MyManMitt.com

Romney draws a loyal following as book tour hits Ariz. - The Boston Globe Posted using ShareThis 

 Curtis went to Scottsdale to see Mitt Romney at a book signing. He got there early to make sure he could get in. He has always been interested in Mitt for his business mind and success. Before the crowd gathered he was wandering through the bookstore. A man came up to him and asked him if he was there for the Mitt Romney book signing. The man was from the Boston Globe Newspaper. He talked to Curtis for about an hour, interviewed him, and took pictures. Click on the link to see the article, Curtis was quoted a bit. You would think for how much he talked to the guy he would have put more than one sentence, I guess he had to cover a lot of people.

Storm Damage

Back in January, we had a huge storm. It was very exciting. We got a ton of rain, and wind, it even knocked down one of our nice big trees in the backyard and threw a chair in the pool.  Luckily the net caught it before it went totally under. You can see all the leaves in the pool. The tree may become a permanent fixture. The kids love to climb in it. They go out there every day and play for a while. We used to have to force them to go outside, but now they go willingly and stay. Most of the neighborhood kids have come over to play and ask how long it will stay. At first, we thought we would get rid of it within a week. It has been such a great addition to our backyard, we are quite fond of it now. 

 Derek had to write about a "Lucky Day" he wrote about the day the tree fell down. Who knew? Our Lawn guy showed up with a chainsaw one day and started cutting branches away. I had to go chase him away. Dax and Derek were so mad when they came home from school and saw that some of the branches were missing. Lucky for them, I was home and was able to stop him before it totally disappeared. Our pool guy, who does odd jobs, even asked when we were going to get rid of it, and he would be glad to do the job. I told him probably not for a while. This storm was so massive that there was even a tornado warning. Eeek! About a week before this all happened Dax was on a preparedness kick. He kept asking me if we were prepared if a tornado or hurricane hit. I told him that we don't get those where we live. The chances of that happening are one in a million. We should worry about being prepared for something that might actually happen. Did I get an earful when this "tornado" hit our backyard?

HI

Trey likes to get into the cupboards, I caught him sitting in the CrockPot. Soon after this he broke the lid to the crock pot, it has been discontinued, so I can't order a new lid like I did when Derek broke it. I had to get a new one.
Right around Christmas time, Trey started to say his first word "HI". It has been a few months and he uses it all the time for everything. He changes his tone, but he uses "hi" for everything. When he wants attention he says it over and over until someone will talk back. When he gets tired he starts to get really loud and chatty with his "hi". When he gets caught doing something he shouldn't do, he says it with a different tone. He nods his head, yes, and he waves goodbye. When he wants to eat he says "mmmmmmmmmm" that is what I taught him when there is food in his mouth. A few times it seemed like he was saying "hello" or "thank you", but "hi" remains his all-time favorite for the time being.

A few weeks ago Trey had an ear infection so I took him to urgent care late on a Friday afternoon. The Dr. walked in to see him and said "hello" he said hello plain as day and the Dr. laughed. When she walked out of the room I heard her tell the nurses about it.

Trey loves to play with bottles with lids. One of his favorite activities is to get into the recycle bin and take the lids off the milk cartons, 2-liter bottles, and whatever else has a lid that he can take off. A few weeks ago he was sitting in his high chair eating. He watched me empty a milk carton and put it in the recycle bin. He started going crazy in his high chair and wanted out immediately. I took him out and he ran for the recycle bin to take out the milk carton.

Trey just playing on my desk

Mall Cop

A few years back, Curtis used these Segways as a way to do some marketing and deliver info door to door. It was fast and fun, a home run. 

 He recently moved offices and brought one home to charge it up and renew its life. As soon as the kids saw it, they wanted on it. They didn't know what they were called, they just know they were used in that silly movie "Mall Cop" which is a favorite of theirs. At our house, the Segway is called "Mall Cop" At first we let Dax try it, and he did pretty good. We thought It would be too big for Derek, after all, it does say you need to be 16 to operate it. We lowered it and he did great. It does take some balancing and getting used to, something I have not mastered yet. It is always a conversation piece, and a fun way to get around.

December 2009 -Oh what fun!

This is a recap of our December. These pictures are not in order, since they were uploaded not in the order my mind works Curtis took a business trip out to Washington DC and stayed with my Cousin Amy. While he was there they were hit with a huge snowstorm. 24 " in 24 hrs. Everything shut down. Luckily Curtis' flight was only delayed a few hours rather than canceled. His Nike Sweatshirt wasn't exactly snowstorm attire. It was still crazy trying to get home. Dax and Derek Decorated the Christmas tree all by themselves. They kept asking and asking to get it up. So we got it up, but we had stuff going on and couldn't get it decorated when they wanted to. So they did. We were happy to have them do it. They had a great Christmas. The usual gift requests. Video games and Lego's. The punching bag from Papa was also a hit. Derek lost his 1st tooth. On the night of his 6th Birthday. Happy #6th Birthday to Derek. Had a great time when his Zoccoli cousins came over. Derek insists his birthday is on Christmas rather than the 23rd. He doesn't mind one bit having a Christmas birthday cake. It was funny how when there were presents to open on the 23rd he didn't want to wait until Christmas to open them anymore. I took Derek to the store to pick out a birthday cake (on the 23rd) While we were coming out Derek was standing on the bottom rack of the grocery cart holding on raising him up about 3-4". We passed a not very tall man (not a midget, just lacking in height) and Derek said to him "I'm taller than you" thanks Derek that was embarrassing for your mom. Curtis was given 4 tickets to go see the KTAR production of A Christmas Carol. This was started back in 1984 by Pat McMahon as a reading in the radio studio. It has grown and now done at the Orpheum with an audience to be broadcast later on the radio. Local celebrities made up the cast most were newscasters. It is kind of interesting they read their parts, no singing, and minimal costumes. Pat McMahon has always played the part of scrooge, to me he will always be Gerald, Aunt Maude, Captain Super and all those other characters from Wallace and Ladmo show. We were going to take Dax and Derek with us, but once the babysitter showed up for Trey, Derek decided that the babysitter sounded more fun. We went with Dax and had a good time. He especially liked the VIP party afterward where they had food and cookies.

This is how I remember Pat McMahon as his "Gerald" Character

  Dax's class had a little project where they made gingerbread houses before they went on Winter break. Notice the stocking cap with shorts. It was a frigid 70 degrees that day. BEAUTIFUL! The annual Hancock Jingle Jog. Both Dax and Derek did a great job. This is a picture of Dax with his friend Phuc. Popsicles at the finish line. Dax after finishing the Jingle Jog Derek with his friends at the starting line of the Jingle Jog.

Organ

Today I said goodbye to my Grandma's Organ. I remember when she got it back in 1977. It was quite a cool thing. My Grandparents drove all the way to Las Vegas to get it. 

 When my Grandma died in 2001 she wanted me to have it. I think because I was the only grandkid that took piano lessons. I think I only have one memory of anyone actually playing this like how an organ should be played. We were at my Grandma's house for a holiday, I'm thinking Christmas and there were a lot of extended families there. My Mom's aunts, uncles, and cousins. It seems that one of her Cousins, I think his name was Troy could actually play the organ, everyone was gathered around while he played Christmas music. Other than that it seemed to be a toy for the Grandkids. 

 Those colorful buttons on the left had rhythms, those were a kid's favorite. My grandma claims that my cousins broke the yellow and green ones on the end. We would turn all the rhythms on, the tempo fast, and the volume way up. Nothing had changed with my kids. The other great use of the organ was the high-tech cassette player on the right. I remember the Organ came with some lessons and it started teaching you to play the music Stars and Stripes while a man would talk to you and instruct you. 

 My favorite time was when my cousin Amy and I, would listen to ABBA as we would sit under the organ so we could listen through the speaker below.

 It was time for the Organ to go to a new home. It really wasn't being appreciated like it should at my house, it seemed awkward this vintage 1970s piece sitting amongst my modern furniture. I always had ambitions of learning to play it. I finally realized with small kids, our own business to run, and life in general. The Organ was not going to be a priority in my life for still a few more years. A while back I tried to put it on Craig's list. No takers. I had checked on eBay, and craigslist for similar organs to get a price for this. Nobody seemed very interested in any of these. I had asked many people that I knew who actually played the organ if they would like it. Still no takers. It was time to get serious about this. This morning, I posted it on Craig's list in the free section. Within 15 minutes 3 people were very interested. I kept the post open for a while until I was sure the guy I contacted would really come to get it. After 60+ people wanted it. I finally shut it down, I figured I had enough backup at that point. I was a tich sad to see it go, but it really wasn't getting the love it should. I'm glad it found a new home where this man wanted to teach his 5-year-old daughter to play. I wonder if I should have raised the price a bit???

Goodbye 2009....Don't let the door hit you on the way out

This year was tough,  for a lot of people.  I hope to never have another one like it.  I thought 2008 was hard, 2009 was worse.  The economy is horrible, and the Housing market is a mess.  Gloom and Doom are everywhere.  People losing their jobs and homes constantly.  I was hopeful when the year started out, but not much good happened. Goodbye, 2009 I hope to never have another year like this again.

The country is hoping for a much brighter 2010.