You Owe Me Money, Uncle Sam!!!

Well, tis my favorite time of the year, the time to collect my dues from good 'ole Uncle Sam. Yep, its tax season baby. For some, this marks impending doom, but if you know you are getting a refund, it is like Christmas all over again. To all my avid fans out there in blogger land, I have some advise for you. Now, listen carefully: DO NOT PAY SOMEONE ELSE TO DO YOUR TAXES. Why, you ask? For just $19.95, you could do them yourself and get them e-filed for free! Ask any tax consultant to do them that cheap and they'll laugh at you. Now, I know you are saying, "But Stack, I'm not up-to-date on the latest tax laws. How will I know how to get the most in my taxes?" Well my friend, there is help. Actually, for the past four years, I have done my taxes online with H & R Block. My $19.95 is well spent, because as long as I have all my paperwork with me, I am walked right through the process. I even have the option to ask a tax professional in a live chat any question I encounter that the program doesn't answer for me. It is such a breeze, and I, like many, do not have a straight-forward tax situation. Heck, just this year, I bought a house and had a child, two great tax write-offs. Now, my complaints for any out there who know about taxes. WHY CAN'T I DEDUCT REAL ESTATE TRANSFER TAXES? I was pissed when I found this off. The State of New Hampshire charged me almost $3000.00 just to buy my house, and I can't deduct this from my federal return. Bah!

Oh well, I move on. My taxes are almost done, and in just three days, my money will be direct deposited in my bank account. Until next year, Uncle Sam, when we meet again.

Doc Jr.

So official congratulations go out today to P. Sophie and "The Doc" for their recent announcement of the coming of Jr. Erica and I are excited for several reasons. Here are just a few:

1. We know they are going to make great parents, and LOVE having a baby in the house. This is something they have wanted for some time.

2. We are selfish. Its about time someone else joined us in the "baby" club. Do you know what it is like to be the only person in your group of friends to have a baby? On the one hand, it is cool, but on the other, you feel so old. We must have spent three hours talking to the Doc & Sophie when we found out, because we finally had someone we could talk to about everything we have gone through in the past year.

3. Brady is going to have a new playmate soon. He can't wait.

Doc & Sophie, we are so happy for you!

Brady Scare #1

Well, Brady spent two nights at Lawrence General Hospital last week, due to a urinary track infection. The cause? Still undetermined, but kidney tests confirm there could be some sort of a kidley reflux going on. Our doctor's solution? She has made an appointment for Brady to see a urologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in February. Until then, he is on a preventative dose of an antibiotic. What was Brady's reaction to all this? He continued to smile, laugh, and play. What a trooper! But the latest weigh-in shows he has but on almost 7 lbs and 7 inches since birth. Yikes!

Dining Room Update

Slow but steady wins the race. Well, I'm making progress on the room. As you can see here, I have completely removed the wallpaper border, installed a waincotting and chairrail, dismantled the mantle, and I am in the process of building a new one. Since this picture had been taken, I have finished all the woodwork and I have painted the lower half of the room (in the same ivory color we are using throughout the house). The top half of the walls will be painted a dark cranberry color, sometime int he coming weeks. I've also installed a new chandelier (not shown).

More pictures to come as I continue!

The Great Dining Room Make-Over: The Beginning

Well, the dining room is next on the list of rooms to renovate. For those of you keeping count, we have already done the master bedroom, Brady's bedroom, and the kitchen.

The dining room has lovely pink walls and wonderful "Aztec" wallpaper border. To boot, there is a "hack-job" of a mantle. Our plans: Put up a chair rail with wainscotting ont he bottom, painted the ivory we are using throughout the house, and paint the top a nice deep garnet color. The only difficult part of this room is going to be to build a new mantle...something a little fancier. My brother-in-law told me I should paint the bricks white too with some mason paint, but I'm not convinced on this yet. I'm going to have to get some pictures to see what it might look like first.

Brady is Growing!

He started at 19 inches, and now he is nearing 26. The doctor says he is going to be tall. Looks like he is going to outgrow the new kitchen sink in no time!

Mini-Me

Brady and I like to wear our matching Brady jersey's prior to every Pats game. Tonight, the Pats take on the Broncos. Go Pats!

My First Playoff Game, By Brady Stack

Well, this is my first official blog. Dada told me I should write about my first playoff game. Well, lets see. Auntie Alyssa, Babcia, and Dziadziu came over around seven. Dada told me to put my game face on, so I did. The game was great, but Mama made me go to bed right after Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to Troy Brown. That Mama, she always spoils the fun. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for only being thee months old.

How To Cure New Year's Boredom.

Fill a glass with champagne, and put a raisin in it. It will bounce up and down for hours.

Mud Hens

What is a mud hen? I saw someone with this NH plate when I was driving to work last week in Boston. The weird thing is, when I was leaving the city five hours later, I saw them again on the highway. Weird.

The Great Kitchen Make Over, Part II

So tonight I enthusiastically took out the trash, and with it went 732 ugly tiles, one ugly kitchen sink, the ugliest rust-colored counter tops you'd ever find, and a few other odds and ends from the old kitchen. Now behold, our kitchen is complete....except the new stove and hood, which will be delivered Friday.

The Great Kitchen Make Over, Part I

Well, let me recap for you how the first day of the great kitchen make over went. At 7:00am, I took the first picture you see, which basically shows how our kitchen looked when we moved in (minus the new dishwasher, and the repainted cabinets with new hardware). Anyways, We hated three things about the kitchen: The lack of counter space, the ugly ugly ugly red counters, and the ugly tile backsplash. It just needed a face lift. In the second picture, during demolition, I am showing you just how much I hated the old counters. By the third picture, which was around lunch time, you see the counters are gone, as are the tiles. In fact, most of the new under-cabinet lights were hard wired to a dimmer switch at this point. By dinner time, you see the cabinets are in, the wall has been sheetrocked, the new sink is installed, and the island has been added. Not bad for day one! Over the course of tomorrow and Wednesday, I will be sanding the walls and painting them a pale yellow color, which will look nice with the grey counters and stainless steel apliances. Oh yeah, the stove and fridge will be going in the near future too, to make way for the new ones. Stay tuned for a final "reveal" some time in the coming week. So long for now!

What's a 5:00am post look like? This.

Well, it is a little past 5:00am, and I am already dressed and ready to go to work. It is a little early, even for me, but Brady decided it was time to get up, and so we did. Let's see, here is what has been going on with me since I last posted:

1. I've gotten just about all my Christmas shopping done, and everything is wrapped. (Thank you, Supterintendent, for that wonderful Friday off).

2. I've started thinking about what I'll do on my vacation next week. Some of the leading choices are: Spending time with Brady & Erica, finishing my kitcken counters, and maybe even painting my stairs and hallway. Hmmm...doesn't that sound like fun!

3. I've come to the conclusion that I need to stop teaching seniors (which is all I have this semester). While I enjoy the fact that I can treat them like adults, they just don't act like them! I've had better behaved freshman classes.

4. I came to the conclusion last week that I need to invest in a snow blower. Shoveling a foot of snow off my driveway just isn't fun! Perhaps I'll look for one next week.

5. I opened Brady's first bank account up. He is now a legal financial entity.

6. Patriots again this year? They've started to kick things up a notch these past few weeks. If they keep this up, they might have as good a chance as any of the other playoff teams for making the Super Bowl. Oh wouldn't it be great, too, to see Indy's streak end with the Pats.

7. I was secretly hoping for a Pats-Dallas Super Bowl. How cool would it have been to see Brady vs. Drew, little Bill vs. Big Bill. The networks would have LOVED it. Oh well, maybe next year.

8. I actually watched Bush's propaganda speech last night to drum up support for the war. I knew it was going to be a waste of my time, but I couldn't reach the remote, and I was waiting for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to start. Its funny, after three years in Iraq, he has still yet to come up with a good reason why we went there in the first place, and why the helll we can't just leave now. AT least put together a plan of exit, anyway.

9. Speaking of Iraq, my brother has been there now for a few missions. Not sure if he was involved at all in the recent vote, but since we haven't heard from him lately, I'd say he likely was. He's got to figure out what he'd like to do next. He was saying possibly a year in Korea. AT least that would potentially be a little safer than where he is now.

10. And finally, not for nothing, but I'd like to give a little shout out to my mother, her brother, and her parents, who recently celebrated their 43rd anniversary of coming to America. Yep, don't know what you were all doing on December 17th, 1962, but they were waiting in a customs line to get their visas stamped. Congratulations!

Erica's Back

My dear wife has finally started updating her blog. Check it out at http://www.ericalynnestack.blogspot.com.

Everything is just a little harder.

I went to the mall today to do some much needed shopping. It was just me and Brady, and it seems everything was just a little harder. First of all, I had to push around a stroller all day. That meant being in people's way, having to look for elevators and ramps, and having to make two trips to the car with bags because I had no where to put them since I have the stroller. Trying to use the bathroom was interesting too. But I'm not complaining, not at all...just noting that things are just a little harder now, that's all.

No In-Flight Movie On This Ride

Lt. Jason E. Satck is seen here, about to board his ride for a trip into Iraq for a special assignment.

Jason says he is doing quite well. A couple weeks ago, he had a one-day leave to Doha, Qatar's capital city. As the pictures suggest, Doha is very accepting of American culture. Jason even spotted an Applebee's, a Toys 'R Us, a KFC, and a shopping mall with a Christmas tree on display.

And The Award Goes To.....

Brady Michael Stack, for smashing his old record for longest stretch of sleep. Last night, Brady went to bed at 9:00pm and didn't wake up until 4:00am. Yep, that's a cool seven hours.

YEAH!

Update on LT Stack

For those of you that don't know, my younger brother Jason has been serving in the Middle East since September. He is currently a 2nd Lt. in the Air Force. Jason has sent us regular emails telling us he is doing very well, and is enjoying his current tour. Jason is in charge of approximately 100 men that perform various security tasks. In the picture above, Jason (on the right) is talking with General John Abizaid (middle). General Abizaid is one of the US Army's highest ranking officers in the Middle East.

New Brady Pics

Iron Chef America's Newest Addition

Iron Chef has a new star, and they call her Wicksanaka, but her friends just call her P. Sophie. Sophie hails from New Hampshire, where her culinary career began in her farm house amonst the cottonwood trees.

In college, she perfected her skills by providing "Sunday Dinner" to a group of hungry BU students every Sunday. In return, they let her live in their apartment. She even had her own place on the chore wheel.

Wicksanaka comes to Iron Chef America as the show's second female chef. When asked last week, host Alton Brown declined to comment on the producer's pick since he noted "bad blood" between himself and Wicksanaka. In a recent interview her husband the "Doc" said this about her: "My wife loves to cook, although she hates cleaning up the kitchen when she's done. She's waiting for me to hire a miad, I think. Most of her food is pretty good, except sometimes she tries to sneak extra butter on stuff."

Sophie's biggest claim to fame these days is her famous stuffed, baisted turkey. "Why make things difficult? she says. In the coming weeks, you will see Sophie's first Iron Chef clash as she takes on the firey "Stackimoto".