Lunch Break Notes

A whole year has flown by since we brought home our little peanut, pickle-puss, kid, baby or more commonly known as... Mealz. The best way to explain this past year is that you never realize how quick time flies when you have no time to think about it. With all of the diapers, sleepless nights, which I seem to be able to function with, the bottles, the baths, the messy meals and sleepless nights... did I already say that? Now that she is a whole year older, things have changed. Our little peanut has turned into a bruiser! She used to pound around on her knees and not she up! Getting herself into all sorts of trouble. I said this in an earlier post that it was cute in the beginning but now it's just scary seeing how she can pull things down and get on top of pretty much whatever she wants. We went from sleepless nights to all out worry and panic all day until she goes to bed. Seeing a human grow from a fragile being to a walking talking almost member of ...

   Do you ever get that feeling when you walk into a room and you look around at everyone having spirited conversations. Everyone glances at you as if they don't know what to say to you. It makes you feel like you should have never gone into the room in the first place. Like you don't belong. Like there is something wrong with you or there's a strange thing stuck to your face and nobody wants to tell you it's there. This is what I feel in regards to my family. I don't hate them for the way they treat me, it's just irritating as hell. Especially now that I have a kid. When she is old enough she will ask me why she has never met my family such as cousins, aunts and uncles. It's not up to me, it's just what happened. What's even more irritating is that everytime I would go to a family event everyone comes up to me and says how happy they are to see me. Then how come you never invite me to the family BBQ's or to the family Weddi...

This morning was quite a pleasant one , to say the least. I woke up to vomit and diarrhea all over my dining room. No, I did not host  one hell of a party last night, nor would I ever. Especially one where the guests poop and throw up everywhere. Our 19 year old Jack Russell Terrier, Levi the Jewish Rye, (Note: we are  not Jewish.) must not have enjoyed his Pot- roast last night. So that was a nice bit to clean up this morning. On to the good part. Walking Dead is back. The story that is Fear the Walking Dead is good but just doesn't capture the same interest. I have been watching the series since it first aired back in...umm..  damn! This show has been on forever! Me and my wife are huge fans of the show, my wife more-so. Weird, right? She got hooked back in season one. She was sitting at our desk and I was on the couch watching Rick walk through the hospital while there was dead scattered all around. She could not help but to keep peeking over her sho...

   There's no better time of the yea  then when all the leaves start to change. The mornings get brisk and the days get darker. I am the type of person that likes cool air and dark skies. It may sound like I'm a morbid person but in fact, I just love everything that comes along with the weather. Everyone seems to loves the summer. The beach, the BBQs, the bathing suits. I'm not a fan. I don't like the heat, the crowds (I live on the Jersey Shore) and me and the sun do not get along at all. I burn... bad. My Hispanic heritage does not assist me when I need it most. There are just too many things that are better done in the fall when it's gloomy than in the summer when it's hot and humid. For instance, can you curl up with a good book with the windows open while you snuggle up under a blanket? Possibly add a fire in the mix? No, you can not. It's just too damn hot. Plus, I usually like to drink a glass of warm tea with my books which is ...

I am super excited this year for Halloween. Not only is the day of the dead my favorite holiday, Christmas second, but it will also be our daughters first Halloween.  I do wish we could have done more as far as festivity-wise but between work, baby and money it just was not on the board this year. I love how for one day, two if you live in Monmouth/ Ocean county New Jersey, you are able to dress up and just be who you want to be. I love all things nerdy so of course I would have loved to have been able to afford a stormtrooper or a realistic Indiana Jones costumes but again, the money thing.  Our daughter was originally meant to be born on Halloween but as stubborn as she is, she waited til November 1st to grace us with her presence. This year is going to be that much better with the premiere of season 2 of Stranger Things. The Netflix show that locked me and my wife down for a total of 8 hours straight when it came on last year, or whenever that was. It ...

This is my first note discussing video games of any sort. I am not your usual video game enthusiast or "gamer", I play games to release and escape. I play them to release frustrations that come home with me from work and escape to a place where i can develop elsewhere. I do not enjoy the shoot em up games like i used to, instead i play games where there is a story to be told. A plot to be revealed or just a world to exist in. I will of course be talking about others but first, one storyline has stood out above all others and you should know which storyline it is if you have seen the title. Bioshock Infinite. For those that have played through this tale of racism, reform and repent you know how the story ends. For those that have not...Spoilers. SPOILERS. SPOILERS!! So you get the whole picture, this is a story, of which takes place in 1912, of a man, Booker Dewitt, who is assigned to find a girl. He is promised a clean slate from debt collectors back in New York city as ...

It pains me to say...I have failed as a vegetarian. I lasted longer than  i ever thought but not as long as I hoped. Reasons for my change back come from all over. I found it very tough to stick to vegetarian while my wife was not. We have opposing blood types me and her. My blood thrives on the vegetarian diet while hers does not. My wife is also the best cook i know and I'm not just saying that. The girl is a magician in the kitchen and its nor fair to either of us when she prepares her favorite dish roasted chicken with vegetables. Oh man...it really is something. She works very hard to prepare each meal, minus breakfast...sometimes, that we eat. She takes a lot of pride in sourcing her ingredients to ensure the quality of the meals. There were some health points that popped up as well. One major health issue was my hair. That stuff was coming out like crazy. Found out it was because I was not getting enough vitamins or something like that. Once I started ...

This weekend was a sad and infuriating one for these two Chinese food loving kids. Like most New Jerseyans, we order Chinese food about once every two weeks, sometimes more depending on how the weather is. It's sort of our ritual. We get wine, we get out our special Chinese food bowls and ALWAYS eat with chop sticks. Me and my wife are serious about our Chinese food so much that after we got married we took a trip up to the first major Chinese restaraunt in New York City. No, not P.F Changs which by the way, created General Tso's Chicken, the way that Americans know it anyhow. We have traveled far and wide for any place on anyones radar that seems worth it. I tell you this so you can get a sense of the disappointment that we faced this past weekend. We noticed lately that the same food that we have been ordering for about six years has begun to cost more. The prices have not changed so why has our total? My wife wanted to get to the bottom of it and in do...

When you become a parent your social life takes a dip. Well... for some of us it does. It is to much work to find friends that still want to come around and it becomes impossible to plan outings with others. Unless those you are meeting with have just as much difficulty getting out. Jeez, just getting to Booskerdoo feels like we climbed Everest, the achievement!! The rush even if just for 30 minutes while Meals entertains herself with a coffee cup sleeve. This weekend we are going out on our own for the first time since becoming parents and I could not be more excited. My wife on the other hand is..well.. freaking out a bit. I get it completely, i am a little worried myself. I believe that half way through the evening one of us will be running home to assist with the bedtime routine. I have faith in our replacement but our routine is kind of... strict? We have the feeling that so many things can go wrong but at the same time, so many things can go right. This ks pro...

Halloween is the greatest day of the year but comes only once a year. The one time of the year wherebats and ghosts are the main decor. Soldiers walk in line with mummies and dogs.  I have been in many homes where the cobwebs on the walls are real and the walls really are alive and crawling.  During this enchanting day of ghosts, ghouls and princesses, we need to remember that although most  are partaking with their kids in the festivities, some are not.  Here are some ways to make sure that you stay safe this Halloween . PLEASE NOTE: Each scenario is equal to it`s appropriate response. LIGHTS OFF= MOVE ALONG I never knew of this until I was much older and began to understand that different faiths frown upon the best holiday ever. Although this is the reason for some people there are also others that just don’t want to be bothered by kids knocking on their doors every five minutes looking for candy. Whatever the reason may be. If the lights...

So the time has finally come... i have finished my journey through the trials and tribulations of the saga that is , or was, Repairman Jack. Please note: there may be some spoilers ahead. As you may already know from a previous post, i have been following the Repairman Jack storyline for a very long time. His saga is the largest in my personal library, Harry Potter is second. F. Paul Wilson's Nightworld is the conclusion of the tale. Not only Jacks ending tale but the end point for the Adversary Cycle as well. The end begins shortly after the events of Dark at the End with large holes opening up around the world. First one in Central Park. With the Lady wiped out from the last novel, Rasalom is now free to begin his reign of terror on our existing sphere in place as a direct champion chosen by the Otherness. Rasalom crawls down into the hole and fixes himself into a position so he can begin his transformation into a true nightmare of a being. Day after day the ...

Our lives have been forever changed... Our daughters birthday is just a couple short weeks away and we could not be more happy, excited, exhausted, thrilled and as of now, on high alert. Our little one has learned to stand and after realizing what happens when she moves one foot in front of the other to get from one spot, usually the couch, to another, usually to something she is not supposed to touch. My how she has changed the game. Uh oh.. When she began walking at 11 months, we were thrilled but now seeing how much more we need to watch her has us on high alert. It used to be "Oh she's crawling, she can't get into too much trouble". But now!! Forget about it. Everything is trouble! In the coming days we will need to reorganize our living space and remove all low lying fruit such as candles, heavy items and any other common houslehold item that could cause death, not really but you never know! Even my wifes purse on the top of the couch gets me wondering, I...

I used to think the force was made up, just some far off mystical story that people made up. But it's not! It's true, all of it... the power, the stories, the following... all true. The power and truth that I speak of is the cultish following that is a part of all Subaru owners. You have no idea it's happening but once you realize it has, you always find yourself sitting there saying to yourself, usually while sitting in your Subie, "Huh... would you look at that... I am in a cult... and I kinda LIKE IT". Subaru has been pumping out the same 4-6 models of AWD vehicles for the past decade and has grown an incredible following from all sorts of people. This is no surprise if you look at the failed history of the company. Some time ago Subaru was part of a five family Japanese automotive company. As the stories go, Japan wanted to reel in all of their Auto companies and produce them all under one roof to stabilize the market. Subaru, or better know...