a tree. As it turns out the other driver was a friend / teammate of Kyle's and neither was seriously injured (thank God). Crashing head-on into a tree at 35 mph totaled the car but Kyle only busted his lip on the airbad and bruised his knees. Honda makes one heck of a safe vehicle. Kyle is going through extensive medical testing to determine why he passed out. Kim is watching kids and keeping them entertained during the long hot Summer days. We'll be headed to Hawaii very soon for our family reunion. We'll be spending a week on the Big Island and a week on Kauai and a few days on Oahu. We're very excited and need a vacation!
6/7/2009
School's out for summer! School ended this past Wednesday (6/3) for the Nolan kids. Kim and I attended Jacob's 5th grade graduation at Washington School this past week. Jacob was awarded the following: Presidential Fitness Award (3rd year in a row), Presidential Academic Award, Safety Patrol Certificate, 2nd Place for Washington School Chess tournament and was recognized for Boy Scouts, Football, Baseball, Track, and Band. Jake was very busy this past year! Jacob will start 6th grade at Bloomington Junior High School next year, Jessica moves to 4th grade, and Kyle will be a Senior. They sure do grow up fast! All three kids made the honor roll this year and all were active in sports, scouting, and other extra curricular activities. Kim and I are very proud of all of them. Here are a few pictures from the last days of 2008/2009 school year:
Here's a video of Jacob's 5th grade class signing their final song and graduating from Washington School:
5/10/2009
First , I want to wish my mom and wife a Happy Mother's Day! We've been very busy lately. Jacob's baseball season is in full swing (pardon the pun) and I believe they are 1 & 1 with a couple rain outs. Unfortunately, I've missed both games due to work but Kim tells me Jacob has played very well with hits every time at bat, several RBI's, a couple doubles, etc... Kyle's track season ended abruptly. Kyle had bad shin splints for the past two months, so we went to a doctor that specializes in sports medicine and learned that Kyle has a stress fracture in his tibia, so he's on light duty until fully healed. Jessica and her friend Madison participated in the 2nd Annual Washington School talent show and sang and dance but due to copyright issues, youtube muted the audio:
I've been busy with work and replacing stuff. Basically our dryer needed a new heating element, our lawnmower was replaced, our network storage device was replaced, our WLAN AP was replaced, our weed eater needed to be repaired, and our PS3 died from the dreaded Yellow Light of Death (replaced through Sony for $160 fee). If that's not enough, my bike needs to go in for some warranty work (throttle is sticking). Kim has been busy baby proofing our house because last Thursday night (5/7) we picked up our new puppy Rex. Rex is a 7 week old Pug that was bred by a friend and we've been waiting for Rex for nearly a year (or at least since early last football season). Rex is a very smart dog and a lot of fun.
4/28/2009
This past Friday night Jacob participated in the first track meet of the season (4th and 5th grade inner city meet). Jake placed first in the 50, 400, and 4x100. Jake is a natural athlete. This coming Saturday is Jake's first baseball game of the season. This year Jake's on the Yankees (Mustang Division - Pony Baseball). Kyle is still on injured reserve for the BHS Varsity track team but he may be back in action soon. Kyle is still kicking but in school and working at Toys R Us and with me on the weekends. Jessica's volleyball introduction is over and unfortunately she didn't like it... I hope to change her mind because she's going to be over 6' one day... Kim is doing good, she's busy as always. She volunteers at the soup kitchen every week, teaches CCD, and active in her bible study group. I've been buried at work but its all good. Last Thursday night I rode with my motorcycle club and we got caught in the worst thunderstorm I've ever ridden in. It was lightning all around us, gusting wind, and driving rain but we made it home safe and sound. They guys went out tonight but I had to stay home with the kids so Kim could work concessions at the BHS track meet. Besides I had a ton of work to catch up on and it was wet outside... April sucks in Illinois!
4/20/2009
Just a quick update... Jacob left this past Friday for a weekend Boy Scout camp but caught the stomach flu. Jake tried to tough it out but wasn't getting better, so I drove out past Lacon, IL and picked him up Saturday night. Jessica also came down with a low grade fever Saturday night all about the same time Kyle and Tori were meeting friends for prom pictures, dinner, etc. Kyle and Tori attended their Junior Prom this past Saturday night. Here's a gallery of pictures taken at their friend's house: BHS Prom 2009 Then Kim had to chaperone the after prom from 11:30 PM to 3 AM. It was pretty hectic this weekend...
3/25/2009
Thursday - The kids are on Spring Break this week so we loaded up the van and headed down to my mom's house in Ormond Beach, FL. We usually bring one of Kyle's friends along and this time we brought Kyle's girlfriend Tori. We left around 10:30 PM Thursday night (3/19), after Kyle's track meet. I drove until 5:30 AM and made it as far as 20 miles North of Chattanooga, TN. Kim took over and drove the rest of the way. We stopped for lunch at Smoakies Bar-B-Que in Cordele, GA and had some of the best ribs I've ever tasted. If you're driving down I75 through Cordele and want some good bbq, jump off at the exit close to mile marker 102 (107 Cemetery Rd). Kim did great navigating us through the traffic in Atlanta and Jacksonville. We made it to my mom's by 4:30 PM.
Friday - As we approached the Old Dixie Highway exit on I95 (the exit to get to mom's house), Kim hit an armadillo which punctured our gas tank. We only had about a quarter of a tank of gas left and we leaked gas the next 10 miles to my mom's driveway. By the time we arrived we were down to an eighth of a tank and it continued to dump the remaining 2 gallons on my mom's driveway. Fortunately, I ran into the garage and found a full liter box and very large container of new cat liter. I put the box directly under the leaking tank and dumped the rest of the liter around the van to absorb the fuel. We unloaded the van and enjoyed the rest of the evening on the beach.
Saturday was a beautiful sunny day but there was a bad Nor'easter blowing in. While the kids enjoyed the beach, I called around looking for a replacement gas tank. I found one at a salvage yard in South Daytona Beach for $106. Not too bad considering... I borrowed a floor jack and jack stands from my mom's friend Cliff and together we swapped the tank out in about a 1/2 hour. In the meantime, Bill (my father in law), Ryan (my brother in law), Julia (my sister in law), dad, and Anna (my sister) came down to visit the family. We had a great cookout and commenced to getting liquored up with the neighbors. It was a great time!
On Sunday we headed to mass at St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Ormond Beach. I think the average age of the priests and parishioners' was somewhere around 85 years old. The mass was one of the quickest I've been to (done in less than 45 minutes)... We headed back to my mom's house and visited with my the extended family and watched the rain come in with the Nor'easter.
On Monday Kim's aunt Charlene came down to visit. Due to the rain and Nor'easter I took the kids to Daytona to shop. I bought a new BMW motorcycle t-shirt at the Daytona dealership then headed to Best Buy and picked up a $50 gift card for Cliff to thank him for helping me with the van. We headed back home and after the weather cleared up we had a country low boil (ie. steamed king crab legs, shrimp, scallops, corn, etc. etc.). Tuesday the winds laid down and the sun was out in full force. We spent the entire day on the beach. Kyle and Tori headed to Daytona for dinner at Bubba Gump's and I ran over to Hull's Seafood and picked up a bushel of Apalachicola oysters and steamed them on my mom's grill. As it turns out, 20 dozen oysters was too much for the four adults (the kids do not like oysters)...
It's Wednesday morning as I type this and it's already sunny and warm. The weather should be in the mid to upper 70's and sunny the rest of the week! I assume we'll spend another full day on the beach today and tomorrow. Not sure what the rest of the week will bring but we intend to celebrate Kyle's 17th birthday Friday night in Jacksonville at the Mongolian BBQ, then spend the night in Glenn St. Mary, FL at my sister's house, then spend all day Saturday driving home.
Update - Kim, Jake, Jess, and I went bike riding on Wednesday and had some fun on nature trails and the park. Although I do cardio 3 to 4 times a week, riding a single speed beach cruiser off-road and up steep hills about kicked my rear. On Thursday we spent most the day on the beach. My cousin Nikki came down from UF to visit with the family and spent the night.
On Friday we all rode up to Jacksonville for dinner at Chun King (Mongolian BBQ) to celebrate Kyle's 17th birthday. My dad, sisters, brothers, aunt, mom, and the kid's cousins we're all present. Later we rode out to Glenn St. Mary and spent the night at my sister's house. We departed around 4 AM local time and it stormed all the way across Georgia. We made it home around 6:30 PM local time. When we woke up on Sunday there was snow on the ground... Did I mention how much I hate it in Illinois... Here's a photo album of our vacation: Spring Break 2009
2/25/2009
I just returned home from the Gartner Mobile and Wireless Summit in Chicago, IL. An associate and I took Amtrak up on Sunday night and checked into the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. I had a decent room on the 11th floor with a good view of Navy Pier. On Monday night I had dinner with a few associates and Gartner executives at Shula's Steakhouse. The meal was fantastic, we had a sampler appetizer platter which consisted of bacon wrapped BBQ shrimp, steamed shrimp, oysters Rockefeller, raw oysters, lobster tail / claw meat, and blackened tenderloin tips. If that was not decadent enough, I had a wonderful tomato & fresh mozzarella chop salad, a 12 oz Filet Mignon, and we split four sides - lobster mashed potatoes, hashbrown potatoes, grilled asparagus, & jumbo baked potato. For the wine we had a few bottles of 2005 Nickel & Nickel (Harris Vineyards) Merlot, it was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend this wine and would like to give special thanks to Ken Dulaney for turning me onto this wonderful wine! We ended the evening in the Chi Bar at a private party.
Tuesday night we started off the evening at a private party in a suite followed by a customer appreciation dinner. Cisco hosted several companies at LB’s Bistro & Patisserie. In addition to an open bar, we were served a five course meal prepared by a French chef that personally explained the features. I opted for the onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese, house salad with creamy balsamic vinegar dressing, and a 9 oz. Filet Mignon served with mashed potatoes, grilled carrots and asparagus served with a red wine demi-glace. I didn't catch the cab they served but it was just ok... For desert, they brought each person two plates with a sample of 5 deserts. I'm not a big fan of sweets, so I took a couple small bites. It was a fine meal.
The days were very long, beginning at 7AM and ending around 10PM each day. The conference was smaller than previous years, probably due to the economy or perhaps the location... Who schedules a conference in Chicago in February? What about Florida, Nevada, California? We left this afternoon and made it home by 3 PM. I caught Ash Wednesday Mass with the family tonight and now chilling on the couch.
2/14/2009
On Valentines Day, I took Jessica to the McLean County Arts Center for a 2-hour art class. Today we learned how to sketch, then paint portraits. The second hour we learned to sketch bodies in motion, then created wire sculptures' of the sketches. At the end of class, Jessica won the raffle for some art supplies. We had a great time! A couple weeks ago, Kim took Jessica and they worked on sculptures made from garbage. After the kids created their sculptures, the Art Center created a collage of all the individual sculptures and mounted them on the exhibition walls.
2/9/2009
Today, Jacob and I drove up to Chicago and met my motorcycle club (ICBMC) at the 2009 International Motorcycle Show. The show was not as large as I thought it would be, in fact it took longer to drive up and back then it did to see all the exhibits and watch the trial bike demonstration but Jacob and I had a great time. After checking out the bikes from nearly every manufacturer in the world, Jacob liked the Kawasaki Ninja's the best (especially the Monster sponsored Ninja ZX-14) and my favorite bike (aside from my BMW) was the Ducati Hypermotard 1100S. I would love to add this bike to my stable! I didn't take many pictures but the few I captured are in a gallery here: http://www.5nolans.com/images/2009IMS/album/index.html
Kyle and Tori went to Indy yesterday for Tori's cheer competition. Tori is a long time member of Victory Academy Lions and the Lions placed first in another competition. You'll need to check their facebook pages for more details... Kyle will be starting track very soon, in fact I think his first meet of the season is this coming weekend. We'll keep you posted...
1/30/2009
I'd like to wish my beautiful bride a very Happy Birthday (1/27). I took her and the family to Biaggis for dinner. We gave her roses, flowers, fancy chocolates, birthday cards, and Starbuck's Frappuccinos. She didn't want anything big, so I told her the new generator was her b-day present ;-). I'm sure we'll make it up to her in Hawaii this Summer or in Florida this Spring.
Jacob continues to play Oboe, is on the chess team, and will cross over to Boy Scouts in a few weeks. We'll see how long Jake lasts in Scouts because once football season starts it pretty much takes up all his free time. The same thing happened to Kyle many years ago. Kyle is still working at ToysRus and in weight training for football. Kyle will start track season in the next couple weeks. Jessica is still a Brownie and in volleyball. Kim and I are busy as heck with work and other obligations. In case you were wondering, winter has SUCKED this year. Next time I hear about global warming I'm going to deck the dumb ass.
In case you've been in a cave the past month, our Governor was impeached yesterday. Rod Blagojevich was the Governor of Chicago, he never did anything for the rest of Illinois unless you count closing our state parks... Well good riddance Rod, don't let the door hit you in the rear! The first act of the new Governor (aka former Lt. Governor) Quinn will be to re-open our state parks. SWEET! I'm already planning a camping and canoeing trip (as soon as it gets warm out)...
1/10/2009
Happy New Year everyone! First and foremost GO GATORS!!! Congratulations to the Florida Gators, 2008 SEC Champions and 2008 National Champions! The SEC is 6 -2 in the bowls and National Champs three years in a row. When I grow up I want to be just like Tebow!
It's too early in the year to have much to report. Kyle is still working at Toys R Us and spending his spare time with his girlfriend Tori. Today Jacob had his first chess tournament of the year and won two matches. I took Jessica to an art class at the McLean County Arts Center and we had a lot of fun. We viewed the new glass and steel sculptures and viewed the gallery of landscapes. Then we learned about light, shadows, and created shadowscapes.
