TGIF!!

-Another Friday. Love Fridays.

-Big baseball weekend with the Yanks and Bosox. (We'll be watching the Indians, too) Too bad my Mets are always out of it by this time of year.

-Watched some pre-season hockey last night to see the hated Islanders (yes, I am from LI, but am a loyal Ranger fan) beat my Rangers in a shoot-out. The new NHL has added a shoot-out in case the game and OT ends in a tie. <---We'll see.

-The Apprentice. Is that guy Marcus a jack-a$$ or what? <---Dude, you're soon to be a goner and Trump told you so last night. Mof3 asked how a guy like him could have gotten so far in business and I responded by telling her that I ask myself that question about hundreds of people here at my job.

-Soccer his weekend, plus open house season at the various Catholic High Schools. Caitlin has it narrowed down to 2 schools, Mof3 and Fof3 haven't ruled out any of them. Tonight is Mother of Fof3 (MofFof3) 's bday party at our house. Grandma, her 4 kids, their 4 spouses and 13 kids. <---Fof3 puts "Who Let the Dogs Out?" at highest volume and the kids dance til they sleep. (Remember that song???)

-Fof3 listening to Wilson Pickett right now. <---Plus suffering from a migraine. Still blogging, though.

-Gotta tell you, Lo and Trinity... I am surprised that you didn't react my 23rd post, 5th line... the one about Scott being a slippery dude on American Idol. Remember that guy? <--I try not to.

-Trinity...Fof3 still can't stay awake late enough to finish the 10 pm shows. Fell asleep right at the key moment on Without A Trace, but refuse go on the Without A Trace website to read about it.

-Hi Rachy, Andraste, Erwin, Peggy, Todd....hi Mother of 2 Boysd, SILofFof3, Hi Susan. Hey to my freinds from Boston/PR.

-Poor Leno....what a great song. <--Strange video.

-Hear that? That;s the sound of my boss coming in any seco... gotta go! LATER!

Hello from LI, NY

-Actually, it's NYC at the moment. You don't think I do this on my own time from home, do you? <---All Blogging done on billable time.

-It's an interesting morning here, weather wise. Brilliant blue skies, strong sun, but occasional dark, low, fast moving clouds make it look for a few minutes at a time like it's going to storm. <--Not much rain in weeks, here.

-Apprentice tonight. Fof3 and Mof3 watched Criminal Minds on CBS last night. I like Mandy Patinkin, currently, but he may soon end up on the same list as Helen Hunt, Nathan Lane, Ben Stiller and Matthew Broderick. <--The "Not him/her again... What else is on?" list.

-I have decided against the Martha Stewart Apprentice. Also Survivor and Amazing Race.

-Liam had practice last night and took two right in the head. One in the face...the other forehead. I was not there but Coach Russell says he got right back up again and did not want to take a break. <---Yet he cries when he has take cherry flavored cough medicine!

-Noelle's team had practice and the girls were much less silly this time than last.

-Caitlin is just awseome. Her teacher was NOT opinionated at all yesterday... leading us to wonder if the other dad said something. I hope not. Caitlin has a b-day coming up soon and wants an IPOD badly.

-9 year-old Little League boy collapsed and died yesterday in nearby Merrick, LI. I will propose that the Malverne Little League do something in his memory. <--Cause unknown. Died at home plate. Tragic.

-Yankees won. Bosox didn't.

-Hi Rachy...thanks for letting me know you're here. Andraste, hi. <---Lo, Trinity, Erwin...check out her blog. (Beware ther occasional F-bombs.)

-Hi to Ken. I still owe you, my friend. Hi Peggy. Hi Caitlin. Hi Boston/PR friends. Where are you? Hello, ???.

-That's really it for now..let;'s see: weather, sports, local LI news, tv picks, shout-outs, updates on my kids ...yeah that's it...covered it all. Let me go, I have real work to do, you know. DOORSLAM!

I'm back

-Aliens let me go. I told them Mof3's dinner was waiting for me and she HATES it when I'm late. They understood. (Being married, themselves and all.)

-Commander in Chief. <--Aside from having to look at Geena Davis' strangely shaped face, I thought this show premiere was pretty good. Very good, actually. But isn't Tuesday night, er, uh, you know, American Idol night? Gonna be a conflict ... and the first Female President of the United States is going to lose.

-Although it's not a family show, my new fave is Two and A Half Men.

-Practices for Liam and Noelle today. <---These kids ALL get silly at 6pm. Wish me luck.

-Caitlin is just her awesome self. She was very cute this am. As many of you know, her teacher has been getting under her skin with his political views and Caitlin is not shy about getting into it with him. Well, another dad is all set to call him today to complian and this makes Caitlin upset. Why? "Because I like the arguments we have, I don't want them to stop." <---Good for you, C.

-Whole new wardrobe needed for ...you guessed it...Mof3.

-Where are you Peggy? Faith? Motherof2 boys? Boston/PR? Ken? (Oh, yeah, Ken you were here regarding BOston the group a few days back.) (uh huh) Todd? Susan? Jeff? Hey Erwin. Hey 5cfam. Hey Trinity. Hey Lo.

-Yanks and Bosox tied for first.

-Fof3 listening to Big Mountain. <---Raggae, mon.

-ok, that's really it... so, Fof3 saying.... Buh Bye!!!

Abducted by Aliens

This is a test. I am conducting a test to see if anyone out there is ever reading this.


I have nbeen abducted by aliens and am unable to blog. Leave word.

Great Weekend

--Wow... another great weekend for the Family of Father of 3. (FofFof3)

-Starting on Friday, we Ate together, watched tv together and did the weekend homework all together. Lots of togetherness. LOTS.

-Saturday was Liam's soccer game and was it ever nice. The game was held down in Long Beach, right on the water and in the sun. The weather was perfect and the game was very entertaining. Liam's team lost pretty badly, but the effort was there. He was a hero, running up and down the field and trying very hard to help his team. Caitlin at this time was working at a big fair with her drama class. She applied tattoos to children and explained to them the importance of drama as it pertains to self-confidence, public speaking etc. Really, she just tod may kids how much fun it is. She earned $56 for her day, and felt great afterwards. She was tired and hungry but still managed to go on a few carnival rides with her sister and brother and Dad on the way to the car. She slept beautifully that night.

-Sunday was Noelle's soccer game and it, too was great. <--What a nice group of young ladies I have the honor of coaching.

-12:30 mass was an important one yesterday. It was for the installation of our new Parish Pastor, Father Frank. What a nice man. What a nice day. Fof3 loves all that Pomp and Circumstance stuff and yesterday's mass was full of it. Ancient rituals meet present day suburbia. <---Cool. And, of course, Caitlin was in the choir singing beautifully! <--You're awesome.

-All in all it was a great weekend. Not for another Caitlin, though. 5cfam's daughter hurt her ankle in a bouncy thing a b-day party and missed our game. The girls and I will do something nice for her. We missed her yesterday.

-Mof3 still working on becoming Mrs. America 2006. <---Go for it, honey!

-That's it...still waiting for Boston/PR friends to comment here. OUT!!

Here Comes Another Weekend...

-Weekend. Soccer for us while Hurricane Rita aims for Texas. We will pray that the hurricane does a little damage as possible. I'll make sure to mention to both Liam and Noelle's teams that we should consider ourselves lucky. Maybe we'll do a little pre-game prayer for the victims. Since Hurricane Katrina, our church has closed the mas with God Bless America. It will be no different this Sunday. <--This is a really neat thing, I think.

-Caitlin will be working at a street fair tomorrow for her drama class. She is very excited and wants to outthe money she earns towards an Ipod. <---You're awesome, C.... and I know you read this every day so, HI!

-Let me know what your weekend plans are and what's been playing on your tv's. I thought the first episode of the Apprentice was very good last night and since there is nothing nice to say about the first "You're fired!" victim, I won't say anything.

-Hi to Mof3... and Peggy and Ken and Trinity and Suzy and Lo and Todd and Jeff and ??? and Boston/PR friends. Where are you?

-Have a great weekend, everyone. L8ter!

Thursday.

-What's up, group?

-Fof3 missed The Martha Stewart Apprentice Premiere last night. They put it on at 8:oo and anyone with a school-aged kid knows that 8:00 is way too early for a show. 10:00 is way too late. (We 40 y.o.'s can't stay awake til 11:00 to watch it!) So, if it ain't on at 9:00...well, maybe I'll buy that tivo thingie.

-Yankees move past the Bosox for 1st place. Hello, Boston/PR friends...where are you?

-Noelle PINK team had a practice last night at 6:00. It was the silliest hour I've ever seen. 5 girls showed up, punchy, tired, hungry and SILLY!! We hardly practiced what with all the silliness going on. <---Gonna stick to Saturday practices from now on, I think.

-Liam had practicec and his coach said he was great. He meant behavior-wise which always means so much to Mof3 and I. <--Outstanding young man, Liam is.

-Caitlin had choir... Sunday is a big day in our parish as we install a new pastor. The choir has been working on a special set of hymns for weeks and they sound great. Tonight is drama night for C., and she is deliriously happy.

-What with all of Mof3's working out and personal trainer stuff, Fof3 is thinking of doing something I've never done. Train for a marathon. I think I'll give myself a year, train daily, update my progress here, ask you guys for encouragement and try it in 12 months. <--We'll see.

-Tonight the real Apprentice starts. <---Yeaaa.

-In an effort to get Liam to read more, I've started writing my own book/story on a daily basis. Each day I bring home a page or two and he reads it to the family. He reads great...Noelle is starting to learn. The story is called A Boy and His Dog. <--We;ll see how long this lasts.

Noelle

Caitlin

-ok, well, that;s about it... and btw, Jeff, my friend disagrees with me whole-heartedly re: INXS. <--Puts them up thee with the Beatles and the Stones and The Who and oh, whatever Jeff. They son't even move the needle on the rock and roll richter scale for me. But the show was good....really. <---Van Halen next???

-That would be all today... I can always jump back on and add something if I light bulb later on.... so...Fof3 ...OUT!!!

Wednesday

-Hey group...

-JD Fortune...new INXS lead singer. <---Good for him. Is it just me or is INXS not really THAT big a name in rock history?!?! Fof3 knows a little about a lot of things, but a lot about music. It's just that if I were asked to name the biggest or most influential or most successful or most popular rock bands of all time, INXS would not even register on the rock and roll richter scale. That's cool, though...I like JDF and, yes, I'll buy the CD when it comes out in late November.

-Caitlin has a big math test today. <---Good luck, C.

-Liam... showing a desire to get musical. <--This from the kid who eats, sleeps and breathes sports. Wants to play in the school/church band.

-Noelle... scum-dilly-icious! Practice tonight at 6:00. <---The girls don't need any practice...they were perfect on Sunday!

-Mof3..another workout happening right now. <--40 year old hard body-wife!!

-Hi to our friends from Boston/Puerto Rico. <--Fof3 is going to type every this until they reply in the comment section. <--Nice people, P & T are.

-Thanks to Ken and Rachy for helping figure out the linking thing. <---Easy, once you know how to do it.

-Get ready to start seeing the Maxwell House spots again soon. And buy some!

-Anyone watch the Dance Off last night ..Kelli Monaco against that Seinfeld O'Hurly guy? (Looks more like O'Girly to me!)

-So Fof3 looks good in pink, huh? <---I take some abuse from the men at soccer every Sunday. Thanks for choosing pink, Noelle. Grrrr!

-That's it from here. Don't be shy. Leave word. OUT!!

Tuesday 9/20

-Hey kids! It's a Tuesday. Beautiful blue sky with cottonball clouds.

-Not too much to report on here. The Fof3 Blog got it's first spammer comment yesterday. I quickly deleted it. It's a problem for the blogitation industry. <--Might require a commenter to take an extra step before posting in order to eliminate automatic spammers. We'll see.

-Caitlin's teacher...remember him?!? (Big time liberal teaching in Republican-dominated-Long Island Catholic school.) Apparently after blaming everything not right in this world and Pres. Bush and crediting all things good to former Pres. Clinton, Caitlin had had enough. She asked about ANWR, impeachment and the Democrat State Leadership of Louisiana. She mentioned the heatwave of 1995 that killed more people in Chicago than Hurricane Katrina nad why it took so long for Clinton to get there with ice, AC's and water. This man is getting my 11 year old to think..and to debate in (I hope and pray) a respectful manner.

-Noelle was bored last night so Fof3 came up with a great little game. We all took a pencil, some paper and had to draw a word for each letter in the alphabet. It turned out to be great fun when Caitlin graded everyone's work. She gave me no credit for my cat, elephant, ice cream cone, pear, Santa or Zebra. <---I protest, Caitlin, my ice cream cone was way better than yours. We laughed a lot while playing. <--Nice moment.

-Mof3 felt great after her workout last night. Taking up boxing. <---What a hoot!

-Liam... my buddy boy...your're awesome.

-Here are some pics of Noelle's soccer team. Fof3 in pink hat, Noelle second from left.


-Check here

-Fof3 wearing the pink hat, Noelle is second from left being hugged by Coach Caroline.Pics

Happy Monday

Hi gang.

-Glorious weather in NYC today.

-Liam saw his first live football game yesterday and Fof3 is happy to announce that it was a victory for the home team. Jets 17-7 against the Dolphins. We had a great time, sat next to some cool guys and saw some good football. He did however, sate halfway through the game that he missed his sisters and mom. He had a wonderful quality of wanting to share good, fun times with his family. I told him that was cool, and explained that the ladies of the house were doing fun stuff on their own.

-Speaking of my buddy boy, Liam's soccer team played a great game on Saturday. It was their first game of the year and the boys did great. Liam had a great chance to score but the goalie robbed him. Then later in the game, Liam got the ball and went around three players to give his teammate a chance. No goal, but for a few seconds, Liam thrilled to crowd of 30 or so parents with his ball handling and I swear, if he were 20 years older, a little faster and a few shades darker, I'd have thought Pele was out there. (Pele, for those who don't remember, is the former Brazilian player who is considered the greatest soccer player of all time. He did everything with a smile and lots of heart and spirit and still is a great humanitarian.) (An grew up very very poor.)

-Noelle had her second game of the year yesterday. We played so hard... and had fun. I'll be posting a link so that you can see the team pic. The team is called Cotton Candy.

-Check here

-Fof3 wearing the pink hat, Noelle is second from left being hugged by Coach Caroline.Pics

-Saw lots of friends at mass yesterday. I am lucky to live in such a wonderful community like Malverne, NY.

-Caitlin went to school today looking like she's about 18. She turnds 12 in 2 weeks. Wants an IPOD Nano. <---We'll see.

-Mof3 has her second workout with her new personal trainer as I type. She complained of soreness all weekend. Every stpe she took, every stair she took, every time she sat or rose. That kind of pain is real...it is real pain, but makes everyone smile because 1) it's self -inflicted 2)it's expensive to get that kinda pain 3) it reveals the poor shape one is in.

-Watched Bonaduce last night. What a trainwreck. Anyone see it?

-That's about it from here... working on Ugliest Animals Part 3...coming up soon. Fof3... L8TER!!!

TGIF!!

-Another Friday and not a day too late. What a week. Humid, finally some rain today.

-Conundrum mentions the Mark Messier Retirement announcement in a comment from yesterday. For those of you who don't follow hockey (and that's prob. plenty of you) Mark Messier was a player like none other that I have ever seen. He announced his retirement the other day despite needing to play only another 20 or so games to become the all time most active player. He bowed out at this time because it was the right time (he's 44) and he wanted Gordie Howe to retain that honor. (GH played into his mid 50's!) My favorite Mark Messier factoid is that while he played 5 seasons next to Wayne Gretzky (who, btw, is the only player in hockey history to have points than MM, their team (the Oilers) won 4 Stanley Cups. When Wayne was traded to LA, the OILERS won the Stanley Cup without him. It was then that people started thinking that maybe the real greatness and grit and leadership was coming from Messier and not Gretzky alone. I'll miss MM and I see that Ebay is selling tickets to his ceremony game (Jan. 12 vs the , you guessed it, the OILERS) are going for $2000 pair.

-Mets lost. Season over. Yanks won. Getting close to the Bosox now.

-Fof3 made a HSN purchase the other day and it arrived yesterday. A watch for Caitlin that has 6 changeable bands. She was thrilled and wore it on her wrist to drama. She was beaming after drama. She loves it so.

-Liam got perfect scores on all three tests from earlier in the week. <--Even more importantly, his teacher says he's a great kid. (We know that already)

-Noelle came home from school yesterday and took a nap. She woke up feeling great, went to bed on time and woke up in an adorable, bright-eyed way this am. <---They don't get enough sleep and this proves it.

-Still having trouble with that linking thing, Rachy. <--Maybe because I'm on a MAC?

-Soccer this weekend , then a football game at the Meadowlands. (Go Jets!) Mass in there somewhere this weekend. (uh, like Sunday)

-Fof3 listening to ELO right now. Purging the backmasked Satanic messages from the other day.

-Fof3 never been to New Orleans. Happy with what the President promised last night. I think it will be great again one day soon.

-Well, boss is coming in and he looks pi**ed. Gotta go! Fof3...OUT!!

It's Another Thursday...

ok...so I'm over my lost blogitation entry by now.

-The rest of that day I swear (I hope the boss is not reading this!) I spent on songfacts.com looking up every song I could think of. I'm addicted. I spent the majority of my time though on Stairway to Heaven. 41 years old and I had NO idea of the backward Satanic messages that may or may not be in the song. I read for hours all of the theories, then while playing the song backwards and very loudly, Todd walked in behind me and scared the you-know-what out me!!Too much Satanic stuff. If you are interested though, here is a great website.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/stairway.php

-Must remember to post pix of Puerto Rico.

-Suzy, glad you're healing.

-Todd, please knock from now on!

-INXS down to final three guys. Felt bad for the girl who was dropped yesterday. What a beautiful young lady and what a great voice.

-Liam's first soccergame Saturday. Noelle's game Sunday. Then Liam and Fof3 off to watch the Jets whoop the Dolphins. <---Right, buddy boy? (Liam's first live football game!)

-Caitlin's drama classes start tonight. She has been looking forward to this day since June. She also had her first choir practice of the year last night. She was beaming after.

-Mof3 starts with a new personal trainer today. Fof needs to start working out to kick this guys butt if/when he gets out of line woth my Mrs.

-Lo, Trinity, Janna, Andraste, Rachy, Motherof2boys, ??? where are you? Peggy, long time no hear from. Conundrum... 'sup?

-That's about it for now... stop in and say hi. Fof3 OUT!!!

Oh No!!!

I swear to you folks that this just happened to me:

I sat here at my computer, typed in a hilarious recount of my nutsy night last night... mentioned many of you by name, username or nickname... had a pretty good blogitiation going...then hit the return key by mistake and lost it all. AAARrrrrrggghhhhh!!!

I'm done today... toast. Hopefully my day will get a little better! (man, am I annoyed!)

-Next time.

Start of another week.

Wow. What beautiful weather here in NYC. September is a month with gorgeous weather.

-Fof3 was totally disarmed by Caitlin's teacher...(you remember, the man who started the school year off on a liberal rant and spewing lots of Anti_Bush rhetoric...yeah, one of those) I and many other parents went into our meeting with this man ready for a battle. Lesson learned.... this man, not yet an old man but he will be that one year soon... was intelligent, happy, complimentary of the students and, at first blush a nice man. The other parents looked to me as if to say, "What do we do now?" Then he iced it with a handout that included his e-mail address and his home phone number. He invited any of us to call or write him with any problems or questions we might have. I figured that with his personal info in our hands, we could give him more than just two half-days before jumping ugly on him. I felt like Tony Soprano when the parents looked at me and all I needed to do was shake my head "no, not now"... I saw their body language change, they relaxed and literally breathed deep. <--Funny thing is: These parents are lawyers, auditors, there's an air force mechanic, a Gitmo interrogator, 2 local cops and the Mayor's daughter. No one wants to confront an old (almost) man in a small setting like that. But watch out "almost old man"... we're getting updates every night at dinner.

-Noelle's soccer game. The girls lost 2-0. But they played their hearts out. Fof3 is very proud. Liam's first game is Saturday.

-Fof3 listening to Marshall Tucker Band right now. Heard It In A Love Song is one great song.

-Mof3 doing the gym thing today. The kids are back in school full time now and she has lots of time to work up a sweat.

-Watched the Breaking Bonaduce show last night. I'll reserve judgment for at least another episode.

-Please let me know what tv shows you guys and gals are watching. And let me know if they're any good.

-That's it for now...Fof3 ...OUT!!!

Hello again

Hi all.

What's to report on...hmmm...

-first day of school was a success for all three kids. Noelle loves her teacher, Liam..his and Caitlin likes her teacher. <--Apparently he is a strong Anti-Bush-kinda-guy and we are, well, uh, strong Pro-Bush-kinda-people. I told Caitlin to always respect her elders...always respect teachers and don't argue things you don't know much about. That said, she is, I told her free to express her opinion when confronted with an opinionated person. When the time is right, I told her, she may ask to hear the other side of the story (for instance, according to this man, Katrina is all President Bush's fault, the Iraq War was wrong and blah, blah, left talking points, blah, Hillary this, blah) I meet him tonight. <---He'll know where the Family of Fof3 stands. (btw, this is a Catholic school and he will know our strong Pro-Life politics and what we think of the other side.)

-I also told Caitlin that smart, intelligent, nice people can agree to disagree and that I have maintained many friendships by a mutual agree to disagree and change the subject attitude. <---This parenting thing moves into a new phase.

-Pix of PR... soon. Promise.

-Tomorrow night's every-channel-telethon ought to be interesting. The producers ought to pair left leaning actors up with right leaning ones. (If they find more than Mel, Bo Derek, and Tom Selleck. Costner is one too, Brooke Shields also and Patricia Heaton.)

-Fof3's friend, Randy showed me an awesome website. Sorry I know not how to do that linking thing, but here it is

Songfacts.com

-Type in the title of a song and chances are you'll get more info on that tune than you can imagine. I did Solsbury Hill, Mr. Blue Sky, We're An American Band, American Woman and many other songs I wanted to earn more about. <---Careful, music buffs, this is addictive.

-Fof3 listening to Air riht now.

-Jordiss was eliminated from INXS last night. I like that show.

-That's about it...check out that site and leave instructions on how to do that linking thing.

-Fof3...Later!

ok, I'm back...

No ..it wasn't a 4 week vacation. It was, however, a wonderful 6 days in Puerto Rico. Followed by the end-of-summer bbq's, beach visits, games and back-to-school preparation.

-It's soccer season. Liam has had his first practice and he really likes his teammates. <---I am assistant Coach Russell.

-Noelle's soccer team is having their (our, since I am her coach) first practice this weekend. <---We are the pink team again.

-Caitlin came to work with me last week to sing in a professional recording studio. She sang an old Yaz tune called "Bad Connection". <---Caitlin has quite a voice, you know.

-School started today. The kids all know their teachers already and are all happy.

-We closed up the beach cabana on Monday. It was sad.

-Puerto Rico.... What a blast. The weather was perfect, our room was great and we met up with friends that we had made their last year. <--This was a surprise. They are frm Boston and they are really cool people.

-Sorry for being negligent here... thanks for the concern... but I'm back.

-Trinity, Loelsh, Faith, Erwin, Ken, Todd, Motherof2boys, ???, Jeff and Susan... let's start our little community again. Cousins Chrissy and Trish: Hello. Redlenses, I'm back. Janna, keep the faith. (I know you will)

-ok, fill me in... and I'm glad to be back.