Category: Family

Round1

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Saturday we decided to check out Round1, a new bowling and amusement center that was built in our local mall late last year. I invited Brother #2 and his girlfriend to tag along, so once they arrived at 3 pm we all squeezed in Joe’s SUV and headed out.

When we arrived, all the lanes were occupied but the guy put us on the waiting list and said he’d call us when a lane opened. We decided to purchase member cards since they cost $5 but also included 20 game credits and give you $1 per hour discounts on bowling and other activities. We hit the skee-ball machines (or ice ball, as they called them) first because I love me some skee-ball! We also played air hockey, shot some hoops, and my brother and his girlfriend played driving games while Joe and E shot up some aliens.

After awhile I was getting concerned because the 20-25 minute estimated wait window had definitely passed. Finally I went up to ask what was going on and they claimed they had called us a long time ago. The guy who had taken our name was no longer there and the girl helping us explained you have to stick around that area in order to hear them over the loudspeaker which we were never told. Not only that, but they really can’t just install speakers in the arcade section? I call shenanigans, but whatever.

Luckily there were lanes available at that point anyway, so we got set up. Joe opted out due to his back and after the first round E decided to bow out because it was aggravating a shoulder injury he had sustained in the car accident last March. So my brother, who amusingly enough, brought his own bowling ball and shoes, played E’s round as well as his own. He won, of course. I scored just an 86, which I can only remember because that’s the year my brother was born. His girlfriend came in last. But we all enjoyed ourselves!

Round1 Bowling Alley

The prices are reasonable before 5 pm on the weekends, so I’d be up for going again. I definitely want to take E back there so we can play pool and ping pong since we didn’t get a chance.

We mulled over whether to go out for dinner but opted instead to head back home where I made my delicious spaghetti and meatballs. Then we played Jenga & Aggravation. I may have played Jenga once or twice in the past but I can’t remember because it’s not my favorite game. We did, however, get up to 31 levels before Joe made the tower come crashing down!

In all, it was a fun night, even if Brother #2 aggravated me a bit with his pissy-ness when I first extended the invite because it was so last minute. Admittedly, it was – I texted him 10:30 am that day asking if they wanted to meet up between 1-2 pm. But in my defense, I brought up going to this place weekend and my brother said he’d check to see what he was doing this weekend and get back to me, and per his usual fashion, he did not. So there’s that.

New Years

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Well, it was definitely last minute, but I was able to get my home sleep study in before the new year! Tuesday after work I picked up the equipment and slept with all this crap strapped to me that night to measure my breathing and whatnot. I slept like shit thanks to that and some stuff going on with Joe’s son that had my mind going at 120 mph.

After work on New Years Eve we returned the equipment to the sleep center and had dinner at a favorite nearby Thai restaurant (Happy Elephant) which we don’t get the opportunity to visit often enough. I think their main entree prices may have gone up, though, and I didn’t feel that the portions were large enough considering. I think I’d stick to their crab rangoon in the future as they are AMAZING. Hands down the best crab rangoon I’ve ever had.

After dinner we headed over to my parents house to ring in the new year with them and both my brothers. We worked on my parents new computer briefly and then ate a second dinner. We also got a chance to play Aggravation which we haven’t done in awhile. We didn’t end up leaving until a little after midnight.

We slept in on New Years Day but eventually made our way to the mall in the early afternoon so I could cash in on my free birthday burger at Red Robin. We also hit up Kohls as is our tradition but neither of us ended up buying anything. In fact, we didn’t end up spending anything at all since I also had a gift card for Red Robin.

I feel like I’ve lost the ability to shop just for the sake of shopping which is definitely a good thing for our bank account. It’s not like I need more jewelry or clothes anyway. I’m glad I’m so picky or I probably would spend more.

Christmas Cleanup, Car Troubles, and My Aunt

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The Christmas decorations have been taken down and packed away. Most of them, anyway. Joe has been working on my car since 10 am so the tree itself is still up, as are two things that too high up for me to reach. Once he’s done with the car he’ll be taking that stuff down so I can put everything away and we can go back to having a non-cluttered house.

We also have some errands to run but at this rate I’m guessing they will have to be put off for another day. We need to pick up some sweaters we dropped off at a local tailor to sew, get gas for my car, and visit the library. I’ll probably be hitting up the library tomorrow since it closes in less than an hour and Joe is just now finishing up my car. I’m sure he’d like a shower and something to eat; I know I would!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day too because I need to swing by the sleep center to pick up the sleep study equipment (assuming my doctor’s office faxed over the info and the center is able to get insurance approval quickly). Plus, once Joe gets home from work we have to head out to Bridgeview to attend my aunt’s wake. Apparently she had been in the hospital for awhile but no one had informed my dad so neither of us knew. She passed away the day after Christmas. It’s sad to think she died all alone without any family around. She’s the only aunt on my dad’s side that I kept in touch with.

Edited to Add – It turns out my aunt wasn’t sick in the hospital, my dad just didn’t relay the information accurately. She actually spent time with family every weekend, and the day after Christmas she collapsed, was rushed to the hospital, and couldn’t be revived.

Christmas Eve

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Merry Christmas!

Last night we picked up E on the way to my parents’ house. But before that we stopped at Portillo’s to pick up some beef and salads. My mom wasn’t in the mood to cook so she asked us to get that while she had my brother pick up KFC. I was impressed how Portillo’s handled all the people picking up catering orders – they had a table set up with various stations where you checked in, paid, and people packed a nice box with your food. Everyone couldn’t have been nicer! It never ocurred to me how many people would want Portillo’s for Christmas until yesterday. Unfortunately, the beef didn’t end up tasting like a classic Portillo’s beef sandwich so I’m not sure I’d go that route in the future.

Once Brother # 2’s girlfriend got there we worked on getting the food ready to eat. As always, there was still more food than necessary so I couldn’t try everything, but what I did have was really good.

Surprisingly, my mom got really emotional over us buying her and my dad a computer. At first she thought it was a toaster oven based on the box size, so that was awesome unintentionally tricking her like that. I’m pretty sure when we bought them their last computer she guessed it right off the bat which kinda sucked. We grabbed their old computer so we can retrieve all their music files and whatnot from it, burn it to DVD, and then transfer it to their new computer next week when we’re over there for New Years.

Crazy BINGO Gifts
Crazy BINGO gifts before I wrapped them a week ago

Crazy BINGO was a bit of a letdown simply because no one wanted to steal except my mom who stole my dad’s present much to his dismay. They were both getting kinda angry over the whole thing which was funny since neither present was anything exceptional. My dad got the dollar store electronic candles, and my mom got the decorate your own reindeer. Brother # 2 got the ping pong game, Brother # 1 got the Christmas sign, R (Brother #2’s girlfriend) got the Pot of Gold, E got the pickle in the plastic canister, I got the coal in Santa’s pants, and Joe got the paddle with the $5 gift card (and he didn’t cheat because only I know what was in each present and even I forgot and grabbed a lame gift).

My brothers seemed to like the gifts I got them. I got Brother # 1 a Fart Ninja t-shirt and some candy (including five packs of Super Mario gummies that only come out around Christmas) and I gave Brother # 2 some hot cooca, candy, a “lens pen” to clean his camera’s lenses. Brother # 1 tried to give us a card with $60 in it and I made him take back $20 of it (I tried to make him take back $40 but he refused). He still doesn’t get that the whole reason I stopped the gift exchange years ago is because of what he just did. I don’t want someone to hand me cash. It means nothing. No thought is put into a gift of cash. I only started giving my brothers small gifts last year because I missed buying for more than two people every year. I enjoy finding stuff people would like. It’s too bad it’s not reciprocated. *sigh*

Anyway, overall the night went pretty well and even though it didn’t quite live up to my expectations it was a good time.

Cyber Monday

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My credit card has gotten quite a workout today! And what a day it has been!

I had a doctor appointment in the morning and on the way there Joe called me to say he had been called by our alarm company because our alarm was going off. He called them back to let them know it was a false alarm. We’re not sure if the police ever came but I think we get at least one free pass for a false alarm so I’m hoping they don’t send us a bill. I must have accidentally set it off when I was leaving. I put in the code to disarm it before re-arming it, but I might have screwed up the code and I couldn’t hear it because the touchscreen is in the living room and the furnace was running when I was leaving which drowns out the beeping. Ugh! The whole thing put me on edge for the rest of the day.

My appointment was to see a neurologist about how cold my hands and feet get. From his physical examination he couldn’t find anything wrong, so I have to do some blood work and a test where they give me mild electric shocks to test my nerves’ response which I scheduled for next week. Sounds like fun.

After the neurologist I had to stop at the place where I’m going for a sleep study later this month to fill out some paperwork. Unbeknownst to me, since I wasn’t paying attention, the place was literally a block away from the neurologist’s office. That was convenient! Good thing I checked the address before I started heading in the direction I thought it was!

Once I got home I had lunch and then did some laundry and cleaning. I also went online to buy my parents a Christmas present. I’ve been wanting to get them a computer for awhile and I finally found a decent one that won’t break the bank. Last year I tried to split the cost between myself and my brothers and it didn’t go over well (the idea, since we never ended up getting one) so I decided to do it on my own to avoid all the drama this year. Of course, an hour or so after placing my order the same place (Newegg.com) where I got it sent me an email about a 5% off promo code that was only good for six hours today between 3 pm and 9 pm. So I missed out on that deal. Awesome.

In addition to my doctor’s co-pay and purchasing the computer, I also ordered one of those Entertainment books for next year since it was on sale. And I donated some money to the Illinois Food Bank. Needless to say my credit card needs to be put away!