Operation Florida, Phase Two….

I didn’t know Christmas could be so exhausting! Someone said it was “10 years of Christmas” it felt like 20 years. Phase two of Florida was the 1st part of the Christmas week. Jackie, my sister, Scooter and myself all left for Florida Wednesday after work. After what was a very long trip we finally arrived sometime before midnight. When you travel with 3 girls, a 6hr trip can turn into 8hrs, with all the coffee drinkin, tee-weein, and buffet eating going on. Florida held some nice suprises, a trip to the zoo with my grandmother was a nice way to spend the day, she loves animals, and to feed giraffes, along with taking a kayak ride around the park, it allowed for some good memories. We did our Christmas dinner and presents on the 24th. Nana got a Furby, Dad got a remote control speed boat for the pool, mom got some binoculars to see the porpoises out at sea.

Christmas morning on the Interstate….

By 5:30am we were on our way up the interstate to make it for Lunch at Nana and Papa’s. Spending Christmas morning in a car is not ideal….but when you have a family so big, and only so much time to get it all in its what has to be done. Thinking of the kids getting up and seeing all the toys kept my spirits up. That is such a fun feeling.

Darth Bingo….
So this years bingo was the best….and we can thank Darth Potato Head for that. There was drama, action, and maybe a little tears as the hot potato made its way around the room to its final destination……. my lap How ironic, the irishman ended up with the potato.

I love me some Chicken balls…
Monday morning I was rushed out of bed because a picture of the Chicken Ball Snowman needed to be taken…..how is it at that very moment as I am sleeping that I am the only one who knows how to take pictures? Then I could not find the camera…ohh the drama for some Chicken Balls. So finally I knew if I took a bite of this chicken ball the camera would show up, and sure enough it did. Those chicken balls were amazing, even if the chicken expired last year. (opps!)

Christmas is over….
Another year of madness is done, next year will come soon enough, actually in 3 days.
Thanks for all the food, presents, and good times.
g.

p.s. At Danyelle’s request, I will do a top 10.

10 things I learned this Christmas

1. Do not stop to eat at a buffet 15 minutes before they close.
2. Next year my mother wants to order Chinese food for Christmas Dinner.
3. Do not let Furby’s sit next to each other, or feed them after midnight or get them wet.
4. I love my sister very much, even if I give her a hard time.
5. I want Chicken Balls every year, Kelly buy the chicken now so its out of date.
6. I am not allowed tease Danyelle like Kelly does, other wise I am going down.
7. I am the only one that knows how to work a camera before 9am.
8. Scooter will throw up at least three times from something she got into.
9. God Bless snowman number 1, he gave his life for my belly.
10. Blogging is a lot of pressure, especially when everyone has been coming here and there has been no updates.

*note* there are 2 Christmas photo galleries. Florida & Warner Robins

The other night as we were out with the boys we were singing Christmas songs in the car. Aidan and Emmett had an interesting take on the lyrics of some songs.

Aidan sang Jingles Bells as follows., “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way…. Old McDonald had a farm….Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells.”

Emmett was trying to sing some country song for line dancing, you know the one where its ” grab your partner…..dosey doe and round we go” ?

Well Emmett sang something along those lines, but he changed it a little to “slap your partner round and round” Aidan picked it up, and sang along too. From there it turned into a giggle fest.

Oh, dem kids.

Christmas has got to be one of the only times in the year when it can either be the happiest of times or the hardest times for a family. God has so blessed our family to allow us to be inside the happiest of times circle. I hope everyone does their part to spread a little Christmas cheer to someone who may not have as much or anything at all.

As a kid growing up, Christmas has some of the best memories for me. When I think of childhood, its up there in the top three of good times.

I remember about a hand full of specific Christmas years as a child growing up in Ireland. I remember my 1st toy car set, that my grandfather helped me setup in the living room. (It did loops by the way)

I remember my 1st bike, it was orange and came with a helmet that had a green pull down sun-visor (not that the sun came out in Ireland very much).

I remember the morning I got Star Wars toys, the whole set. I was not even sure what Star Wars was, but I just knew they looked pretty freakin cool.

I remember one Christmas morning seeing a foot print by the fireplace (black soot) meaning only one thing! Santa did in fact come down the chimney, and left the same way.

I remember a few nights before every Christmas, Jenn and I would write our Chrismas list and address it, seal it, and then throw it in the fireplace for it to go to the north pole (how awesome is that?) the flame would always turn a weird greenish blue meaning the magic was at work and the letter was off to the right place (or it could have been the marker dye we used to write the letter) I like to believe it was the magic.

Last night we took the boys to “A Walk Through Bethlahem” as a grown up a lot of the magic gets lost in our vision of the reality around us. I know those boys saw something different. I know they saw the magic of Christmas, and one day they will look back and remember it, just like I remember the blue glow my letter made as it burst into flames and flew up the chimney to Santa.

I want to wish everyone a Merry CHRISTmas, (not that Happy Holidays crap) because it is not about the holidays or the gifts and material things that come wrapped in paper. It is about love, sacrifice and being there for each other when we need each other the most. We are a tight group, and to know and feel that from a family is one of the greatest gifts anyone could ever ask for.

Love,
Greg, Jackie, Scooter and Scruffy (aka Rick, the secret is out

So last night was our “Real Life Survivor Party”. It was hosted at Martha Stewarts; I mean Danyelle and Chris’s house. (It felt like Martha’s house, I felt as though I had won reward on “The Apprentice”. The party was good times, there was CHICKEN WINGS! and subs. As we all know there are boring parts during the marathon showing of the Finale, so Martha, I mean Danyelle came up with our own “Tribal Counsel” we voted for whether you would have eaten or not eaten the chicken that was made as an offering to the mayan gods? Emmett tallied the votes, “do not eat the chicken” was voted out, and “eat the chicken” was the majority vote. I hope you all like rain!

During round two of “real life” tribal counsel, Jeff, I mean Emmett got very emotional and was upset with the tribe not understanding the rules of what “real life tribal counsel” meant. Clearly is means voting for someone in the room and not some non-deserving clown on TV. He was very upset with the 1st vote, which was Steph. However, the remaining votes which were “Luke Skywalker” and “Danyelle you better get out of my seat” brought peace and balance to the tribe. This was by far the best Survivor party ever, it’s not everyday that television can be so interactive, and with that I say: “The Jeff has spoken”.

So last Tuesday morning I had an interview for the position of Senior Network Technician. Myself and two other techs applied (who are also very deserving). I went to my interview at 9 am, there was a commitee of five there. They all asked questions about the job and the role I would play. The questions were based on a point system. Total amount of points you could get was 250. By the end of the 3 interviews there was a 9 point spread between the three of us. I was called shortly after the interview by the Director of Technology Services and told I had the job. What does this mean? Well, I am responsible for all schools in the county. I will assist and be 1st point of contact for all the techs in their schools. I will assist the board office and warehouse with any support. I am also responsible for Landesk which is a software we use for inventory and remote assistance. Jackie and I are pretty excited about this new path I am about to take, it was very unexpected, but will be very rewarding.
w00t!

Wowza! Well that was fun. Thursday night Jackie and I got into Rockledge to see my parents and wonderful grandmother, who was still exhausted after her almost 20 hour travel trip from Ireland. All is well in the Hogan clan in Florida, dad is still working hard with the Pizza joint, mom had the house all cozy with her nicknacks and Christmas decorations. It was great to see them all.

Disney was great fun, Pictures have been posted. There was a few funny moments I would like to talk about. TheRainforest Cafe has all our mortgage payments for the month of December.

There was a moment as we were sitting outside the gates to Disney, Aidan and Dylan as we all know are the best of friends and can not stand to be apart from each other. They were both sitting up on the wall outside the park awaiting the gates to open. Aidan looked at Dylan and said “Umm Dylan, do not fall off the wall….. If you fall off the wall your head will crack open and then your brain will fall out. Then you wont see Mickey and Buzz.” You have to picture that being said in Aidans sweet manner and matter of fact voice. There was something also said about the eyes falling out, but I was trying to hard not to laugh to hear it.

Emmett is now hooked on Rollercoasters. His dad said it maybe time for Six Flags. We started him off on Thunder Mountain, which he loved and squealed like a pig. After riding it twice he insisted on riding something faster. So off to Space Mountain we went. About 1 minute into the ride Chris and I hear “I THINK IM GONNA BARF!!!” but he loved it, he wanted to ride it again. Jackie and I then took him on over to Splash Mountain, a 50 foot drop into a pool of cold water will definitely wake you up after a long day, we got soaked and again he loved it, and with that we ended the evening.

We missed those who could not be there, I am sure there will be many more.