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Iv’e got about ten tickets to the Riverdogs Hockey game for saturday night. We wont be using them, so if anybody is interested, let me know. I’ve been to a couple of games, and they are pretty fun.

Also, The Byrd Theater (one of my favorite Richmond places) started up their midnight movies. Woohooo!!! This weekend is one of my favorites… Fight Club. Go check it out, it’s only five bucks.

From Times-Dispatch:

Riverside on the James should be rolling with upscale restaurants and entertainment later this year.
Two companies have signed leases in the development, bringing more dining and entertainment options downtown.
The development’s 15-story office building and 10-story condominium tower is located on Brown’s Island between the James River and the Haxall Canal.

Read more about it here…

So, last night started pretty well, with 40 year old virgin showing up in the mail, and take out for dinner. Our night was saddened by the news that one of the wife’s dear friends, a kindred spirit, had received news that her cancer had now spread throughout her body.
Please say a little prayer for her.

The shakes and trembling at the house are gone! The nice man from comcast came by and has officially put the wife and kids out of their internet-less misery. Speaking of the wife, she’s got a great blog. She’s a great writer, even if she doesn’t think so. (She even published a zine!) For our kid’s sake, I hope some of that creative, artsy gene gets passed on to them, cause it sure won’t be coming from me.

Josiah is obsessed with legos. Specifically, the Star Wars sets. It’s amazing to me how he can put together stuff so fast, which means he must be a freakin genius (as he describes himself occasionally). Shouts of “I’m a genius” can be heard coming from his playroom every now and then. As the wife says- “He must have gotten your sense of self-esteem”.
I spent a couple of hours the other night on the floor of his room putting stuff together, and it just reminded me what a blast it is. Josiah and I are likeminded in our creativity. We are not artsy- just good ol fashioned linear thinking. But what starts off as a small plane, becomes a ginormous intergalactic destroyer on it’s way to save Luke from the bad guys.
It definitely takes me back to my younger days, when taking apart anything I could to see if I could put it back together was an every day activity for me. It drove the rents’ crazy, since I was busting up most of the radios in the house, not to mention the first computer that we owned. I’m mostly thankful that I didn’t fry myself or burn the house down.
My love of legos and tinker toys seems to have been passed on, and I love it. That is, until I step on one of those damm little pieces and it’s all I can do to keep the “bad” words in.

Well my very cool wife dragged my butt outta the house after I got home from work yesterday and said we were going to try a new restaurant. Never mind that I was feeling like hell, since I can’t kick this cold I’ve got going on. Also, never mind that pizza, chinese and arroz con pollo from Kuba Kuba are my basic food requirements. The wife had been wanting to try out Papa Ningo

in the bottom, and had even bought a dining certificate from restaurant.com. I am soooo glad that we went. After five minutes there I felt like I was sitting in my favorite little cuban place in Miami. The food was excellent, the atmosphere awesome, and our server was fantastic. If latin food is up your alley, I highly recommend.

Speaking of the wife, she is currently on a major internet withdrawal. See, our dsl has not been set up in our new place, and I thought I literally saw her shaking the other day. I get my fix at work, so I’ve been able to get by. So in her and Jackie-boy’s honor (since this is his birthday month) , I lifted this from her blog.

Stream of consciousness on Jackie-boy

Jack has this very Neo-esque way about him. Like he holds this inner wisdom that he shares on very rare and special occasions. It makes a mother wonder what he is thinking constantly. His eyes are fearless and his heart explodes with the need for adventure. He is rarely bothered but has no problem expressing his discontent should the need arise. His smile can melt you like a super power, it’s so strong you instantly forget why you were mad at whatever mischief he seemed to have gotten into. His hug is genuine and kind. My arms wrap around his slender frame while his body rests on my chest. He gives all of himself over for me to hold, total surrender and peace. I envy the person he is. He is so much of what I want to be and am not. He is still a little bit of a mystery and I like it that way. May my little explorer have lots adventures today filled with wonder and delight, may his soul be filled with treasures of joy and passion for what matters most.

Ode to Jackie-boy
big feet
dog lover
friend to josiah
mystic
our monkey boy
family mess maker
kind eyes
enjoys barbies
the best snuggler

So our youngest boy, Jackson, AKA jackie-boy celebrated his third birthday this past weekend at good old chuck-e-cheese. The place was a zoo, none of the adults had a chance to talk, as we all took one kid and chased them around the place. But the kids had a blast, and I guess that is really all that mattered on that day.
I am so proud of him, even on the most maddening days. Just yesterday he was in just about every kind of trouble you could think of, yet his sweet little heart reached out to his brother when he collapsed crying last night. Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Besides the excitement of the birthday, it was a great weekend catching up with old friends. Our good friends came down from NY, sister and brother in law came down from Maryland, and we all sat around enjoying the Scrubs season one dvd.

So sorry for all you Redskins fans around… but have you seen Clinton’s web site. It might give you a good laugh.

So, I heard you missed Mike’s birthday party last night.

Yea, I wrote it down as being on Wednesday in my calendar, but showed up to the restaurant on Thursday. Mike said that he missed me, but when he told his friends that it looks like I wasn’t coming they said “It’s ok… she’s messy at Italian restaurants anyways.”

Hey guys, what’s going on with this project?

I don’t know, we’re like mushrooms here.

HUH?

Mushrooms…. always kept in the dark and covered deep in crap.

So, it looks like it’s shaping up to be a great weekend. Tonight is boys night out, tomorrow is Jackie-boy’s 3rd year bash at chuck-e-cheese, and the wife is checking out Birth at the Firehouse theatre, AND not to mention all the playoff football on TV.

There has been a lot of talk lately on how unsafe and bad Richmond is becoming. The first twelve days of the year have been particularly bad, with ten murders in twelve days. Not being a native Richmonder, I have no idea how bad it was prior to the five years I have been here, and while here never really thought it was that bad.Coming from Miami, I thought Richmond would be a safe place to raise my kids. I can tell you that after five years, I would NEVER move back to Miami. I have never (thankfully) felt unsafe here, and I’ve lived in most area of Richmond. I love Richmond, and it ticks me off that so many people feel like giving up on it. It will never be a great city if we do not invest in it, in our schools, and in our communities. We need to support the good people that are trying to make it a better place to live. As for my family and I, we have made the museum district our current stomping grounds. Yea, there is a bit more awareness of our surroundings, but I would not trade it for any other place. I hope there are others that feel the same way, and we all work together to make Richmond a great place to live.