Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Blogger is Back - Week 8

I think I finally hit my groove as week 7 came and went without a blog and I almost let week 8 get by me as well.  But have no fear - the blog is back and better than ever!

Visitors from the Left
Birthday Boys!
Ian's first look at the Linc!
We welcomed my brother Owen to town 2 weekends ago for his birthday.  For those that have heard of some of Owen's adventures all over the globe, he loves getting out and seeing new places.  We have done quite a few brother road trips over the years including countless day trips to Berkeley (from LA and we drive), baseball draft weekends all over the Western US, and an epic trip to Phoenix 20 years ago to see the Cal Bears play on Saturday and the Philadelphia Eagles play on Sunday.  One stadium - our two favorite teams.





Well his birthday weekend set up for some greatness.  Saturday night - New Jersey Devils hockey game against the NY Rangers (Devils swept the ice with the Rangers 4-0).  Sunday (Owen and Ian's birthday) - road trip to Philly to watch the Eagles tangle with the Cowboys for 1st place (we maximized our fun despite watching a horrific Eagles performance where they didn't score a touchdown and lost 17-3).  Monday Night Football - great seats to watch one of the worst MNF games in recent memory where the Giants might have won on a mercy rule as viewers.  Three stadiums, three days, great memories!

Return to Carlo's
For those that love the show Cake Boss, they might know Marissa, who works at the store in Ridgewood.  We took Owen there and with a little help from his friends (Beth), we got to meet her and had her sign shirts for my nieces Liadan and Mirren.
 I heard they were excited to get Eagles gear, but more excited to get an autograph!

Birthday Boys
We have a tradition in our house that on the morning of the kid's birthdays, I make pancakes in the shape of their age.  This year Ian turned 10 and for bonus points my brother turned 47 - so I rolled out some serious stacks of pancakes in the morning before we rolled off to the football game.

Pumpkin Patch
What is fall without a pumpkin patch.  While the boys were out at the Eagles game, Rachel and Beth took advantage of the local farm and visited their pumpkin patch.


 Rachel is not having too much fun in these pictures, is she?

Deer in the Headlights
We have spotted several families of deer while we have been here, but each time Rachel has missed it and was having a little FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).  Well last week she finally caught a good look at some deer on the side of the road on her way to school.  Beth stopped the car, pulled over and took a shot of them with some fall trees as a background.

Ian's Birthday
Last Saturday night Ian got to celebrate his birthday with 10 of his new friends from school, soccer and Hebrew School.  The highlights were watching them play football, basketball and soccer in the yard and screening of Rookie of the Year.  Somewhere in the middle of all of that they helped Ian celebrate with an Eagles ice cream cake.  It took a little convincing but we got the Giants fans to eat a slice, but then the real Giants ate the Eagles the next day in the game.  The kids stayed until nearly 11pm and had a great time - felt like the type of party I had when I was his age - a bunch of kids, a ball and an open space....go!!

Traveling Man
I have been on the road something fierce the past few weeks as I attempt to get in front of all of my new clients and agency partners.  This has taken me to SF twice, LA (yes, I stopped back through this week), St. Louis and Indy (Jacob - I will get you next time I am in town).  The highlight so far was probably driving from St. Louis to Indy.  Everyone told me to fly, but I love seeing our country and while that part is particularly flat, it is the Heartland!  I had visions of looking up Hickory and seeing if I could find Jimmy Chipwood.  Here is a good shot of the Arch on my way out of town.

It Comes in Threes
I am writing this to if nothing else stop Beth's run of luck lately and hope this turns a page.  It started with her car stalling earlier this month on the way home from school and on the same day I was on my way to the airport to go to SF.  Then our heater stopped working just as temperatures at night started dipping into the 30's.  In the process of getting that fixed, something else started leaking and our laundry room was not flooded but pretty soupy.  In order to clean it up Beth (the best tenant ever!) decided to pull up the carpet to get it to dry and did a number on her hands.  Then Tuesday the fridge in our garage almost fell on her leaving a nice bruise on her shoulder.  May that be the last of it for now!

Sign of the Week
I saw this sign on my walk home tonight - made me laugh!

Movember
Tomorrow is the start of Movember - yes, you read that right.  For those that are not in the know, men all over America will be growing out their mustaches this month to help raise awareness and money for Prostate Cancer.
I think Eli Manning is getting a running start.  In any case, I joined a team at Google and will be rocking a mustache this month so don't be scared if you see me.  My team is raising money and any donations, no matter how small are welcome. You can go here to contribute:

https://www.movember.com/us/donate/payment/team_id/962665

Have a great weekend everyone and happy Trick or Treat-ing!!!


4 comments:

  1. So sorry I didn't get to see you when you were in town...next time for sure (with a little heads-up on your end!). Love the blog...totally missed it last week!!
    Kisses and hugs to you all!
    xoxoxoxoxoxox, Robin

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  2. I had no idea all the Solomon gentlemen had birthdays so close to each other! I hope someone makes pancakes for you this week (or whatever your heart desires!). Also, I'm sending all my good vibes to Beth - no more mishaps!

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  3. Glad to hear all is going well Mike! This is a wonderful way to keep everyone updated on where life takes you. We miss you at TSA, come visit soon!

    Wishing you the best of luck in all your future endeavors (not that you need it!); stay in touch and keep on bloggin', Mike!
    - Tina Elghazi

    PS My birthday was last Friday - I think my pancakes may have gotten lost in the mail, you may want to check the tracking number on that...

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  4. Happy Birthday Mr. Solomon! Barbara

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