appliances

the washing machine was not working intermittently. it'd get to the rinse cycle and just stop. you could eventually get it to drain but it was a pain in the ass to do laundry. it finally got to the point of doing it all the time. i did some ordered a timer just before christmas eve. they said delivery would be this past thursday. of course it didn't show up. i emailed twice and tried to call... but after being on hold for over 20 minutes i hung up.
desperate for underwear i either had to deal with our machine or run over to my research and it could've been suds lock or new timer. to have a guy come out, min it was 150 plus whatever parts would be needed. we didn't pay that much for the washer, so we opted to order the timer. googling the problem, seemed that was our best bet. i parents. i asked john if he was in desperate need of anything washed. he showed me he was wearing his "last resort" pair. so i grabbed a bunch and hoped for the best.
it washed no problem. i chanced a second load, then a third, fourth, fifth. it is still going strong. wtf? was it suds lock, or will my timer problem rear its ugly head? my gram does our laundry when she's here, i wonder if she's been using too much soap?
anyway, doesn't matter. i caught up on the laundry, still have a couple loads left and i'm done, well not done. when is the laundry ever done?
now we have to buy a dishwasher. that crapped out a couple months ago. i miss it.
and then a new keyboard or whatever for the macbook. can't find the battery charger for the sd750. and then my date with harlan is coming fast.
i need to sell some bike stuff...

what's happening?

not much going on with the Gattos.
Christmas was fun. busy, but fun.
it was a greay year with the girls. casey's in the swing of it and you could just see the excitement in her leading up to it. zoe is a character. she is very animated.
we all received lots of neat stuff. from video games to tees to cool underwear.
it's been fun watching the girls play together now that zoe is getting older. they can play up in casey's room for hours. they fight now too. zoe is pretty physical.
i kinda took the week off of work. mostly just checking email and falling behind. but it shouldn't be too bad when i get back into the office.
its supposed to snow tomorrow. i hope we don't get too much, i'm ready to ride.

blog reading

i've been blog reading in between availability checks at work. it's amazing how many people are "down". (i just came out of a funk) i hope everyone starts to feel better soon.
the weather is depressing for me, but i'm too busy to enjoy it, even if it weren't nasty right now anyway. spring will be here before we know it!

what a weekend

bmx friday. mars scavenger hunt and party saturday. drive home after midnight in a snow storm. star wars exhibit on sunday. we're exhausted. hopefully more details later.

bmx night

we took casey to hobart tonight for some bmx action. she'd never been and frank had mentioned he was taking keegan last week, so we decided to hit the track today.
it was just as i expected, she was freaked out and nervous for the first hour we were there. john took her just to the end of the course, the rhythm section, and had her ride that a few times. she warmed up pretty quick and soon was over at the gates.
by the end of the night she was pro. you could see the competitiveness come out in her. it was real exciting. nice to be around bikes again.
she made friends with 6 year old morgan, who was killing it out there! she rocked. i hope casey will work to that good.
i can't believe how much she's grown since we've gotten that bike. i remember not being able to get the seat low enough, and now the bike is too small. she's ready for a mini now. but first we'll probably just swap the bar out... unless anybody that reads this is interested in the micro mini? i plan on selling that and getting her a new one. really, its just an excuse to go bike shopping. i don't need or want anything so why not want it for her?

so much to do

i started xmas shopping in october. i think i started too early. i kept putting it off thinking, well i already started. i have a lot to do between now and next weekend. and of course i don't have the weekend to do it. but that's cool.
i'll be partying it up on saturday. then sunday we're taking casey to see the star wars exhibit.
the lemond leaves the basement this weekend to a good home. christmas will be here next weekend for the most part. new years. before i know it, it'll be feb and i'll get my tattoo. and then it'll be sea otter and wors opener. i'll wonder where the time has gone.
time seemed to go so much slower as a kid. now it seems to go by so fast. it should remind me to enjoy it. its so cliche, but life is too short to not. there wil always be hurdles but life is what you make of it. you can choose to be miserable or happy. sometimes being happy can be the harder choice.

i miss my apple

the mac does everything except let me type o, i, u, l and enter. bummer. i'll give it another day or so and then i'm ordering the keyboard.
i don't do anything on my mac that i can't do on my pc... but when i'm at home using it i'm mainly playing with photos or on the web. my pc graphics can't touch the mac. not even close.
its monday morning, well afternoon at this point, and i'm sitting at my kitchen table waiting for the directv guy to leave. i hate directv.

fuck an apple

and screw mac. i'm so mad right now.
apple's protection plan only covers their screw ups? lame. waste of money for a protection plan that doesn't cover what you might screw up. it should be labeled as an extended warranty.
i need to read fine print better i guess.
edit: i've cooled off since. heat of the moment post. really its only a computer. my fault that the computer is in need of service- zoe threw my dunkin donuts cup at the computer and the 2 sips that were left went through the keys. none of my keys work (well okay i, c, y and q work and u sticks). i'm letting it dry out and/or will try an external keyboard and see what happens. if that doesn't work i'll have to take them up on their $300 minimum repair after i purchased what i thought was a protection plan. my ignorance i guess. but the customer service person was a dick... i'm totally a nice honest person just looking for some help or advice. sometimes i hate that i'm nice and honest. i need to work on being a bitchy liar.

it's snowing right now. casey's last competition is saturday. i'll miss the ladies ride on saturday which is a bummer, but at least its a good reason. sunday is the last chicago cross race. maybe i'll make it out there. i haven't been to spectate a cross race since last year. very weird.

lunch date

with this guy. probably some kick ass pasta or mexican. but whatever he decides it will be kick ass.

a week later

no rides to post of. no exercise to speak of. i'm getting sloth-like and must do something to get out of this feeling lazy funk.
i walked in my door friday night after saying good bye to julie, ryder and saige and didn't leave til this morning for work. we all just hung out. we sang and danced with the girls. we played guitar hero and lost planet. i surfed the web for everything and nothing. saturday night we were looking forward to watching the blackhawks play. casey was even in her jersey, but having directv the winter storm effed with the signal. oh well. it worked out fine, i finally saw little miss sunshine and laughed throughout. good movie. unfortunately john missed it while trying to sleep off a migraine that started on friday night. sunday i watched the bears lose. i'm glad i don't care about football, i would've been pissed off.
this week i hope to get some form of exercise to feel alive again and get some christmas shopping done. i hate last minute shopping.