Sunday, December 26, 2010

A Grand Day......

was had by all!!! (picture heavy)
A.M.





Yes, i had a beer!! it was noon in ahhh..... somewhere ;))

Ham

Porketta






P.M.





The "Mayor" Pete and Cindi 

You are the best Dear!!!
I LOVE You!!!




We hadn't seen Uncle Larry in about 8 months; it was awesome catching up!!







Dad and Thomas.
Thanks Cindi


Monday, December 6, 2010

Stuff

i've been working a lot, and people have been sick, and that's been about all that's been going on in our life.
last weekend the boys and i went to Aurora, Mn. for a geocaching event called a flash mob. only 5 people showed up, but it was still a good time.



this past Thursday Hibbing had a Spirit of Unity parade, yeah a parade during the winter!!??
i pedaled down ater work, with the intention of watching our children, who were walking with their school.
well on my way downtown i ran into my buddy Mike, and he was pedaling his bike with a local radio station...... long story short......i found out i was riding in the parade also!!!
here's a couple pictures taken by Cindi.



and some of the kids also............................




The Last of the Unplucked Gems  

Violins and tambourines
This is what I think they mean
It's hard to say, it's sad but true
I'm kinda dumb and so are you

When the mystique varies thus
You can send a man to bury us
It's hard to say, it's sad but true
I'm kinda dumb and so are you

The last of the unplucked gems
The last of the unplucked gems
The last of the unplucked gems

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Completists  

You lured me with your diamond flower
you lured me with talk of still more talk
you lured me with caramelizing power
you lured me a lot
Clearly lifeless barefeet
and dogs just trained to sniff
you saw him struggle
then you saw him cease his struggling
you said, we're halfway come and meet us
we're the completists

You lured me with your bad intentions
you lured me with your mexican pot
you lured me with desert dimensions
you lured me a lot.
You loaded up your gear so well
you can pack so tight
but I can still hear your tambourine
demeaning you through the night
don't wanna sound defeatist
but we're the 'complete-est'.

Intimate, inaccurate, a family, in a way,
made the trip to Vulnerable and back
on the same day.
don' t wanna sound defeated.

You lured me into repetition
you lured me to wanna go to sleep
you lured me into open spaces
you lure me
clearly lifeless barefeet
and dogs just trained to sniff
You showed him struggle
then you showed him cease his struggling
you said, we're halfway, come, and meet us
we're the completists.
halfway come and meet us
the 'complete-est'

Monday, November 29, 2010

Blow at High Dough  

They shot a movie once, in my hometown
Everybody was in it, from miles around
Out at the speedway, some kinda Elvis thing
Well I ain't no movie star
But I can get behind anything
Yea I can get behind anything

Get it out, get it all out
Yea stretch that thing
Make it last, make it all last
At least until the supper bell rings
Well the taxi driver likes his rhythm
Never likes the stops
Throes of passion, throes of passion
When something just threw him off

Chorus
Sometimes the faster it gets
The less you need to know
But you gotta remember,
The smarter it gets
The further it's gonna go
When you blow at high dough
When you blow at high dough

Whoa baby I feel fine
I'm pretty sure it's genuine
It makes no sense, no it makes no sense
But I'll take it free any time
Whoever fits her usually gets her
It was the strangest thing
How'd she move so fast, move so fast
Into that wedding ring

Chorus

Out at the speedway, same Elvis thing
Well I can't catch her, but I can get behind anything
Yea I can get behind anything
Well I can get behind anything

Chorus

Out at the speedway, same Elvis thing

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Thompson Girl  

Thompson Girl, I'm stranded at the Unique Motel
Thompson Girl winterfighter's shot on the car as well
looks like Christmas at 55 degrees
this latitude weakens my knees, Thompson Girl

Grunt work somewhere between dream and duty
poking through with all them shoots of beauty

Thompson Girl walking form Churchill
across the icy world with polar bears it's mostly uphill
but when she saw that nickel stack
she whistled hard and I whistled back, Thompson Girl

Grunt work time between dream state and duty
poking through with all them shoots of beauty
grunt work somewhere between dream and duty
poking through with all them shoots of beauty

Thompson Girl we're down at the deadhouse plants
Thompson Girl we've jettisoned everything we can
she says springtime's coming
wait til you see
it poking through with them shoots of beauty
it's the end of rent-a-movie weather
it's time we end this siege together, Thompson Girl
Thompson Girl
Thompson Girl
Thompson Girl

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Mojo............

Is home, and let the fun begin with a 14 week old shit machine!!!
the kids have been making things interesting with this little guy, but I'm sure the newness of Mojo will wear off in a couple of weeks, and he'll truly become Cindi and Joe's dog!!! lol
so my time has been taken up with taking him outside, ohhhh about every two hours, and the 4" of snow we got today has made things interesting for our newest family member.









Thursday, November 11, 2010

Nautical Disaster  

I had this dream where I relished the fray
and the screaming filled my head all day.
It was as though I'd been spit here, settled
in, into the pocket of a lighthouse on some
rocky socket, off the coast of France, dear.

One afternoon, four thousand men died in
the water here and five hundred more were
thrashing madly, as parasites might in your
blood. Now I was in a lifeboat designed for
ten and ten only, anything that systematic
would get you hated. It's not a deal nor a
test nor a love of something fated. The
selection was quick, the crew picked and
those left in the water got kicked off our
pantleg and we headed for home.

Then the dream ends when the phone rings,
you doing alright he said it's out there most
days and nights, but only a fool would
complain. Anyway Susan, if you like, our
conversation is as faint as a sound in my
memory, as those fingernails scratching on
my hull.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

At the Hundredth Meridian  

Me debunk an american myth?
And take my life in my hands?
Where the Grat Plains begin
at the hundredth meridian.
At the hundredth meridian,
Where the Great Plains begin

Driving down a corduroy road,
Weeds standing shoulder high
Ferris wheel is rusting off in the distance
At the hundredth meridian where the Great Plains begin

Left alone to get gigantic;
Hard, huge, and haunted
A generation so much dumber than it's parents came
crashing through the window
A raven strains along the line of the road,
carrying a muddy, old skull
The wires whistle their approval,
off down the distance
At the hundredth meridian where the Great Plains begin

I remember, I remember buffalo and I remember Hengelo
It would seem to me I remember every
single bloody, warm, and horrible thing I know

If I die of Vanity, promise me, promise me,
they bury me some place I don't want to be,
you'll dig me up and transport me unceremoniously,
away from the swollen city-breeze, garbage-bag trees,
whispers of disease and acts of enormity
and lower me slowly, sadly, and properly
Get Ry Cooder to sing my eulogy
At the hundredth meridian where the Great Plains begin


Peace..........

Monday, November 8, 2010

Now I Remember .........

How much I disliked my old job at Irathane Systems!!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be working, but if I was single; I would've taken the unenjoyment and been a much happier person right about now!!!
At Iracore Int. I was up and at em at 4 a.m. no questions asked. It's starting my 2nd full week here, and I can't make myself get up any earlier than 6 a.m.
The thought of coming to this place turns my stomach like you have no idea!!!
The only thing that gets me out of bed are the 4 people that depend on me!!
Cindi, Thomas, Zack and Jenna, I Love You Guys!!! Thanks for keeping me going!!
I'd also like to say, bare with me through this time!!! :))
Anyway, here's to getting up every day, and loving what you do!!!
I can't wait for that day to come again for me!!!
Peace.............

Friday, October 29, 2010

Time to Play the Game, Again!!!!???

Well, it's that time again. What's that you say Joe?
Work has slowed down to almost a stand still, a lot of us were told yesterday that today is our last day, (15 or so), and we will be laid off. All our big jobs are done for the year, but the 1st half of next year will be rocking again.
So the game i'm talking about is jumping to the other one of two shops within the company. Where i used to work (Industrial Rubber Products), is slower than we are at Iracore. So as of Monday I'll be work for Irathane Systems, right across the parking lot from where I sit right now. They say Jan. for our orders to start rolling in again, but I've played this game for so many years, it'll be Feb. for sure.
We deal with companies that operate the oilsands of Canada. Pipe and pipe only, from 50' lengths down to 17.5' lengths. Company info in the links to the right.
I will be taking a $3 an hour pay cut, but my insurance stay intact!!! With small children, that's worth the cut in pay!!
This is nothing new to me, but unnerving all the same.
I'd like to thank my father for instilling a good work ethic in me at an early age, thanks Dad, I love you!! I know it wasn't easy, and I totally understand why you were such a hardass at times!!! ;) you giving the hardass treatment makes me a hard employee to get rid of, thanks again!!
Also, I'd be amiss not to say, Cindi, I love you more than you know dear!! You truly are the glue that hold our family together!!
So, here's to "playing the game" for 3 months!! Yippee
Also, this means some long hours to make up for the paycut, less family time,less time on the bike.
All in all, I'm just thankful to still be working!!!

Peace..............

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Day in the Life of Our 4 Year Old

I got the chance to spend the day with Jenna at her head start class yesterday. Let me tell ya, it was pretty cool!!!
It was so fulfilling to watch our little girl become a little person outside the home!!
I'm completely jealous of Cindi when she can go and do this day after day!! Watching Jenna interact with the other kids, and how she deals with problems that arise with children that age just blew me away!! Watching her do the things the teachers asked, while other kids are running around being disruptive, was also mind blowing!!! She's older than her years tell!!!
I love you Jenna, and am so very proud of you!!! :)

I also can't believe how other parents can send their children to school looking like they haven't taken a bath in a couple days, and with that mornings meal all over their clothes and little faces!!!
Cindi you are the best mother and partner a child and this guy could ever hope to have!!
I LOVE you!!!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

A Cache, and A Bash

We went geocaching towards Tower, Mn. yesterday.
 this was the 2nd to last cache out of a total of 8, on an ok day to be outside.


Then it was back home to get ready for "The Field of Screams" http://www.fieldofscreams.info/
The kids had a blast and my neck still hurts from Jenna damn near choking me from being scared so much!!!!
it was around a 25-40 min. walk around the Mn. Discovery Center's http://www.mndiscoverycenter.com/ grounds.

then it was off to a bon-fire and some fun with other people, mostly friends of Cindi's.
it was ok, but it's not my favorite thing being around people i don't know.
anyway here's some pictures.
Peace.................................