It's Been A While

I know I know, I haven't been the best "blogger" these past couple weeks. I'm still getting over the Patriots defeat, which was over a week ago.

Not much int he way of new news to report, although we are taking Brady in on Thursday to have tubes put into his ears. This should curb those pesky ear infections.

All Charged Up!!!

We just finished watching the nail-biter victory for the Pats. What a great game! What an end to a long day too.

We just spent six hours in the ER at Mass General Hospital. Brady spiked a fever this weekend, and his doctor told us this morning he didn't think it was an ear infection, so he wanted to check his urine. Easier said than done...we have been kicking ourselves for months for not giving Brady the old snip snip when he was born. Now, several ear infections have led to several yeast infections which has practically closed Brady up tight. You'd never be able to get a tube up there to get a good sample. So, to the ER we went. They couldn't draw a sample with a needle into the bladder, so they had to settle for what they collected in the bag. We are headed tomorrow to an ear, nose, and throat specialist, and we'll be back at MGH early next month to see if the kidney reflux issue has correctedc itself or if he needs an operation. We'll also discuss his snip-snip.

Oh the joys of parenthood!

Brady Learns Some Words!

15 Month Update: A Little Older, A Little Wiser, by Brady Stack

This week I'll turn 15 months. Wow, I'm getting to be so old! Here are some of the new things in my life since the last time I blogged:

1. I'm a very good eater now. Mama and Dada rarely have to make me a separate meal at dinnertime, I eat whatever they eat.

2. I'm learning how to say a few new words. Right now, when I want Mama or Dada to get my juice, I simply walk over to them and say, "Cup." If I want them to play with me, I run and get my ball, throw it to them, and say "ball!"

3. Dada moved his office downstairs to the finished basement. Now, I have my very own toy room, and I love going in there to play with all my new toys. Dada even repainted his old basketball lamp that used to hang in his bedroom to put up in my toy room. Its great!

4. I'm still battling ear infections. Next week, I am going to see a special doctor who is likely going to put some tubes in my ears to stop all the infections. At least then I won't have to feel sick so much.

5. I babble a lot. I guess it is because I don't know too many workd, but I want to talk because other people are talking.

6. I own my house. I go everywhere, and I get into everything. One of my favorites involves running into the dining room to bang on the fireplace doors, then running into the kitchen to try to open all the cabinet doors (which have these hooks on them that I can't figure out), then running over to the pantry, opening the doors, and pulling out the bottles of soda, then running into the bathroom to unravel all the toilet paper, then running to the stove to pull the dish towel off the door, and then going back into the dining room to take my bib off the hook and running around the house with it. When Mama and Dada aren't looking, I go into the trash and take things out of it. I'm in charge. But...

7. Sometimes I do things I'm not supposed to do. Pulling out trash is one of them. When I'm being a good boy, I stop what I am doing when Mama and Dada ask me to stop. Sometimes, I like to test them. For example, the other day, I went over to the trash. Mama looked at me and said, "No, no Brady. Make another choice!" I looked right at her, smiled, opened the trash up, took out a piece of paper, and booked it for the playroom. As you might imagine, I ended up in a timeout, which I don't like at all. When I am in timeout, I have to sit in a corner and I can't play for a whole minute. Then, Mama or Dada has to talk to me about why I went in a timeout. I have to apologize to them by giving them a hug, then I am off again to play. I don't like timeouts. That is why when Mama and Dada say no, I make another choice....usually anyways.

Movie Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

IMDB synopsis: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/plotsummary

In 1981, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) was a struggling salesman in little needed medical bone density scanners while his wife toiled in double shifts to support the family including their young son, Christopher (played by Smith's son, Jaden). In the face of this difficult life, Chris has the desperate inspiration to try for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. Even when his wife leaves him because of this choice, Chris clings to this dream with his son even when the odds become more daunting by the day. Together, father and son struggle through homelessness, jail time, tax seizure and the overall punishing despair in a quest that would make Gardner a respected millionaire.

My Take: Great movie! It was an eye-opening look at what so many American's live with every day: Poverty, not knowing how they are going to pay for their next meal, not knowing if they are going to have a place to sleep at night, etc. I highly recommend you see this drama before it leaves the big screen (and then you'll understand why they spelled "happyness" with a "y")

2006: Year-End Blogger Review

To celebrate the end of 2006, let's countdown the top 15 best, worst, most controversial, and most surprising posts to make their way through our little blogger community.

15. Lt. Stack tries to throw an already wounded John Kerry under the bus again while he is halfway across the world in Korea. http://jasonstack.blogspot.com/2006/11/dear-senator-kerry.html

14. At number 14, we have the Doc's only post of 2006, Things that have happened since November 25th. http://gotsprue.blogspot.com/2006/02/things-that-have-happened-since.html

13. At number 13, in let this be a lesson, Stack describes the drunk driving accident that happened right in his own driveway! http://brianstack.blogspot.com/2006/03/let-this-be-lesson.html

12. At number 12, we all rejoiced with Princess Buttercup when she was able to recover some of her Hawaii pictures. http://christellize.blogspot.com/2006/05/aloha-again.html

11. We thought P. Sophie was going to give us a post on American Idol, but if you go back and look at it now, its just a bunch of porn!!! http://legendofme.blogspot.com/2006/04/ai-post.html

10. The "Master" explains to us in October why he's been a very bad blogger lately. http://whosthemaster.blogspot.com/2006/10/ive-been-very-bad-blogger.html

9. IA has reason to celebrate, as he was accepted into the NYU LLM program! http://iyazakhtar.blogspot.com/2006/06/you-have-reason-to-celebrate.html

8. In a comical look at the life of a pregnant chick, P. Sophie tells a great story about craving some chocolate cake. http://legendofme.blogspot.com/2006/05/p-sophies-baby-story-chocolate-cake.html

7. The Stack's introduce BradyVision, an interactive look at the life and times of Brady Stack. http://brianstack.blogspot.com/2006/07/brady-vision-2006.html

6. IA tries to make us all believe that someone offered him money for his blogger site name in this April Fools Day prank. http://iyazakhtar.blogspot.com/2006/04/theyre-trying-to-buy-me-out.html

5. P. Sophie announces the beginning of her nine-month journey through pregnancy in this January post. http://legendofme.blogspot.com/2006/01/miracle-of-life.html

4. Stack talks about his own version of Mouse Hunt as he tries for two weeks to catch an ellusive rodent in his house. http://brianstack.blogspot.com/2006/11/there-is-mouse-in-my-house.html

3. In another funny post, P. Sophie talks about her woes of motherhood in "Stretch Marks and Stupid People." http://legendofme.blogspot.com/2006/06/stretch-marks-and-stupid-people.html

2. Princess Buttercup makes us all want to cry in her romantic post about the joys of marriage o her anniversary. http://christellize.blogspot.com/2006/09/une-bonne-anniversaire.html

1. And the best post of 2006? Why none other than David Wick's famous dating video! http://legendofme.blogspot.com/2006/12/davids-dating-video.html

RIP: My Office

My office has been moved to the finished basement to make way for Brady. Yep, he has too many toys, and they have consumed our living room. So, we decided to convert the office space into a new room for him. We got lucky at Building 19 by finding a nice big area rug for him for only $40. I'm refinishing an old basketball lamp I had when I was a kid for the room too. Now, we just need to find a piece of furnature so that we can store all the bins of toys! I might make one...if Erica and I can decide on what we want. More to come on that later...

Home Renovations

In an attempt to make our kitchen look a little bigger, and to improve the traffic flow when we host parties, I decided to put a big hole in the wall that separates our kitchen and living room. You can see the before and after pictures below. All I have left to do is to paint all the new trim white. I was a little worried this morning when I started that there would be pipes or wires to contend with when I opened up the wall, but lucky for me, there was nothing there. The only thing I really had to do was move the telephone jack and install one new outlet. Other than that, it was a piece of cake!

Too Many Toys

Erica and I have decided to move my office downstairs and turn that space into Brady's toy room. (OK, This was Erica's idea, but I've conceeded that she is right) As you can see, Brady has too many toys to keep in the living room!

Merry Christmas 2006!

Oh Fudge!!!!

I know what you are thinking...are the Stack's planning to eat 18 pounds of fudge this Christmas? No way! But we did make 18 pounds of fudge and filled them into 18 Christmas tins, to give out to co-workers, neighbors, etc. In case you are wondering, there are seven varieties: Oreo, Andies mint candy, chocolate walnut, dark chocolate coconut, butterscoth, candy cane, and peanut butter. I would have to say my favorite was the dark chocolate coconut, which tasted just like having a mounds bar. If you are interested, I've included Erica's fudge recipe below (for the Oreo fudge...for the others, use your imagination!)

Erica’s Holiday Fudge
18 oz. package of white chocolate chips
14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon of salt
20 Oreo cookies, crushed finely
1 8x8 fudge pan, lined with parchment paper

Melt the chocolate chips with the condensed milk in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Add the salt and cookies and stir to combine. Remove the pan from the heat, and pour the mixture into the fudge pan. Chill in the refrigerator until firm.

Be creative! Substitute the cookies and white chocolate with other ingredients to make your own fudge flavors. My favorites include peanut butter chips, chocolate mint chips, and even English toffee pieces.

Christmas Update, by Brady Stack

Hi guys, its me, Brady Stack. I just wanted to give you guys in cyber space an update on how things are going at ye 'ole Stack shack.

Well, Christmas is almost here. Mama and Dada said Santa is bringing me lots of toys this year. Mama wants to get Dada to move his office upstairs so I can have his office as my new playroom, but he's not convinced I need it yet. Maybe he will be after Christmas!

Dada went on a business trip to Nashville Tennessee last week. I was so excited when he got home, I hadn't been away from him for that long ever!

Dada keeps talking about how he's changing the living room around over Christmas vacation. He told me how is going to put the TV on the opposite wall, and cut a huge hole in the wall that connects the living room with the kitchen. He says something about it making the kitchen look bigger!

Next week, Auntie Pam and Uncle Charlie are bringing my friend David Wicks over to play. I get to see Auntie Christel and Uncle Scott as well. I can't wait for that!

Friday night, Dada, Mama, and I went to cheer on the Sanborn girls basketball team. I was so excited to see them play that when Dada put me down, I decided to run right for the court. I run pretty fast now. I have too....if I don't run, Mama and Dada will catch me and pick me up. That's no fun. Too bad they caught me at the game before I got to the ball. That would have made the referees very mad. But I wanted the ball. Did I mention that I know how to say ball?

Well, that's all for now! I'll give another report after Christmas next week, and I'll tell you guys all about the toys I got!

Welcome to the Opryland Resort!

Known to be the largest non-casino hotel in the country, the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville boasts three large glass-enclosed attriums, covering an area of 54 acres! As you can see from the pictures, these attriums are completely filled with plants, flowers, trees, and even a river, complete with a working boat tour.

At Christmas, every square inch of the hotel is decorated. They say the only place with more Christmas decorations is Disney World itself!

Greetings From Nashville Tennessee!

This past week, I have been at a national conference for school leaders in Nashville Tennessee. It has been a lot of fun, and very informative. The entire conference is being held at the Opryland Resort, which is the largest non-casino hotel in the country, and the second most decorated place in America for Christmas, second only of course to Disney World. If you looked at the hotel from a plane, you'd likely describe it to look like one big "donut" shape, with a large glass-enclosed attrium in the middle. How large? They say ten foot ball fields, but that doesn't seem to do it justice. I'll have to post some pictures of it when I get home so you can get a sense of how beautiful it was in the attrium, which was completely landscaped with palm trees, flowers, even a river! It really was a spectacular sight.

LG: Life is NOT Good!

February 11, 2006: We purchase a brand-new LG refrigerator, exactly like the one you see in the picture to the left, from Best Buy in Salem, NH. Mistake #1: We don't opt to get the extended store warranty on it.

March 11, 2006: Our refrigerator is delivered. Wow, what an upgrade from the frig we had before!

Late October, 2006: Our wonderful frig starts to make a vibrating noise. I call LG's customer service, and they give me the names of two service providers who can come out and look at the unit. I call both, but neither wants to come out. As I find out later, they don't like working with LG. I can't say I blame them. So I call LG back, and they promise me their "scheduling team" will find someone to come out.

Early November, 2006: "Good News," says LG! They found a technician to come out and look at the unit. Meanwhile, the vibrating noise is getting worse.

November 8, 2006: The technician tells us that we have an evatorator fan motor that is going bad. He calls LG to order a new motor.

November 8-November 11, 2006: LG manages to lose the part order, and brush our problem under the rug. I call them on the 11th, only to be promised that the part is being shipped right away.

November 12, 2006: I wake up Sunday morning to find a dead frig. I call LG. The part is on the way, and they feel really bad. They want to offer me $150 to buy some replacement food. I laugh. I'd have to best Rachel Ray herself to stretch $150 for the next several weeks while I wait for LG to fix the frig. I demand they allow me to use the money towards the purchase of a temporary frig. They agree, and even offer to cover more of the cost, which they later take back.
I go out to Home Depot, and buy the only frig on the floor they can sell, a $347 special. The Home Depot sales guy consoles me in my time of need, adding that he too has had nothing but trouble trying to get LG to make good on their products. Bringing the frig in to my house, I do something to my back that causes me a great deal of pain and a day out of work.

November 13-20, 2006: LG continues to lose my part order, despite several promises to me that it was on the way.

November 21, 2006: I decide I am not going to bed until I know the part is going to be shipped. At 4:30, I get on the phone. By 8:45pm, I was fairly confident the part was to be shipped DHL over night to the technician. LG admits the part had been back-ordered and they didn't follow up in a timely manner. No sh*t, right?

November 24, 2006: The part arrives in the technician's hands.

November 25, 2006: The new moter is installed in my frig, and all seems well. The noise is gone, the frig is working properly, and this SHOULD be the end of the story. But wait...there's more!

November 26, 2006: I wake up to find my frig making a vibrating noise, again. LG promises me they will have a technician come out and look at the frig. I complain, I moan, I b*tch, but they don't listen. I can't even talk to a supervisor, they have to call you back in 48 hours. They want me to call back the technician. I flat out refuse....that is their job, and Frankly, I don't even think the tech wants to work with them anymore anyways. They tell me they will call someone. If they can't fix it this time, I'm going to get a new frig. Yeah, and that might happen in the next three months, if I am lucky. My bet is that they'll try to string this out until February 11, 2007, when my warranty expires.

So, what is the moral of this ridiculously long story that hasn't even been finished yet? DON'T EVER BUY AN LG PRODUCT, EVER!!!!!!

Did you hear that? I said, DON"T EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM LG. LIFE IS NOT GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stack/Wicks Reunion

Dear Uncle Jason,

How is Korea treating you? Have you gone anywhere really cool? What's your favorite thing to do when you aren't working there? When are you coming home to visit again?

As you can see, I've matured quite a bit from the last time you saw me. No more formula & baby food, I eat and drink regular food now! My favorites are pizza, grilled cheese, pancakes, and french fries. I love to watch tv...especially the Wiggles. I love playing with your old soccer ball...I can pick it up, throw it, and then chase after it. Last week, Dad took me into the back yard to run around and check out things. That was a lot of fun. When my cousin Mackenzie comes over, we have a great time playing together. My favorite toy to play with would have to b e a toss-up, from my ball maze to my legos, which Babcia bought me for my birthday.

Yep, as you can see, I'm all grown-up. Dad says next week, we might go out to Boston University to see if they have any early-admission programms I might qualify for. He told me he wanted me to make sure I went to a school with a great hockey program, sorry Uncle Jay. No UNH for me!

Well, can't wait to see you soon!

Your favorite nephew,

Brady.

Need Some Turkey Tips?

Check out my post from last year....everything you need to know to cook a great Thanksgiving Turkey.

http://www.brianstack.blogspot.com/2005/11/what-ive-discovered-about-turkey.html#comments

A New Brady Vision......

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

This hasn't been a good week down at ye 'ole Stack shack.

The Good:
1. Erica got her diploma in the mail this week, she's now Erica L. Stack, M.ed. Now the next question is, who is going to get their PhD first, Brian or Erica? Would you prefer Dr. Brian M. Stack, or Dr. Erica L. Stack???
2. I caught that darn mouse last week. My advice to those of you that might have this problem in the future? Don't buy those sticky glue traps...they are a waste of money. The mouse had no problem eating the food off of it. Nope, I bought the $.50 special good-old-fashioned mouse trap. Worked like a charm.

The Bad:
1. Brady's ear infection rages on....he's been switched to his third antibiotic. If this doesn't work, the next stop will be tubes.

2. Our (eight month old) frig died on Sunday. It has been making noises for two weeks, but despite numerous calls to LG, they have been dragging their feet to service it. They continue to. But, I couldn't go without a frig, so I went to Home Depot Sunday morning to by the $347 special...a plain white frig which is actually the same size as our LG. We figure we'll keep it as a back up for the basement once the other one is fixed or replaced...which might happen by Christmas, if we are lucky. The best part? Oh I pulled a back muscle moving the frig...ended up missing work Monday. Yep. Not good.

The Ugly:
Erica's follow-up appointment with her Breast surgeon wasn't filled with good news. They had to do another biopsy on a lump that is still there. It may be nothing, it may be something, who knows? But it's been on our minds.

But through it all.....we're not complaining, really! Thanksgiving is only a week away! Don't forget to brine your turkey this year...Alton Brown's recipe is the best!!!