It’s over folks. Thanksgiving 2006 has finally come to an end. My in-laws are on their way back to Kansas. My parents and sister are off doing their own thing with a resounding, “I have plans today and tomorrow”. I tried my damnedest to be civil the whole time; unfortunately Ktreva did bear some of the frustration last night after everyone had gone back to their hotels.

I opted to not take the Jack DanielÂ’s route as I thought that with everything else going on, it might just cause me to explode in an angry fit of honesty. Where that would have been much blog fodder, it also probably would have caused much strife in the Contagion household. At one point yesterday I was ready to take some of that new ammo and redecorate the interior of my living room brain matter greyÂ… and not necessarily my in-laws. It was just a passing thought with no seriousness to it, but still.

This morning before everyone went their separate ways we all had breakfast, that was fun. Especially since overnight Ktreva came down with the flu and I had to deal with all the boys, my parents, my sister, and my in-laws all by myself with no support. I think at this time I really should explain something to everyone. When I have family functions, I tend to not stay for more then 2-3 hours before leaving. Especially if there is extended family involved. I really hate some of my auntÂ’s, uncles and cousins. Many of my readers may not understand that, as I know you are close with your families. IÂ’m not. IÂ’ve always been the black sheep, the different one, and the one that doesnÂ’t think, act or behave like everyone else. After three hours of dealing with these people, IÂ’m ready to get the fark out of Dodge. On Thursday I spent 9.5 hours with them, yesterday I spent 8.5 hours with them, and this morning I spent 2 hours with them. IÂ’ve spent more time with my family and in-laws in the last three days then I have in the last 12 months.

But at least there was some humor out of the whole situation. This morning on the TV I saw a commercial for Lowe’s. They where talking about some sale, I wasn’t paying attention, but I did catch one piece from it. “…That way you can have you house all finished before your in-laws say, this room will look nice once you finish it.” That spoke volumes to me. Ktreva has been working on the woodwork in our living room for 7 years. She is nowhere done with it. She was the one that wanted to do it, and took the job on; she doesn’t want me touching it. Yesterday her grandmother said to me, “This room will look nice once you finish the woodwork you started 7 years ago.” When she is speaking about Ktreva and I, it’s y’all… so she meant me.

The kicker is that this morning at breakfast my mother, Ktreva's mom, and Ktreva's Grandmother decided this is going to be an annual tradition. They are going to do this every Thanksgiving. I think next year I'm going to find a part time job working security at the mall.

AhhÂ… such is life. Anyway, youÂ’ll have to excuse me; I need to go check to see if KtrevaÂ’s chunder bucket needs emptying.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:49 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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ItÂ’s black Friday, and as IÂ’ve stated in the past there is nothing that would make me want to go out shopping today. Well that was until yesterday. Between the Thanksgiving feedings the lady folks got together to look at adds for today. Ktreva found an add from DickÂ’s Sporting goods that stated ammo was 50% off today only from 5:30 AM to 2:00 PM, maximum 6 boxes. This morning I woke up around 6:30 AM and headed into the madness that is Black Friday. I didnÂ’t think ammo was that big of a Christmas commodity, so I didnÂ’t wake up too early.

DickÂ’s wasnÂ’t that busy when I arrived, and they did have their ammo on sale. I picked up 4 boxes of .357 and 2 boxes of .45 ACP. After I made my purchases, I called my friends J-man and Graumagus to advise them to get off their butts and head down there while the sale is still going on. Then I had a moment of genius. I have a friend that works at Gander Mountain and is working today. Maybe I could get Gander Mountain to honor the competitorÂ’s sale, thus getting another 6 boxes of ammo at 50% off.

Gander Mountain was also not busy upon arrival. I was able to find my friend and I asked if they would honor their competitorÂ’s sale. He advised me that normally they donÂ’t, especially on Black Friday, just because of the nature of the sales. Then he added that since I had the ad with me AND because IÂ’ve purchased a lot from them over the last year they would match the deal. Unfortunately their ammo selection had been picked over. They had the same Remington .357, but they didnÂ’t have the .45 ACP. But they did have it in the Blazer Brass. I decided I needed another 100 rounds of .45, and picked up the Blazer Brass.

Then my friend looked at the coupon, much closer then I did. The actual sale is buy one, get one at 50% off. DickÂ’s (Whom the ad is for) gave me all the ammo at 50% off. Heck, the guy working the counter even told me that all the ammo was 50% off. I may not have gotten as good of a deal from Gander Mountain, but it was still good enough. Between the two sporting good stores, I ended up with 600 rounds of Ammo for just over $110.00.
One canÂ’t argue with that. I normally spend that amount buying half of what I bought.

IsnÂ’t that a pretty sight?

Posted by: Contagion at 06:46 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Happy Thanksgiving. ItÂ’s that time of year when all AmericanÂ’s get together to give thanks for everything theyÂ’ve received over the last year. As some of you may recall I had a horrible experience with my family at Thanksgiving last year and vowed that I was going to do my own thing this year. Around September my in-laws advise my wife they want to come to town to spend Thanksgiving with us. We, meaning me as I do 95% of the cooking for special occasions, are not prepared to cook for that many people. Fortunately my mother says she wants us to come over to her house, none of my aunts, uncles or cousins are coming. We told my mother that KtrevaÂ’s Mom and Grandparents are coming to town, so my mother told us we could all go over to her house.

This sounds like it’s a good deal right? Nope, my in-laws don’t like me. Comments that have been made to me are along the lines of I’m controlling Ktreva, holding her back, keeping her from seeing her family, not providing well for the family, etc. My favorite was five years ago when one of them told me, “We just don’t like you”. Ktreva doesn’t believe any of this, because they are all nice to me when she’s with in earshot, but not when she’s not around. They also make comments to her that leads her to believe that they like me.

So far this Thanksgiving is going to be dealing with my Mother, who thinks sheÂ’s the boyÂ’s mother and that IÂ’m still 16. My sister who thinks IÂ’m too hard on the boys. My in-laws that hate me and my father, who will be my only ally that may help me out.

So this Thanksgiving IÂ’m thankful for Jack DanielÂ’s. It calms my stomach, my nerves and in the right moderation will keep my brain just soaked enough to not care.

On a lighter note, I have Thanksgiving presents for every one in the extended entry.
more...

Posted by: Contagion at 08:58 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Some Thanksgiving gift...the guys get a sexy woman, and the gals get...well, I try not to say words like that.

Happy Thanksgiving anyway!

Posted by: Mrs_Who at November 23, 2006 10:00 AM (nG9ng)

2 Happy Thanksgiving, dude, and thanks for the present.... From the Poke-a-hoe tribe is she?

Posted by: Wes at November 23, 2006 10:01 AM (eZAe8)

3 Happy Thanksgiving, man...

And thanks for the present.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at November 23, 2006 10:05 AM (Hn1Gg)

4 Hrmm...I always loved women with sharp objects

Happy Turkey Day dude!

Posted by: BloodSpite at November 23, 2006 11:03 AM (ZTGJT)

5 Umm... thanks I think. *grin*

Dude! Next year it's time to lay it out with the families... your family gets one holiday for themselves alone. Either Thanksgiving or Christmas... it's your family day for the 4 of you and then you get at least one where you can kick back and relax without needing the help of Jack. We always did Thanksgiving.

Anyhow, I hope the day goes better than you are expecting. Or at least that Jack helps out a bit.

Posted by: Teresa at November 23, 2006 11:09 AM (5UR9t)

6 Just focus on Sunday. You can make it til Sunday. We love you. You know that!!

Come to the light.....

Posted by: Tammi at November 23, 2006 12:33 PM (Sz1NJ)

7 Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by: Consul-At-Arms at November 24, 2006 02:19 AM (I0cnc)

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I’m still alive. Yesterday did not go as planned. After grabbing all the gear I loaded up the family into the truck and headed to the MetroCentre. Ktreva kept telling me the whole time that I was being foolish and I was going to get hurt. Finally as I approached the sign-in table she stepped in front of me, crossed her arms, hitched her hips and stuck out a leg. She said, and I quote, “If you sign that piece of paper to try out, you are going to be in more trouble then you can imagine. Trust me, you don’t want that kind of trouble. Oh, and you know that thing I occasionally do that you really like, that you say I'm really good at and want me to do more of… keep it up and never again.”

Thus I ended up watching the tryouts from the sidelines. There were some guys down on the field that made me look svelte and others that made me look like I was a professional athlete. I donÂ’t know how many of them actually made the team. After a couple of hours I left and met up with Graumagus at Hooters for beer, hot wings and the afternoon game. Yea, it tore up my stomach, but it tasted real good.

So my dreams of being a UIF football player have been dashed. On a lighter note, when we left the building I realized that I had forgotten CloneÂ’s backpack at our seats. While running in to get it, I stepped wrong and gave myself a leg cramp. Maybe it was a good idea that I didnÂ’t try out.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:56 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Bum leg? Try being a Green Bay Quarterback.

Apparently mobility isn't a requirement :-/

Posted by: Harvey at November 20, 2006 06:27 PM (L7a63)

2 I love your wife so much.

And no, not that way. Damn, you and that "art"....

Posted by: Tammi at November 20, 2006 06:57 PM (3UQTn)

3 Darn. I was looking forward to really cool injury stories. You should have threatened her with your super-acid spit...

Posted by: Ogre at November 21, 2006 10:02 AM (oifEm)

4 It's good that Ktreva is there to save you from yourself. Though it would have been cool to be able to go watch you play...

Posted by: Richmond at November 21, 2006 11:52 AM (e8QFP)

5 Jeebus Caristy... you wuss.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at November 21, 2006 06:49 PM (Hn1Gg)

6 You have a good handler. Thank god she knows which tricks to use to handle you.

Posted by: og at November 22, 2006 08:21 PM (lMlMh)

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Right now Ktreva isnÂ’t speaking to me. SheÂ’s very upset at a decision IÂ’ve made. Today the Rock River Raptors are having open try-outs, and after much deliberation IÂ’ve decided to try out. For those of you that donÂ’t remember, the Raptors are the local United Indoor Football league team that I support.

Every time I watch a football game I see guys on the field and I think to myself, I can block better then that. Now I know the NFL players would kill me, but this is the UIF. These are the guys that werenÂ’t good enough to make the NFL, CFL or even the AFL. I actually stand a chance against these guys. So IÂ’m going to try to get a position on the line, offensive or defensive.

Sure I havenÂ’t played football in 17 years, IÂ’m out of shape and have some medical problems, but next year I will be too old to try out. If IÂ’m going to do it, this is the year. In about two hours IÂ’m going to head down to the MetroCentre and try to walk onto the team. Right now Ktreva is giving me a laundry list of reasons for why I shouldnÂ’t do it. Mainly because IÂ’m out of shape, have some medical problems, will probably create some new medical problems and IÂ’m just too old for this type of nonsense. She mentioned how I canÂ’t bounce back from injuries like I used to do. Bah! What does she know anyway?

On a slightly related note, IÂ’ve heard from numerous people that the Raptors have a commercial with me in it. From what IÂ’ve been told they focus on me at one point when IÂ’m cheering the team during a game. I have yet to see this commercial, so IÂ’m not sure how big of a dork I actually look like.

Well, IÂ’m going to go get ready and argue with Ktreva some more. Wish me luck! And I promise to give you an update later on how I did.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:12 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Tonight after work I went out and did my civic duty and voted. Of course we had a dogÂ’s dinner choice for some of the positions. Now I know many people scoff at me for this, but being an Independent, I didnÂ’t feel the need to vote for either party in certain races. Thus I did the only other thing I could, I wrote in people I felt would do a better job.

For Governor of Illinois: Myself. Hell, whatÂ’s the worst I could do? Looking at the choices, I figured I couldnÂ’t screw things up much worse then either of them can or have.

For Congress: I wrote in General John Borling. I donÂ’t agree with all of his platforms, but I agree with him on more then the other two. Plus I agree with his stance that both the Republicans and Democrats are out for themselves. In this race IÂ’d just love to see him actually place high enough to send a loud message to both parties in this state. According to a radio interview I heard a Republican or Democrat needs 600 signatures to get on the ballot, other parties need 900, however an Independent needs 16,000. Instead of wasting money and time he decided to run a write in-campaign. I may be off on the number of votes as it was two weeks ago I heard the interview, but it was some ridiculous larger number of signatures he would need.

For Illinois General Assembly: I wrote in Ktreva. The incumbent, Chuck Jefferson, ran unopposed and I donÂ’t agree with the man on nearly every point of his politics. Thus it was either write someone in or donÂ’t vote for that race at all.

For the School Superintendent: I wrote in my buddy Wes. IÂ’d like to see him in charge of the schools. It could get interesting. Again there was only one name on the ballot, and I didnÂ’t like the choice.

So there you have it people. If you donÂ’t like the candidates you can write people in. Is it throwing your vote away? Yea, it probably is. However, if enough people do it, maybe it will send up a red warning flag that we want real candidates and not the idiots that are being put forth in their place.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:09 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 You voted... that's the important thing. But I do like your choices. I think you'd make a spendid governor... not just "do better" than the two pretty lame choices. You'd rock! You should've campaigned on your blog. :-)

Posted by: Teresa at November 07, 2006 07:23 PM (o4pJS)

2 Heh. Me, School Superintendent....

My acceptance speech would start out something like, "I won?? What the hell were *you* thinkin'?! I didn't even know I was running!"

It would make for some fun though.... :-)

Posted by: Wes at November 07, 2006 07:59 PM (eZAe8)

3 Nahhh, he needs to shoot for president so he can recess appoint me as ambassador to the UN

Posted by: Graumagus at November 08, 2006 01:22 AM (s+Y40)

4 Obviously you're not in NC. I wrote myself in for Soil and Water Commissioner, but they throw out write-ins here.

Posted by: Ogre at November 08, 2006 09:43 AM (oifEm)

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