On Christmas Day in the Morning

Another month has blown by at a mindblowingly fast rate. It feels like I've been so active this past month, leaving me with plenty to blog about, yet also leaving me too busy to actually blog about it.

Most of December has been spent animating and enjoying unclehood. It really is crazy how much the baby has grown in his month. I'm a sucker for the kid, I could sit and hold him all day.

My Christmas preparations were fairly easy this year, mostly thanks to the fact that I did the majority of my shopping online. It wouldn't be Christmas without getting out to the stores at some point though, which I did last week. Of course, the insanity of the crowds out there tends to turn my brain to mush and I forget what I went to buy in the first place.

Mom and I went to Anthony's last week for the first time in ages. I have so many fond memories of being there around Christmastime, I hoped to be able to relive a little of that. While it was nice, it's just not the same with so many of the old faces no longer working there.

This past weekend was basically one giant game night. Corey, Mikey, Eric, Brendan, and Jeff all hung out on various nights, with the peak occurring on Sunday, when we all converged at once. There were even surprise visits from Larry, Clint, and Jake.

A nice new twist this Christmas break has been spending time with Nikki. Our common nerdiness and similar movie tastes always result in a good time. I never thought I'd enjoy being beaten in a game of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit. Then again, I never thought I'd be beaten in a game of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit.
She even talked me into seeing Enchanted with her last Thursday, which, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed.

And now it's the wee hours of Christmas morning, so I had better get to bed. Don't want Santa to skip over the house.
I wish you all a safe and happy holiday!

Jacob's 2004 Adventure: Part VI- Day Three At Niagara Falls And The Return Journey

We were actually somehow able to wake up and be out of our room (mostly) in time for checkout time. All our bags were packed and we were ready to go. I went to the window and took one last look at the view. When everyone was ready we headed downstairs and loaded up the van. As we packed up, I sat the gift shop with the best name ever. They weren't overly boastful, they know they were just okay. I had to take a picture.

It dawned on me that in the few days that we were there, we never actually went and saw the view from the top of the Falls, so after checking out of the hotel, that's where we went.

Having not eaten yet and knowing there was a five hour drive ahead of us, first we found a little place to eat. Being low on money, it was just cheeseburgers this time.

After eating, we donned our ponchos and made our way out by the Falls. Such a beautiful experience, the sound, the sight, the wind and the mist enveloping you, it was fantastic.

Of course I'm a dork and had something goofy planned.
Y'know how people take garden gnomes and take pictures of them in various places? Well, I decided to put my own twist on that and I brought along my Treebeard figure.

After taking a couple quick pictures, we set Treebeard up for the third picture and that was when the commotion started. We heard a sudden chatter of languages unknown to our ears and suddenly a young Indian girl ran up and tried to grab Treebeard! There was a look of confusion and panic on my aunt's face as she grabbed Treebeard and rescued him from nearly diving into the river far, far below. Not knowing what to say, my aunt just said to the girl "It's not real!" As the commotion died down, an Asian man in I'd guess his mid to late fifties walked over with a huge smile on his face. In broken English he said "Is...a tree?" I happily replied "Yeah! From Lord of the Rings!" Still grinning, he stopped, thought for a minute, and then excitedly said "...Next...Halloween costume!" Maybe you had to be there, but the whole thing was hilarious. Leave it to me to nearly start a riot at Niagara Falls with a toy.

We took a few more pictures and then loaded into the van for the journey home. Just look how sad poor Treebeard was.

The ride started off a bit bumpy as we got a bit lost while looking for the border, LOL, but after that it was completely smooth. The weather was pleasant, my iPod was charged, and the miles just flew by.

A little before 6 PM, the roads and the scenery started to look familiar. As we got off of the freeway a few miles from here, I felt like we were the four hobbits returning to the Shire after our incredible journey, we were home.

We drove to the parking lot where my dad was working to let him know we were back and we ended up telling him our whole tale right then and there. Having perfect timing, my older brother and his friend showed up just in time and they got to listen too. After visiting a little while, we left and I had one more trick left up my sleeve.

Before dropping Grandma and Aunt Karen off, I had Mom drive to Anthony's, the little restaurant near my house. It was while eating at Anthony's that plans for this trip were originally hatched, I thought it was only fitting that we end the trip there too, so I treated everyone to dinner. With our cokes, iced teas, and waters, we made a toast "To the next trip."

After dropping them off, Mom and I were finally home. Once we got inside, it almost felt as if we hadn't even left in the first place.
It was completely amazing. In four short days I saw a concert, met my favorite band, and experienced so many wonderful things at Niagara Falls. This was the best trip I (or any of my fellow travellers) have ever taken and it will surely never be forgotten.

Good Day, Sunshine

Imagine, if you will, spending months on end sitting in a small place all by yourself. Your only human contact being with family and any friends willing to brave harsh elements and unfavorable conditions to come and visit. The internet and TV are your main windows to the outside world. It's not terrible at first, but after a few months, you begin to crack. You go stir crazy. This, my friends, is a little something I like to call a Cleveland winter.

Yesterday I, and the rest of northeastern Ohio, got just what was needed: an early taste of summer. A 70 degree day on March 30th, absolutely glorious.

I wheeled myself out into the sun and just let it soak in. I swear, I'm like Superman in that respect, I'm a solar battery. Let the sun shine down on me and it charges me up in a most unbelievable way. I'm almost instantly ready to go and you can't stop me until the wee hours in the morning. Unless it's a 90 degree sunny day, forget that.

So, after a minute, I decided to ride around the yard and test out my new chair to see how it handles driving in the grass. It's a bit bumpy, but nothing I can't handle. I darted up and down the street a bit, then my trusty sidekick and driver (or as I like to call her, Mom) was ready and we headed for the comic book shop.

Curse my weakness for the work of Alex Ross. I spent money I really shouldn't have spent on action figures based on painter Alex Ross' renditions of Superman, Bizarro, and The Flash. A bit expensive, but damn, they're cool looking.

Our next target was...Target. As we wandered past the DVD section, I heard the cries of a toddler who was either really really hungry or having a religious argument with his dear mommy. His screams were so passionate I couldn't quite make out the words, but I'm fairly sure he was yelling either "I want bacon!" or "I'm a Pagan!" Whichever it was, good luck to ya, kid. Now I'm hungry. Pagan bacon...mmm...
Anyway, I found a Wonder Woman figure I've been looking for for months. Score. Yeah, I have nerdish tendencies, shut up.

After a quick and uneventful sweep of Wal Mart, we dined at my personal favorite, Anthony's Family Restaurant. Great food, good prices, and cute waitresses. What's not to love?

About as full as we could get without actually exploding, we made our way home for American Idol, the only reality TV show I'll watch. Well, okay, I'm a sucker for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, a show that actually does good things. Plus it's slightly amusing to predict at which point Mom's going to cry. For the record, it's usually about 1.5 seconds after "Bus driver, move that bus!" Back to Idol. As usual, they eliminated the wrong one in my opinion. Doesn't matter though, I think Bo's going all the way.

What a day, what a day. I top it off by sitting here in the wee hours of the morning typing all about it. I need more days like this. Sadly, they're already predicting more snow this weekend. It won't be long til summer's here, but it sure would be nice if it'd hurry up a bit.

-Jacob

Fa La La La La and So On and So Forth

Happy Holidays!
It's been longer than I hoped it'd be between posts here, ah well. Sorry about that.
Anyway, I've been a pretty busy guy!

For starters, a couple weeks ago I made a spur of the moment decision and got my hair cut. I checked and it was ten inches long, so I decided it was time to donate it to Locks of Love. I had no hesitation, but when I heard the first snip of the scissors there was a moment of uncertainty that it was a wise move, by that time it was too late so it was really pointless to worry. My worries were eased when something unexpected and pleasant caught my attention. Over the speaker system at the hair place I suddenly heard a familiar melody being played on a violin. Could it be? I was hearing The Corrs in public? It was true! A rare occurance indeed, but what made it even more rare was that it wasn't "Breathless," it was "Runaway"! I just grinned and considered it to be a sign that I was doing the right thing.

Aside from that, I've been trying to get myself into the holiday spirit. I hate to admit it, but I seem to have a slight lack of seasonal cheer this year, which is really strange considering it's my favorite time of year. We've got the snow, we've got the tree, I'm mostly done shopping, but I'm just not feeling it like I normally do.
The other night, Mom and I went shopping so I could pick up a gift I hadn't gotten yet, I was hoping it might help get me into the spirit a bit more...boy was I wrong. I always hear people telling these holiday shopping horror stories, but somehow whenever I've gone in my 22 years, it's always been enjoyable, that's now changed.
First off, as we got up to WalMart and got out of the van, Mom realized she had left her purse at home. After a minute or so of debating while out in the chilly winter weather, we decided to forget the purse and just make it a quick trip. As I was passing through the automatic doors, a woman pulled her cart to the side and waited for me to pass. I was half way through the door when I heard her scream "Well, COME ON!" I gave Mom a look of confusion as if to say "Did she just scream at me?" I then realized she was screaming to her kid who was playing by the candy machines. Jolly.
Inside the store everyone just seemed tense and some seemed angry. I passed a baby in a shopping cart who leaned out toward me and said something along the lines of "Goondanununumungadikdik." I'm assuming it was either some kind of voodoo curse on me or a holiday greeting in Ewokese.
I got what I came for and tried to browse a few more areas, but the people crowding in the aisles and the noise of the place had me at my limit, so we agreed to get out of there. As we got back out to the parking lot there was a lady who parked totally wrong in a parking space, Mom told her the spaces go the other way, she said it in a very friendly and helpful way. The lady replied in a snotty and agressive manner "Y'know what? I don't care." and then stormed off with her kid. Ho ho ho.

I was tired, grouchy, and hungry, so we went to Anthony's, a nice little family restaurant near my house. Still frustrated from WalMart, we went in Anthony's and it felt like stepping into a holiday movie. They saw us coming and had a table ready for us right by their big Christmas tree before we even made it through the door. Over the speakers they had holiday music playing softly, the lights were dim, it was very nice and calming. As I ate my chicken paprikash, the hostess and another employee started to sing along when "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" came on and I couldn't help but smile. The atmosphere was perfect and the adorable hostess was constantly making me smile. It was exactly what I needed, a dose of holiday joy. I'm definitely feeling a bit more since going there, I think I might head back in a couple days for another dose and a few more smiles.

I wish more people could see that's what it's all about. It's about music and singing, laughing and smiling with friends and family, creating some cheer and sharing it with everyone you can. It's not about finding whatever the hot gift is that particular year. Sure, gifts are nice, but have you ever noticed that the best gifts are the small personal ones from someone you care about? When you break it down, it's all about love. It's not hard to see, but a lot of folks seem to forget it. Try not to forget, spread some love.

Have a safe and happy holiday season, everyone.

-Jacob