Squirrels Gone Wild

What the HAIL???

2011-03-29T07:25:00.002-06:00

It's a very good thing that I don't believe in omens! Sure I believe in ghosts and the field of paranormal investigation, but Omens are something that I hold no credibility to. That being said, yesterday morning was still a little hard to shake off.

Yesterday Mrs. Nutz and I were scrambling around the house trying to get ready to go to the hospital and have our baby girl. We know that we were going to be having a C-section, so we had woken up with plenty of time to get loaded in the car and off to the hospital. I needed to go and vacuum out the car so that we could remove dog hair from the seats before loading up the baby car seat, and decided that I would run to a car wash to do so.

While I was sitting at a light waiting to turn left, I could see inky black clouds looming over the great Salt Lake, and they were flying my direction. I raced to beat the storm, and was successful up until I started vacuuming. That's when the pea-sized hail forced me to abandon the still running vacuum for the shelter of the car (75 cents I'll never see again...)

I quickly drove back to the house, and by the time I got there the storm had passed and the clouds were parting. All started looking better until we got to the hospital and it started snowing like mad.

I guess I could look at it as a metaphor for the events of the day, more explicitly the emotional ride that I took that day as I witnessed the birth of my daughter. Since we got pregnant, countless fathers have tried to explain the emotions that you feel when you see and hold your daughter for the first time, and as all of them have stated: it really is impossible to put into words. The feeling of seeing and holding my daughter is the most powerful and wonderful feeling that I have ever had. She is now the most precious and beautiful thing to me!

I realize this post has become one of the more sentimental posts I have made, but I can't think of anything else at this time to comment on. (besides, I think I'm doing good for only getting a good 2 hours of sleep last night!)

From All of Us to All of You, MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-24T10:11:00.006-07:00

Once again it's Christmas Eve, which is my favorite day of the year. This year we actually get the day off from work, so I thought I would let Mrs. Nutz sleep in while I take care of the dog and finish up this blog entry. Posting on Christmas Eve has apparently become somewhat of a tradition for me, but I won't complain.

Actually I started creating the header 2 nights ago, and was going to get this written and posted last night after we got home from work and errands, but Mrs. Nutz started playing Roller Coaster Tycoon after I got absorbed in saving the Kingdom of Hyrule, so both of us spent the evening in our computer/game room relaxing instead. Darn.

This has been an amazing year for both of us as we prepare to welcome a new squirrel to the Nutz House. Our daughter is set to be born sometime in March or early April. We've been hoping for an April 1 baby, so that she'll share her birthday with my Grandpa who will be 95 that day, but we're pretty sure that the birthdate is going to be in March.

Yes, I did gloss over a big piece of information. We did finally find out that we are going to have a little girl, and both of us are ecstatic about that. I originally intended to post about that earlier, but school, work, and sleep took priority. Besides, most of my readers are close friends and family (I do keep toying with the thought that some readers randomly run across this blog on Google and become fans that way, but I'm sure that is not the case.) Anyway, I figured that most people who read this blog already were told in person, and that really is the most important thing.

Our nursery is already painted, the crib and changing table are built, and everything seems to be on track for the arrival of our little one. We had heard horror stories about pregnancy, what with sickness and back pain and all. Mrs. Nutz has had back problems for years, and we were nervous that she would be put on bed-rest; however, this has been a surprisingly mild pregnancy. We're now getting to the point that we can feel our little one kicking, making this an amazing time for the two of us. It's crazy to think that next year by this time my daughter will already be moving around, and according to the baby books, trying to walk around.

This has been a most unusual Christmas season for us. All of our gifts have been wrapped for over a week, and everything is ready to go for the big day. Tonight we will be going to our annual Christmas Eve celebration with my family, and then will be spending the night at my parents house, so that we can be there for Christmas morning. I am excited, as we will be able to join in another family tradition that we have been absent for these past 4 years. After going to my Grandpa's house, we go to my folks house and watch White Christmas; however these last few years we have not stayed to watch the show, as we live 45 minutes away and would not want to be driving home so late. With us staying over this year we will be able to join in that tradition as well.

Well, I think it's time for me to wrap this entry up. We have stuff to do to get ready to go to my parents house tonight, and not much time to do it in. To all of our friends and family, thank you for everything you do. We love you and wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a happy 2011!

"God as My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly."

2010-11-25T14:46:00.002-07:00

Once again we reach that time of year where the calendar is almost worn out, and we prepare to place ourselves into a turkey induced coma that will last until Christmas. Actually by the time this entry is finished it will be after the festivities, so hopefully the turkey doesn’t knock me out until I have a chance to actually post this....

My last post came after our Yellowstone vacation, and featured the announcement that we were pregnant. I am ecstatic to post that all is still going very well. The baby is developing with a strong heartbeat, and we are starting to get to the point where we can feel the baby moving. This morning we realized that the baby really likes hot chocolate, as it’s been doing backflips in Mrs. Nutz tummy. (I can’t vouche for this comment, I am taking Mrs. Nutz word for it.)

Unfortunately we still have not found out what we’re having, and if the child does not co-operate by our next doctor’s appointment, I fear that he or she is going to get a very stern lecture from their mother! Both of us are hoping that we’re going to have a girl, but we will be happy as can be if it turns out to be a boy as well. We’re just excited that we will be parents soon. We just want to know so that we can start getting the nursery decorated (lady bugs if it’s a girl, and pirate if it’s a boy.)

Mr. and Mrs. Munk had their little chipmunk, whom I will dub Dotty Munk. She’s now starting to smile and chatter, which has been really cute to see. The other night we had the Munk family over for a movie and it was really fun to see little Dotty looking around and, well, being a baby. It was especially fun to watch the dog and cat freak out at the baby, and Iola kept giving us a look that indicated she wanted us to make Dotty leave. They’ll just have to deal with it, because in 4 months there’s going to be a new squirrel in the house full time!

Well now that it’s Thanksgiving, that means that Christmas is just around that corner. It seems like it comes earlier each year... though that is partially to blame on the media. I was walking through a store one evening and I saw them decorating for Christmas. The sad thing is that this was in the middle of September. I shook my head as I turned and walked out of the store. With each year it seems that we collectively ignore that that there is a holiday between Halloween and Christmas... and an important one at that. Now stores are opening up for black Friday sales earlier in the Day on Thanksgiving, which really begs the question of whether or not we are turning the shopping day into a holiday on it’s own (some of the women I work with believe that it is.) I made a previous post two years ago that expresses why I would choose to steer away from such a move.

Most TV shows today will run a Christmas special, as well as a Halloween special, but there are very few that do the Turkey day. Friends was dependable, as they had one for each of their ten seasons. Charlie Brown has a classic thought-provoking film (two in fact) that honor this great day, but I don’t know of too many beyond that.

Then again, one of the best all time moments of TV history (as determined by TV Guide) was a classic episode of WKRP in Cincinatti. While their Thanksgiving tribute is rather grim... it is a day where we celebrate over the carcass of a large bird, so I guess it could be worse (though the line about bags of wet cement did make me laugh out loud. Oh the humanity!!)

This morning we got up to start watching the parade, and we opted to cook the turkey for our dinner with Mrs.Nutz family, so the house now smells like turkey. She’s just getting ready so that we can leave, and I am left alone to reflect on my blessings this year. I have much to be thankful for this year, and this is one of the best places that I can express those.

I am thankful for my beautiful wife. She means everything to me, and it’s been a wonderful 4 years together, and I look forward to a lifetime more together. I am so thankful for the little child on the way, it’s been two years coming and I am so glad that everything worked out this time.

I am thankful for my families (both of them) for being there to support Mrs. Nutz and I wherever we need it. Comedy movies always tell horror stories about in-laws, but Mrs. Nutz and I both lucked out in that department. Both of our sets of parents and siblings support us where and however they can, and for that I am eternally grateful.

I also would like to say how thankful I am to have such great friends, especially the close kinship we have with the Munks. It’s been great having them so close that we can periodically say hi, and get together and enjoy one another’s company. It’s going to be so much fun to see that in a few months we will be able to give Dotty a little playtmate.

I am also thankful for all of our extended family and friends, you all enrich our lives in your own way.

Well, I think that’s enough for right now. I have more coming, so stay tuned...

Just a Quick Note Before I Retire...

2010-08-29T23:12:00.003-06:00

Just a short post for tonight, because I am tired.

It has been an emotional few weeks since we got home from Yellowstone, and in all fairness I was misleading to my readers, but in a good way.

I can now officially announce to the world that we are pregnant! We are at 9 weeks, and have had our first ultrasound. Everything looks great, and our child has a strong heartbeat (175 bpm.)

This has been a long time coming, and we are ecstatic to be able to tell the world now.

I will post more later, but we wanted to make it official tonight: Baby Nutz due April 2011!!

Four Squirrels Drive Into a Forest (I Love This Joke...)

2010-07-27T19:42:00.006-06:00

Growing up in the Nutz family there are two major vacation destinations that are a staple to our lives. First would be a Disney theme park vacation which I personally would consider to be my top choice preference. Unfortunately my casual readers who don't know me well would not be able to discern the depth of my Disney obsession just by reading this blog. It truly runs deep in me, and to my family. Mrs. Nutz once noted that I was at my happiest when I was in Disneyland, which is both sweet, and slightly disturbing (surely I am at my happiest when I am with her!)

The second preferred vacation destination for my family would be the fantastic Yellowstone National Park.

Growing up Yellowstone was always an odd vacation for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being there; but most of the trip is spent driving through forests and looking through binoculars, all while battling an onslaught of motion-sickness courtesy of the books and magazines that I brought with me on the trip. (I will admit that mostly they were picture and comic books, I read a lot more seriously now than I did when I was a kid.)

As I grew older, I developed a respect for the park, though my personal preferences were more into the geysers and hot springs (and yes, the gift shops) than into looking for Grizzly Bears and Moose on the side of a hill only visible through a spotting scope. While my juvenile perspective would maintain that all my opinions and preferences were ignored and overruled by the rest of the family, I would be very wrong if I still thought so. Frankly if all we did was what I had wanted to do at that time (and I will admit, that time even ranged to the teen years) then our trips would have been very short and meaningless. How glad I am that my family had me experience all that the park had to offer!

Mrs. Nutz on the other hand, hadn't been to the park in 15-20 years, and her only memory of the park was riding in her grandparents RV and getting in trouble for getting the gum in her bubble-gum ice cream all over their curtains. She was ready to see the park again for the first time.

We left Thursday after work and stayed the night in Idaho Falls. Our meal that first night was another Nutz family tradition: Flags West Diner and Truck Stop in Downey Idaho. Yes, it really is as glamorous as it looks, but the scones are great!

The next morning we made our way to the park. On arrival my Dad, Grumpy Nutz, told us to be on the lookout for moose, since it had been years since it had been a few years since we had last seen one. I often underestimate my wife's penchant for hidden games. When we are at Disneyland (or WDW) she really gets into looking for the Hidden Mickeys in the parks, and is generally faster than I at finding them, even when I know where to look and she doesn't. She attributes this to her love of Where's Waldo and I-Spy books when she was younger. It comes as no surprise that on the road from Madison to Old Faithful, she would spot the lone moose that we saw this trip, (not counting Stiltz in Yellowstone Bear World of course.)

He was obviously a younger moose, and when he saw us back up, he got a frightened look on his face and ran off. None of us could get our cameras ready even, but it was a great spot by Mrs. Nutz. She reminded me that she's good luck, so I told her that her next job was to conjure up the mother Grizzly Bear with four cubs that my Brother and his wife saw on their recent trip. She got us half-way there: A mother with two cubs. It had to be the closest I have ever seen a Grizzly in the wild.

There were also the Buffalo, Elk, Deer, a lone Coyote, and a Wolf (as seen through the spotting scope) to behold, which is the usual fodder that Yellowstone has to offer. Not to mention the squirrels (SQUIRREL) that we saw... y'know, ignoring the four of us that is. Thanks to the movie UP shouting out "Squirrel" became something of a game for us (though more likely for me than anyone else in the car who merely got to enjoy my amusing myself.)

We of course did the usual tourist spots: Old Faithful, Dragon's Mouth and the Mud Volcano, Lower Falls, Mammoth, Roosevelt, etc. All in all it was a great and relaxing vacation, though I'm sure my Dad would complain that it was too relaxing for me, as I slept through a sizable chunk of the drive.

It was such a nice trip that we really weren't ready to come home, knowing that we had a busy week ahead of us. Yesterday we hosted (or more appropriately Mrs. Nutz hosted while I hid in the house on the computer) a baby shower for Mrs. Munk, who is due in just a few weeks. We are so happy for them, despite the bittersweet feeling we have due to our own misfortune in starting a family on our own. We work to stay optimistic for the future, but it does come difficult at times.

While we weren't ready to come home, our cat Emma was so glad to have us back. Mrs. Nutz sister (woodland critter name yet to be determined) was house-sitting, and she and Emma don't get along very well. Add to that the fact that Emma is still recovering from her declawing surgery, and it sounds like she ha a traumatic weekend... not that my Sister-in-Law did anything to antagonize her.

The saddest part about Emma now is that I think we broke the cat. She used to be real hyper and full of energy, but all she does now is move from one napping spot to another. It's really sad to see that she's not the same anymore, and we're hoping that it passes. I think it's depression, but I doubt that we'll be able to give our cat a dose of Zoloft.

Well, that should be enough for now. Three updates on July, that's a good sign. Hopefully I can keep it up!

Ramblings From A Tired Squirrel!

2010-07-07T19:20:00.004-06:00

I had every intention of making a new post on Monday, and I have already received flack from the Munks for not accomplishing this task. So if anyone else feels slighted that I did not make a post, I apologize.

This past week my and Mrs. Nutz's nephews were in town visiting their Father (woodland critter moniker yet to be decided) and we tried to spend as much time as possible with them. Sunday, the 4th, was their last night in Utah, and the family was determined to finish this visit with a bang... literally. When we do dinners with my wife's family we generally assign out part of the meal, and her father was assigned the task of buying the fireworks. Mrs. Nutz and I, while doing our grocery shopping, saw an inexpensive bucket of fireworks that we decided to add to the pot (ironically it was the exact same bucket that was one of the kits her Dad bought.) Apparently other members of the family felt the same way, so we had a HUGE amount of fireworks to launch, and we sure had a great time doing it.

Monday it was time for the boys to go back to their mother in Louisiana, and Mrs. Nutz was volunteered to fly them back. Their Father is going to be moving out of state at the end of the month to be closer to the boys, and is working as much as he can to save up for the journey, so he only had a week vacation available. In order to spend more time with the boys here, he asked that someone escort them home, so of course we were happy to help. Mrs. Nutz flew with the boys to meet their Mom in Houston, then flew home the next day.

The downside to this trip was the toll that it's taken on us. I have never especially enjoyed being home alone, but being separated from my best half is downright lousy. I maybe got 4 hours of sleep that night, and I was lucky to get that. (I even thought about writing this update while I was fighting with insomnia, but with how tired I was, I have no idea what kind of ramblings would be posted.) Mrs. Nutz told me that she too barely got any sleep Monday night, so she also was exhausted when she got home yesterday.

Here's the kicker: we got plenty sleep last night, so I can't explain why on Earth we are so much more tired today that we were yesterday.

So things have been pretty busy since my second to last update. Summer semesters have a reputation for being fairly easy; but when you do a math class that is usually takes 16 weeks in 7... well lets just say I've spent a lot of time doing Algebra the past weeks. If it wasn't for the fact that I only have 2 weeks left, I would probably be burning out right now. I feel like I'm turning Mrs. Nutz into a homework widow (though she is getting caught up on her viewing of chick flicks.)

Last month I had my 30th birthday, and for my present from my wife, I got a Wii game I've been wanting, and the cat got declawed. Happy birthday to me! While getting the house ready for the family party associated with my birthday, I indulged my inner child by renting the film adaptation of the children's book Where the Wild Things Are. My feelings were really mixed as the credits rolled, and I spent the next couple of hours trying to sort out my impression of the movie. I finally came to the conclusion that it was one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. I hated this movie (Mrs. Nutz has no opinion to interject as she did not watch the movie with me.)

The movie wasn't necessarily sad, but it wasn't upbeat and positive. Obviously the screen writer had to take some creative liberties when writing the film, since the book only has around 26 words in it. But the book was more pleasant and fun to me, while the movie was, well... I can only describe it as melancholy.

Fortunately the last movie we saw, Eclipse, was very well done. By far the best film in the Twilight series so far. If you are a fan of the books, you will love this move (and you should enjoy this if you're only accompanying a fan of the story.)

Well, unfortunately the time has come for me to sign off again. I hope to be able to post another update soon, but time will tell.

Happy Birthday America!!

2010-07-04T13:41:00.002-06:00

This is only going to be a short post today, and I will get more up tomorrow when I have a little more time. As we celebrate our nations birthday it only seems appropriate that I say thank you to all those who have fought (and are still fighting) for our freedoms. Without your sacrifices we would not be able to enjoy the freedoms that we have today. Thank you, and God bless you and your families!

Thanks for reading check again tomorrow for a longer update!

I Promise I'm Still Alive!

2010-05-05T20:34:00.006-06:00

¡¡HAPPY CINCO de MAYO!!

It has obviously been a while since I got a chance to update this, but at least I have a good excuse: Spring Semester! Thankfully that semester is done, and Summer just started today, but this should be a little bit milder than the last one. The best part for me is that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm trying to get there as fast as I can. That may mean that I have to put stuff like this blog on the back-burner, but it will only make things sweeter when all is said and done.

I know that there's some of you out there that have been wanting me to make an update. Mrs. Munk told Mrs. Nutz that I was taking so long to do updates that she should just take over. She is welcome to do so anytime. It would be nice to let the family hear things from her perspective, but I don't know if that will happen. Time will tell.

Also, if you choose to post a comment on here, it will no longer show up immediately. I know that I have mentioned in the past that I would like to maintain anonymity on this site, and everyone who has posted has been great in not mentioning names in their comments, so I had no problem keeping my comments open to all. Unfortunately, some weird Japanese website started posting comments that linked to a page that was highly inappropriate for many reasons. After I discovered their comments in one or two of my posts, I decided I would have to moderate, so I apologize if you submit a comment and it takes a while to show up. My personal feelings for free speech still stand, so unless your post is laced with profanity, or you list my and Mrs. Nutz real name, it will be approved to go as is.

Since the last post, our dog had her surgery, and she bounced back just fine. She was so good that she didn't even mess with her stitches, which means she did not have to endure the cone of shame. I wish I could bounce back as fast as she did. We'll have to see if the cat fares as well when we take her in for her declawing.

I'd wager that there's some readers of this who disagree with the practice of removing a cats claws, and frankly we normally would feel the same. We don't like to torture our animals (even though Iola would beg to differ based on last Friday, but I will get to that in a minute.) Unfortunately our cat Emma is super jumpy, and she likes to play rough with her claws. We made the decision to have the claws removed. With us planning to have kids, we really don't want our future kids to be scratched up because the cat get startled.

In regard to Iola being tortured, last Friday she went with me to go pick up a box of latex gloves from Mr. and Mrs. Munks house. Unfortunately the Munks had recently been battling mice in their home, and they forgot that they had a couple of mousetraps out that were baited with Decon-laced peanut butter. We suspect that Iola licked the peanut butter, and may have ingested a trace amount of the poison.

We consulted a vet, and were told that we would have to induce vomiting to make sure that any trace would be gone. We were told to give her some hydrogen peroxide and then wait ten minutes. Unfortunately our dog, whose stomach is usually so sensitive that ice-cold water makes her sick, decided to have an iron stomach that night. After about 30 minutes, we mixed up some salt water, and forced her to drink that (by one taste of the peroxide, she was not going to trust anything we gave her.) That didn't work, so we decided to try forcing her to drink really cold water, which was accomplished by jamming a hose in her mouth and holding her still. After doing that a few times, we figured we were only water boarding the dog rather than making her throw up, so we took her inside to let her know we weren't mad at her.

We contacted a source at Guide Dogs, who had raised Iola, and were told to give her another dose of peroxide every hour until she threw up. We gave her another dose of peroxide, then a third an hour later. Finally after the third dose she went outside and tossed her kibble, so we were able to finally relax. The Munks felt awful about the whole thing, and they decided to make it up to Iola by bringing her some new toys and treats. The sad truth is that she is more likely to be mad at us for the torture, instead of learning the real lesson: Don't eat/lick everything you walk by!!!

Well, life is continuing on. We were very frustrated with Mrs. Nutz OB, since he seemed to be giving up on us. He kept pressuring us to consult a fertility specialist, which would cost us $475 just for a consultation, and then $2000 monthly should we see him more regularly. We kept asserting that we could not afford that, but he kept pushing. Finally we decided to go with a new OB on the recommendation of the Munks, and we're being very optimistic about it. He has drastically changed Mrs. Nutz prescriptions, and now she's a walking pharmacy. She's taking Clomid for infertility, Metformin and an Estrogen supplement to enhance the Clomid, Robitussin to counterbalance the fertility medications effects, and Prenatal and Vitamin D. Oh, she's also taking Immodium to help with the effects of Metformin... fun times.

In my own medical pains, I finally went to see the dentist for the first time in four years, and since that visit I've been getting cavities filled, and have had 2 root canals, with a third coming up. Dammit, I am never missing a 6 month check-up every again!! The only plus side is that during both root canals I fell asleep in the chair. This was a point of playful contention between my wife and I, as she felt that being so comfortable during the procedure was not punishment enough for going so long without a check-up.

Well, I think that I've rambled on long enough. I am going to try and update the header of this blog soon, and I would like to make a post about the advanced screening Mr. Munk and I were able to attend for the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I make no promises, but keep your fingers crossed. If I don't get a chance, you can read my review of the movie on imdb.com. At the time of this posting, it's the only review there; but if more show up, those who know me should have no problems finding it.

Marketing SNAFU, or Am I Just Nit-Picking?

2010-01-15T23:35:00.006-07:00

Happy 2010!!!

Once again a new year is upon us, and I for one am doing all I can to be optimistic about the new decade. Granted, I do think of myself as a natural optimist anyway, and I hope that those who know me would agree, but the suffering economy and soaring unemployment rate is enough to turn anyone cynical. Still, the spirit of the new year is to wipe the slate clean and start over anew.

As this year begins, so does another semester of school for me. As I continue on my trek to graduate I find myself enrolled in classes dealing with ethics, screenplay writing, intercultural communication, and a series of lectures from professionals in the field of digital media and computer science. At one end of the spectrum, I look at the work-load of these classes and feel overwhelmed by the semester before me; but on the other end I'm excited about these classes, as I think I'll really be able to do some cool things in them.

Everything else seems to be rather quiet around the Nutz household. Our Christmas decorations have come down, and we find our free evenings (which will inevitably come to a screeching halt once this semester goes underway... at least for me) are now filled with our favorite TV shows, and the newly acquired Wii.

We'd circled around the thought of getting a Wii for quite some time, and we thought that this past Christmas, the Wii would be a great present to each other. We started out with a standard assortment of games that we already knew from playing my parents Wii, but we decided to indulge and try the new Super Mario Brothers Wii game, and man is it fun! Extremely challenging, but fun. The funniest thing to me was how quickly this game sold out after Christmas. We bought our copy the day after Christmas at our local Target, and up until New Year's Eve we could walk into any Target, Wal-Mart, or Best Buy, and they had tons of copies. We introduced my Brother and his wife to the game at my parents one evening before New Year's, and when they went to look for it, it was nowhere to be found. Having found it all over the place in our neck of the woods, we checked for them, and were stunned that the supply in our area had been depleted as well.

One of the guys in my class works at a game store, and he informed me that Nintendo sent out a notice to all the distributors that they did not have enough supply to meet the demand of that game (which Nintendo is known for under-producing to create artificial demand anyway,) and that they would not be able to get more to the stores until sometime in late February/early March.

This was, however, a lie, because now you go through Target and Wal-Mart, and they once again have tons of copies. I guess Nintendo either ramped up the production, or they tried to create more artificial demand by creating a scarce supply in hopes that the game would continue to fly off the shelves when they brought the next batch out of the warehouse. With the economy as volatile as it, and considering that these games sell for $50 bucks a pop, I personally am inclined to believe the latter.

Other than that, our lives have pretty much simmered down to normal. Work continues, and we do our best to keep up with our lives. We should be done with our major expenditures for quite some time, though we do have to take our dog Iola into the vet for surgery. She has developed a tumor on her side that, from all accounts, is both common and benign for purebreds. The vets told us to keep an eye on it, and that as long as it didn't grow, and didn't bother the dog, we should be okay. That was 2 years ago, and while it doesn't seem to faze Iola at all, it has grown to be the size of a large rock over the past couple of years, so we decided that it would be good to have it removed altogether.

Speaking of dogs, I saw something in the grocery store a while ago, and I still find it both humorous, and oddly morbid:

The Walt Disney company is by no means a stranger to product licensing. The first piece of merchandise that was adorned with a Disney creation was a Mickey Mouse watch from the 1920's. Donald Duck orange juice has also been on the market for years, and even though it really doesn't taste any different from the pulp-free OJ that you can buy at any grocery store, I personally love getting a carton of it whenever I can find it.

Another thing that is no stranger to the Disney company is dogs. They have made countless stories about dogs over the years, with such memorable ones as Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, Oliver and Company, and Bolt. Even many of their live-action offerings included canines (The Ugly Dachsund, The Shaggy D.A., The Incredible Journey, and even the modern day Airbud and it's many sequels and knock-offs.) Heck, that's not even mentioning the 2 dogs that have been with Mickey and the gang the longest: Pluto and Goofy.

So when Kroger foods and Disney decided to market a dog food together, they had a pretty good list of potential mascots. Oddly enough, they decided to go with Old Yeller.

That's right, Old Yeller dog food. The first time we saw it in the store, Mrs. Nutz and I were speechless. Even now we don't walk by it without making some comment between ourselves. Don't get me wrong, Old Yeller was a classic Disney movie, but what do people remember the most about the movie? I'd say the same thing they remember when they watch the movie Bambi. People don't remember the heroics of the dog, the rousing theme song, and the charming aspects of the story as the boy Travis grows to love his dog; they remember when the dog gets rabies and Travis has to put him down with a shotgun.

It seems odd to me that a company would choose to market a movie based on a story that made countless generations of children cry. Death really isn't a positive marketing tool, unless you're selling pest control (though I think Disney legal would steer clear of marketing something ridiculous like Mickey Mouse rat poison, or mouse traps.)

A little Google searching revealed that the dog food was put on the market in 2005, and Kroger even put out a press release for it. Not surprisingly the press release neglects to mention the sad ending, but paints the movie to be all about frontier fun, and the bonding of the boy and his dog. That's not saying that they're lying about the contents of the film, they're just leaving out the part everyone remembers.

Of course, there's enough online, and in the media, to remind everyone of the sad ending to the film. My personal favorite joke comes from the show Friends when Phoebe see the ending of the movie for the first time and asks, "what kind of sick doggy snuff film is this?"

Well, I believe that I've rambled on for long enough. Until next time... whenever that is.

Oh Fudge!

2009-12-23T23:24:00.006-07:00

Once again, that most wonderful time of the year is upon us, and I for one couldn't be happier about that. It is now Christmas Eve, and that is my favorite day of the year.

With each passing year it keeps feeling more and more like Christmas comes up faster than we expect. I started working on a new banner for this blog that would commemorate the holiday season (and be adequate to leave posted until February) but it still hasn't gotten past the drawing board. I plan to still get it on this site this weekend, but it was evident early on that I would not get the drawing ready for a visit from Santa.

Since we finally woke up from our turkey coma, we've had the joy of preparing for the upcoming holiday. Our shopping is done, our presents are wrapped, and the cat has actually managed to not dig into one of them this year! Last Christmas my Mother-In-Law gave us some pancake batter as part of our gift (each year we get something to contribute to our food storage) and it sat under the tree for a week without Emma even looking at it; then one day, we walk in the front door and there are white paw prints all over the floor, and a white cat (who is normally black) sitting on a pile of flour.

This year, our biggest battle with the pets has come in the form of our dog Iola. We recently decided to purchase a new love-seat and chair for our front room, and we wanted to make this the couch that our dog would not be allowed to get on. Sure enough, she was attracted to the couch almost instantly, and we had to do some major training to break her of that habit. Fortunately for us, it's easy to tell when the dog has been on the couch, as she leaves a pretty sizable drool stain when she gets off.

Along with our new couch and chair (which I contend, is the most comfortable recliner I've sat in,) we also invested in an end-table to go between the two. Our cat, who is by far the most jumpy animal in the world, quickly started investigating the new table and furniture. She found that she could comfortably fit underneath the table, with minimal clearance between her head and the drawer above. Unfortunately for Emma, Mrs. Nutz grabbed at her tail, causing Emma to jump about 10 feet when she had a 2 inch clearance. After we heard the loud thump of Emma hitting the underside of the table, we both laughed while the cat ran away and sulked for a while. Fortunately for us, the cat knows nothing about retribution, so I think we'll be okay to keep startling her for our amusement.

Speaking of new furniture, our local RC Willey must love having us around by now. Last Saturday Mrs. Nutz posted on Facebook that she had a fire in the oven, and apparently some people thought she was kidding. To set the record straight, we did manage to set our oven on fire. It wasn't by any means a huge fire, and we were able to stop it before the fire alarms even went off. Where we ran into trouble was that we used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and after we did that we were informed that the chemicals in the extinguisher could damage the element in the oven. We tried cleaning the oven, but were never able to get rid of the extinguisher smell and smoke, so we decided to run to RC Willey and buy a new one.

The oven we had came with the house when we bought it, and Mrs. Nutz has wanted to get replace it for a while now, so this really was nothing more than a convenient reason to go and buy a new better oven; however I jokingly tell people that I think she started the fire on purpose just so that she could get a new one.

Well, the tree is trimmed, the house is ready, and outside we have the return of the big inflatable rodent. Mickey once again graces our front yard, and this year we took proper precautions with our exterior illumination to ensure that it can withstand wind and snow. Last year Mickey never quite inflated properly, and the wind kept knocking over the tree we placed on the front porch, eventually destroying the base of it. This year we bought a new tree, and I bolted that thing to the ground so that it can't go anywhere. Mickey still inflates a little odd, but that can be attributed to the foot of snow outside, and not an error in my construction.

I've also been pleased that Emma has stayed (for the most part) out of our Christmas Village. Last year it took everything I could think of to try and keep her from playing Godzilla cat in Mickey's Toon Town, but this year she seems to be otherwise occupied. She might actually deserve the stuffed mouse that we bought her from Ikea.

Well, it seems about time that I end this post and bid you all a very Merry Christmas. The title of this post comes from the fact that as I type this, Mrs. Nutz is in bed watching A Christmas Story. It's one of those classic movies that just makes the season a little brighter.

From all of us in the Nutz house, to all of you, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

So Much For Traditions Charlie Brown.

2009-11-27T11:13:00.003-07:00

I initially wanted to get this post up last week; however when that became an obvious non-occurrence I determined that I would get the post up in time for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I came up a day late and a dollar short. Still I think that the spirit of the post is relevant, so I will go ahead and proceed.

The other day Mrs. Nutz and I got onto the topic of traditions, and I commented my amusement for the way that some traditions, that seem to make little or no sense, will find their way into your life. For example: One of my favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robins. The first time I watched this movie was on Thanksgiving day after I had watched the parade and was engrossed in decorating my room for the holidays. Since that time, I have always had my thoughts drift toward that movie on Thanksgiving at some point or another. Before marriage I would watch the film annually on Thanksgiving, but this has since faded away due to not having the time between visiting our families for the day.

I'm certainly not complaining about not watching this movie on Thanksgiving, because to me spending time with the family is infinitely more important than that. I just find it amusing that a movie about prisoners and triumph of the human spirit would become one of my focuses on such a prevalent holiday as Turkey Day. Of course I find it equally humorous that Football has turned into such a holiday past-time as well, but that's only because I don't enjoy watching the sport.

Still, I hold no qualms for unusual (and albeit silly) traditions for this holiday, especially since I'm just happy that people are showing recognition for it. It seems like too many people are moving toward a mindset of getting Halloween out of their system so they can focus on Christmas. There is still a holiday in between the two, and it's kind of an important one.

I know, I know. The good folks at Macy's put on a traditional Thanksgiving parade, but if you think about it, there are more floats dedicated to Christmas than to Thanksgiving. On yesterdays parade the newscasters were noting the Tom Turkey float, and noted that most people (myself included) think of that float when they think of the parade; and yet when Santa Claus finishes up the parade, they declare the parade as the beginning of the Christmas season.

Of course the Macy's parade, while a well loved tradition, is really nothing more than a marketing tactic by Macy's. It comes as no surprise to me that so many people have adopted the tradition of holding back on their Turkey dinners so that they can leave early in the evening to get in line to go shopping at midnight. It takes a special breed of person to look forward to Black Friday, and I can honestly say that I am not one of those people.

I am, however, equally guilty of catching the Early Christmas bug as well. As noted above, I used to use the time between the parade, and the first of two Thanksgiving meals, as an opportunity to start my own Christmas decorations. I guess when you have a worldwide holiday as prevalent as Christmas, it's difficult to get anyone to not let it drift a little into our Turkey Day festivities as well. Heck, I even started drinking eggnog yesterday, which is another one of my personal traditions, and I will be damned if I drink eggnog a day before Thanksgiving! (Pumpkin Spice eggnog for Halloween? Ugh!)

Unfortunately our traditions this year were held to a minimum. Last week I ended up missing work because I caught what I would consider the worst sore throat of my life. It did not turn into strep, thankfully, but it put me out of commission for a week. Between my regular Dayquil cocktails, I kept thinking how relieved I was that I was going to get this out of my system so that I would be better by Thanksgiving. As I'm sure you can guess, its very hard to stuff yourself into a tryptophan coma when you can barely swallow.

The downside to my sore throat, at the time, was that it came right during my and Mrs. Nutz's anniversary. Rather than taking the day off to go have a romantic evening out, we stayed in and watched TV while I tried to force soup and cough-drops down my throat.

When my sore throat finally ebbed, I got excited about being able to enjoy our families Thanksgiving festivities; unfortunately fate had a different plot in mind for my wife. Wednesday the sore throat went to her, and by the time we sat down for our first family meal yesterday, she was having too much trouble getting food down. We decided it would be best to forgo our evening plans, since we didn't want to spread this illness to anyone else, and we left to spend a quiet evening at home.

This turn of events led me to thinking about the TV special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which I was guilty of watching several times. In it Charlie Brown is berated by Peppermint Patty for serving them a thanksgiving meal that consists of toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans. Patty is furious that she wasn't served a traditional feast, despite the fact that she had invited herself, Marcie, and Franklin over when Charlie Brown wasn't even supposed to be at home.

The day was saved though, when that sage of sages, Linus, reminded the group that thanksgiving's importance doesn't lie with the feast; but rather with the meaning of the holiday. Ours was the first nation to make an annual celebration of giving thanks for our blessings. When you think about it, that's a pretty awesome idea.

In a holiday filled with traditions and family, my wife and I were forced to scale back this year. That notwithstanding, I want to just say how thankful I am for the blessings we've had this year. While the economy around us is just starting to show signs of life, we were among those who were fortunate enough to keep our jobs, and our home. I'm thankful for our families, and how they help us throughout our trials and struggles. We feel bad that we weren't able to make it to the family dinner, but our hearts were still with them on this holiday. I'm thankful for our friends, and the joy that they bring to our lives. In particular, at this time, I want to say thanks to Mr. and Mrs Munk for their friendship. And when they roll their eyes when we ask to borrow their copies of the seasons of The Big Bang Theory, I just want to remind them them that they were the ones to create this monster.

Mostly though, I want to say how thankful I am for my wife, and all that she does for me. I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with, but she puts up with me and shows me love in all that she does. My life is truly better because she is in it, and I thank her for that. I love you sweetheart.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All Hallow's Eve in the Nutz House!

2009-10-30T18:28:00.003-06:00

Well once again it's been over a month since I got around to updating this blog. I was bound and determined to get an entry posted before the upcoming holiday, and it's getting very close to the wire, so here goes:

It's hard to believe that Halloween is coming up fast and furious tomorrow night. Growing up this was always a strange time of year for me. I remember vividly the sensation of having to face my fears when going up to the door to collect candy, all while being positive that someone lie lurking in the shadows to scare me so bad I soil myself. Ironically to me the scariest house on the block was my own, as my Dad and brothers were able to transform our carport into something far more sinister. I would have to confront my fears each Halloween as I would try to get from the sidewalk to the landing inside the front door; all the while avoiding the spooky Frankenstein Creature hovering just to the side of the door.

As I got older I started to enjoy that sensation, to a degree. Mr. Munk was making fun of me the other day when I brushed off his invitation to attend the Nightmare on 13th which is a local haunted attraction in Salt Lake. I added more fuel to his fire when he and I were watching shows from the Travel Channel that showcased the best of haunted mazes. I guess I can see his reasoning, I do enjoy being on the scaring side of the spectrum, but I would be the first to shy away from the rush of actually being scared.

Of course the last time I went through a haunted maze, the proprietors had close to 40 chainsaw characters chase you throughout the maze, and honestly it was so boring by the end of it that I seemed to have lost my taste for it. That, or Mr. Munk could be right and I'm just a wuss when it comes to being scared.

Of course I do enjoy a good scary movie, and I'm hoping to be able to go and participate in a ghost hunt at some point in the future, so maybe it's the excess of blood and gore that one encounters in the haunted attractions.

Before you argue that I commented on a disdain for gore while stating that I like scary movies, I would like to qualify that remark. I define a scary movie as something that is actually suspenseful on a psychological level, such as the 1963 version of The Haunting or Silence of the Lambs, as opposed to the overtly disgusting films such as the Saw series or Hostel. I am squeamish enough that I can't watch myself get a shot when I go to the doctor's office, so why would I want to watch some stoned teenagers get hacked to pieces by Freddy Kruger?

Actually this year we did attend one haunted attraction... or to be fair we semi-attended it. A few weeks ago Mrs. Nutz and I traveled with my parents to San Antonio on a weekend trip, and while there we visited SeaWorld, who was hosting their annual Howl-O-Scream festival. We ended up seeing all we really wanted to see during the day, and left the park before the spooky stuff started.

Our trip to Texas was a blast! It was the second time I'd been there, and I forget how much I love the Riverwalk. We had a great hotel right on the river, went to SeaWorld and the Alamo, and enjoyed ourselves as much as we could during our stay. It was really hard to drag ourselves away from the vacation; that is, until we got to the airport.

We had a flight scheduled for 8:15 am to leave San Antonio, so we got up at 5 am, dropped off the rental car, and made the shuttle to the airport at 6:45. At that point we were informed that our flight had been moved to 7 am. The rep checking us in said that she would get us on the plane and took our bags, though she left us to our own devices to work our way through security. We managed to get through and got to the terminal, only to be informed that we were too late to catch the plane. Apparently our rep sent a message to the terminal telling them to hold the plane for us, but the message was not received.

So my dad (Grumpy Nutz) and I sauntered our way back to the check-in counter, where we were informed that they wouldn't be able to get us on a plane for another 7 1/2 hours. Long story short, I got to enjoy the experience of falling sound asleep while sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a terminal.

I'm just glad that I don't have to worry about getting on a plane again anytime soon.

Well tomorrow the little goblins will be coming around to take part in that time honored tradition of Trick or Treating. Mrs. Nutz and I are getting ready to take part in our own tradition of eating home-made Broccoli-Cheese soup (yum-o) and watching the 7-hour live Ghost Hunters investigation. It's a fun way of celebrating.

Happy Halloween

There Goes the Neighborhood!!!

2009-08-22T23:25:00.000-06:00

As events happen to me in my daily routine, I try to keep a mental note of things that I would like to blog about. At one point I was starting a post back in July that was going to be a movie review of the new Transformers flick (I liked it, but it was not as good as the first film.) Obviously that entry never came to fruitation. Eventually I would like to start posting on here more frequently, but time will tell if that ever happens. (Technically there's a few other things that I would like to accomplish with this blog, such as customizing the layout and including a possible webcomic, but I have other priorities at the present.)

While it would be possible to whip out a post that fills in all the details about what's been happening around the old Nutz House since my last entry, I honestly don't have the drive to do so. There was a great trip to Oregon that Mrs. Nutz and I took with her sister, or I could ramble on about our newsest addiction on Facebook... Farmville. Heck, I could even finally post about the trip we took to Walt Disney World back in February... although it would be nothing more than a moot point now.

No, rather than trying to fill you in with too many details of the past, I will just move on to the present day.

Today was an exciting day in the neighborhood. Our friends bought the house just around the corner from us (literally) and today they moved in. Since this is the first time I've mentioned these friends, I will furthermore give them the moniker of Mr. and Mrs. Munk. I have chosen this name for two reasons: first, it ties in nicely with the woodland creature theme I have going on (Munk meaning chipmunk.) Second, Mr. Munk is a major fan of the classic Disney Afternoon series Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers.

Mr. Munk and I met in animation class a few years back (2003 I think) and we developed an instant bond. Even though I know this is opening myself up for some severe teasing from my wife and brothers, I would maintain that the best example of My and Mr. Munk's friendship would be the characters Turk and JD from Scrubs.

Anyway, we had decided that we were both tired of being bachelors, and we agreed that we would encourage each other by setting a double date, both with ladies our families were setting us up with. Both of us married the gals that we took on that date, and all of us have been close friends ever since.

Now they've moved to a house whose property touches ours. This is going to be AWESOME!!

While coming up with blog IDs for my friends, I remembered one of the news articles from this week that got me thinking about a possible post update. CNN reported a story on Friday about bloggers losing their anonymity, and some of the points in it really got me thinking.

The article started out with the public outing of a blogger in Pittsburgh who went by the moniker PittGirl. She wrote for a local magazine and had become viewed by many people in the city as a sort of "masked superhero." She said that she had tried to maintain her secret identity, but people were starting to figure it out, so she decided to finally come out and tell Pittsburgh who she really is, especially before someone else did it for her.

There were other cases listed from bloggers who had dropped their cyber alter-egos for various reasons: one for publicity, and another who was ousted by a politician; there was even mention of a woman who blogs under her real identity, and was fired for it.

The thing that stuck with me the most from this article was a comment from the blogger who chose not to go by an online persona. She said, "I think if you're doing something anonymously you've got some issues going on. There's a reason that your hiding."

Are bloggers who go by assumed identities hiding? It makes for a provocative argument, but I don't agree with her reasoning. Am I hiding anything in my blog? Yes and no. I'm choosing to protect my family and friends by not broadcasting their personal information on the internet, but I don't post anything that I wouldn't say in person. I don't use the Mr. Nutz persona to change who I am, and I hope that those who know me would agree that I am genuine in my blogging.

Well, I guess I should call it a night and consider this another post successfully completed. I'm optimistic that there will be more postings in the future, particularly with the shenanigans that Mr. Munk and I will no doubt get ourselved into. Our wives have already consented to let us buy 2 way radios so long as we set a time in the evening when the radios will be shut off. Actually their first suggestion was the old-school telephone with 2 cans and a string, but I am much more comfortable with the grown-up walkie talkies. Mr. Munk is also pushing for a signal system using tiki lamps, but the jury is still out on that one.

Now Look at the Mess I've Gotten Myself Into!

2009-05-27T21:30:00.000-06:00

Now I've gone and done it!

I've been fighting it for a long time, but I finally caved and joined the facebook community. No longer am I one of the few and proud who rebelled against the system... now I'm back to being a follower.

The irony is that this past semester in my English class I wrote an essay about the dangers of Online Social Networks. At the end of the semester, when the teacher asked the class what they thought of the idea of using facebook in the course, I was one of the few who maintained that it should not be a requirement because some people, like myself, would never want to join the OSN. Less than a month later here I am.

I truth, I don't object to online gathering places, I really just didn't want another excuse to waste my time on the computer. Mrs. Nutz has been a facebook user for a while now, and I have been debating back and forth for a while about whether or not it would be worth investing the time. What ultimately won me over was that friendships could be renewed and maintained without the limitation of distance, and some friendships could also turn into a great potential business network. The positives outweighed the negatives, and I finally decided it would be better to join. No sooner did I cave, then my buddy and his wife joined the fun. He apparently fought the battle as long as I did, and came to a similar conclusion.

Those who know me and Mrs. Nutz by our non-squirrel monikers should have minimal trouble finding us on facebook, but for the sake of anonymity I still prefer to maintain an internet ID on this blog. If anyone chooses to follow me from my facebook page, and you decided to leave a comment, please respect that anonymity. I really don't want to edit or delete posts from commentators, as I firmly believe in the freedom of speech.

Moving on...

I can't believe how long it has been since I last updated this blog. I was doing really well and getting posts up for the holidays, then three passed me by like a fat kid chasing an ice cream truck. First there was Cinco de Mayo, which I admit is not necessarily a real holiday for someone in my position. I am neither Latino, nor do I consume alcoholic beverages. Being a bonafide and sober Gringo means that the holiday holds no significant meaning to me; and yet I have a sense of admiration for the day that makes me want to honor it in some fashion. How does one who's heritage is NOT tied to the holiday celebrate it when alcohol is not involved? Simple, I eat Mexican food (or the fast-food equivalent) while watching The Three Amigos! Mrs. Nutz is not as fond of Mexican food as me, so this year we had our Cinco de Mayo meal at Chili's, and sadly I have yet to actually watch the movie this year, but I will be a temporary bachelor this weekend, so I may succeed at finishing off my festivities.

The second holiday was Mother's Day. Obviously this is the day devoted to honoring the women who brought us into this world, and things were no different around the Nutz household. We had a very pleasant day visiting both my Mother-in-Law, and my own Mother Nutz.

Most recently, we just celebrated Memorial Day. To most people I speak to, it seems that Memorial Day is the first chance to go camping; however my family is very big on using that day to gather together and honor those who had passed away in the family. My grandfathers were all WWII vets, and very proud of it. Mother Nutz's father, who fought in the war, passed away 2 years before I was born, and my Grandma remarried to my current Grandpa, who was a friend of the family. He was a career military man, and is one of the people who shaped my sense of patriotism. My Dad's father, Grandpa Nutz, was another great man who passed away just before Christmas in 1999. I could fill pages with my memories of him, and he will also be sorely missed. This past weekend my Dad, Brother, and I were in Grandpa Nutz's office, which is filled with his military medals, antiques, and memories.

Memorial Day weekend was also a good excuse to spend a day renovating. Mrs Nutz and I have slowly been painting the house since we moved in a year and a half ago. Our most recent project was the downstairs hallway and upstairs bathroom. We invited our friends (whom were previously mentioned as recent joiners of facebook) to come and help, mostly because my buddy is a 6' 3" artist who isn't afraid of heights. I could place him on the tall ladder where he could reach the tallest part of the ceiling and I could keep my acrophobic feet planted on more solid ground.

Our hallway is now painted the same color as chocolate milk, and the difference is dramatic, especially at night. The hallway always needed a light installed before, but now I would venture to claim that it is the darkest area of the house at night.

The bathroom... well that's a different story. We have opted to make it a Mickey Mouse themed bathroom, and we bought the Disney paint color "Main Street Light" to paint the walls. We also decided to paint the ceiling the same color yellow, and now the room is BRIGHT! The plus side is that we don't have to turn on lights in the daytime; the downside, when you turn on the lights at night as you walk into it (from the recently darkened hallway nonetheless) you gently sear your corneas before you remember to let your eyes adjust to the brightness.

It will look really great when we get the red trim, black tile, black shower curtain, and other accessories installed, and all joking aside it really turned out nice.

The big one will be this Saturday, as we will be laying cement in the backyard. Not only will we finally get the patio that we want (complete with place for a fire pit and fountain) but we won't have a dirt patch/garden of weeds leading to the grass. The patch had become so overgrown with weeds that we haven't been able to keep on top of it. Up until now Mrs. Nutz solution was simply to tackle it with a lawnmower, but that only cuts down the weeds. Last night though, I had the pleasure of taking a tiller to the ground, so that I could loosen up the dirt for us to get it ready to level out and pour cement.

Tilling the ground brought back an amusing joke I was told by a member of the congregation when I was serving a mission for my church in Oregon. This older brother was a cantankerous old farmer (which is pretty awesome when you understand that he had no legs.) He used to love to tell the groaner joke "How do you make Holy Water? You get a pot of water and boil the hell out of it."

Why did the tiller make me remember this joke? Let's just say that last night I turned that weed patch into holy ground!

Warewolves, Vampires & Six-Foot Tall Rabbits

2009-04-12T10:09:00.000-06:00

It's been almost a month since I made my last post, and wouldn't you know that another holiday is upon us. Growing up I always used to really like Easter, though I remember never having the desire to see the Easter Bunny quite like I did to see Santa Claus. For some odd reason the thought of a large magical rabbit seemed more frightening to me than a jolly old fat man, even though both were delivering presents. It's even more odd to me to think of being scared of the Easter Bunny, considering that I was a Disneyland child who loved (to my recollection) going and seeing the characters.

I still remember my brothers and I dying the Eggs, something that I still enjoy doing and look forward to teaching to my own children soemday. Always the artist it wasn't enough for me to dye eggs the standard colors that came in the kit, I always felt the need to try and color the eggs in shades that I personally preferred. I would try and experiment with the crayon that came in the kit to create teal and earth-tone eggs because I thought it was pretty awesome that I could mix and match to create those colors. If I were possible I probably would've tried to create a black egg... doesn't that sound appealing?

Sadly, this year it feels like Easter completely snuck up on us. We didn't even start thinking about it until last weekend, and even after that we forgot about it on and off. No egg dying this year, no stuffed rabbits invading the house, nothing. Mrs. Nutz and I determined that we will have to get better about that when we have a family of little Nutz running around.

Last Monday night we decided to do a family activity, baking cookies. We'd both been craving chocolate chip cookies, and decided that it would be a fun thing to do together. I gathered the ingredients for Mrs. Nutz while she carefully placed them into the Kitchenaid and delicately added the flour to keep from covering the kitchen in a fine mist of fluffy whiteness. Because we doubled the batch, it soon became too thick for the mixer to do it's job, at which point my wife batted her eyes and asked that I saddle up to the bowl with a wooden spoon and start mixing.

I was a little less careful about my mixing strategy, allowing flour to escape from the bowl on more than one occasion. At one point in my vigourous attempt to mix the dough, I even broke one of our wooden spoons. Mrs. Nutz laughed in disbelief at that one. Finally after moving the bowl from one side of the sink to the other, Mrs. Nutz took over and demanded that I clean up the mess that I had made. I told her I was giving her practice, allowing her to see what it would be like baking with a child. She didn't argue that point with me...

That evening we finally got around to renting Disney's Bolt. I had wanted to see this movie, as I'd known quite a bit of the production behind the feature, and I'd heard some great things about it. We'd had several options to watch it on the Cruise ship, but circumstances had made us not able to do so. I have to say that of the big 3 animated films from last year (Bolt, Wall-E, and Kung Fu Panda) I thought this was by far the best of them. It was especially fun to watch with Iola laying on us in the couch, obviously jealous that we were paying so much attention to a dog that was not her.

Not this last Friday, but the week prior, we were determined to finally watch the movie adaptation of Twilight. We had been trying to find it in RedBox for the past while, and were never able. Having read the books, I was initially hesitant to see the movie, but friends and family kept telling me that they had done a great job with it, so I had developed a desire to see it. My more senisible better half had not caught the fever yet, and I figured she would eventually get to the books, but I knew that she would want to see the movie before she would be willing to crack open the novel. We had stopped at Walmart to check their redbox, and do some light shopping (I swear if we leave that store and haven't spent $100 we consider that a good errand.) While there I noticed that they were selling the single disc version of the movie for a reasonable price, so I convinced Mrs. Nutz that we should buy it anyway, and then we could always sell it off if we didn't like it.

We watched the movie Friday night, then again Saturday night. Sunday Mrs. Nutz watched the movie, then started reading the book that night. Monday night we made cookies and watched Bolt, then read in the books (I thought that reading with her would be fun, so I grabbed the second book in the series and figured I would keep a step ahead of her.) for a while. Tuesday she wasn't feeling that good, so she stayed home while I went to work and school. When I got home I found out that she was a little over half-way in the book, and had watched the movie a couple more times. Wednesday she watched the movie while I did my homework, and I'm assuming that she watched the movie again Thursday night.

By Friday we had both finished our books, so I thought it would be fun when we got back from our errands to have a quiet evening reading. During our errands we went to the store and bought Twilight themed candy hearts, and both the movie soundtrack, and the movie score. That night we read from 7 pm until 2:30 am. The next morning I got up late and went downstairs where my wife had been since Iola woke her at 9, and she was reading again. Since we had borrowed the books, I reasoned that we should go and buy copies of the last two books so that I could continue reading and still not hinder her progress. We went to the store yesterday and bought the last two books, came home and watched the movie AGAIN while we ate, then stayed up until 1 again reading the books. She's nearing the halfway mark in the 3rd tome, and I am just breaking the surface of the final novel. As I type this, she's in the other room reading.

I remember when I read through the books the first time thinking that she would like them as well, but figuring that she would in no way become as fixated on them as I had... I'm happy to say that I grossly underestimated the power of those books!

Well, I think that catches us up on the events of our recent weeks. My artwork for the Disney World trip recap is coming slower than I would like, but that's the rub when life (and apparently Twilight) intervenes. I'm still planning on it though, better late than never.

Happy Easter everyone!

Deflated Mouse: Happy St. Paddy's to You!

2009-03-17T18:47:00.000-06:00

When we first got married and were living in an apartment, I would love to sped our Saturdays getting up a little bit later, maybe run an errand or two, do some light cleaning in the home, and overall spend the day relaxing. Now that I'm a home owner and have responsibilities, I prefer to spend Saturdays in springtime working in the yard; at least that's what my wife tells me. I admit it, I am at heart a lazy person. After a long week of work I would love to take the day off and lounge around on the couch with the TV and possibly a sketch book. This is not the case with Mrs. Nutz, who I often feel would be the best spokesperson for the Energizer corporation.

This past Saturday really was the first weekend that it really felt like springtime, and it was beautiful outside. Thanks to events throughout the week, we got to enjoy the whole day! It actually started Friday morning on our way to work. Mr. Nutz and I noticed a peculiar sound as we were getting on the ramp to go to work. At first we thought that it was something we drove over and were dragging along the ground, though Mrs. Nutz soon thought that it could be a belt. As we built up speed on the freeway the sound went away and we didn't give it any further thought until we got off the freeway by our work and started hearing it again. Mrs. Nutz pulled off the side of the road and had me check to see if it was the muffler dragging, and to our dismay we discovered that it was a completely flat tire. We were very fortunate to make the 45 minute drive all the way south without damaging the rim. This was also our first reminder that Friday was the 13th.

Saturday morning we got up early so that we could take the car to our local Les Schwab and get a new tire, at which point we dropped off the car and plowed through our list of errands. About 3 hours later we completed our marathon of shopping and returned to fetch the car, then made our way back home. We got back with enough time to do some mild yard work (with the heavy stuff coming this Saturday) and decided that it was time to finally finish taking down the Christmas decorations that had previously been covered under a foot of snow.

It wasn't until I was rolling up the large deflated Mickey that I realized how long it had been since I was able to get to this blog. I have really wanted to update this since we got back from the trip, and to my loyal readers I had promised a detailed listing (actually a 3 part tome) of our vacation, but time just isn't in our favor. The biggest hurdle is that there are some images that I want to create for those posts, and it's just going to have to wait until that time.

Then there was another issue: I had been so excited about getting to this blog when I got back, because I would finally be allowed to tell anyone following this that we were officially going to add another Nutz to the family tree. Mrs. Nutz and I had been trying to start a family for the better part of a year, and we were finally able to get pregnant; but unfortunately during our 8th week, we lost the baby, and became one of the 25% of first pregnancies that end this way. When this happened we were devistated, but now we have been able to move on and have set our sights ahead to try again. Mrs. Nutz was actually getting excited that I would be able to use this blog as a means of keeping a record of her pregnancy. I guess this means that I still have time to practice updating this blog in the meantime.

Saturday night we finally decided to relax and watch a movie, then proceeded to go through our backlog of TV shows recorded during the last couple of weeks. With life intervening, we hadn't been able to keep current with our CSI, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY, so now was a good time to go through our episodes. It finally was about 2:30 am when we finally decided we had enough and went to bed. Our loving dog Iola, who spends most of the day sleeping on the floor, was most excited that we were going to finally go to bed as she was exhausted from all the sleeping that she did that day.

The next morning Iola decided that she was ready to get up and have breakfast around 8:00, so she started nosing Mrs. Nutz in the arm and was repeatedly shooed away. Not one to become discouraged when food is involved, she decided to leap onto the bed and proceeded to lick me all over the back of the head. Thrilled as I was to be roused in such a way, I curtly sent the dog outside and got her food ready. The sound of me getting into the food/treat cupboard apparently has the same affect to our cat Emma, as winding the key on a toy has. Suddenly she was awake and bouncing off the walls literally. We woundn't mind so much if it weren't for the mischevious streak that accompanies this energy burst.

The saddest part of all is that despite the amount of energy she possesses, Emma only lets us see it. If we have any company over, she will be a perfect little angel. Our families only hear the stories, but seldom get to see the wild side of that cat.

Well I'm sure that I've rambled on for long enough. It feels good to add another entry to this blog though. I think that this marks the first entry that I've done on an actual holiday, though because we don't drink, and neither of us are Irish, it doesn't mean very much to us except that we wear green so that no one feels the need to pinch us.

Anyway, Happy St. Patricks Day everyone! Here's praying that I manage to get another entry added before Easter!

M - I - C, See you real soon!!

2009-02-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

I presume that this will be a rather short post. Time has not been our friends as of late, and with a definate deadline things just always seem to get pushed back as far as possible. Another school semester has started, and combined with work and personal life, things just get too busy for words. Fortunately the big deadline I wrote of is un upcoming vacation, and it feels like it's long overdue.

The Nutz clan is taking a major vacation to the great state of Florida, where we will play to our hearts content alongside Mickey and the gang at Walt Disney World resort. Those readers who know me personally know that my passion for all things Disney probably would be better qualified as an obsession. I developed a love for the Mouse house as a very young child, and today it easily embodies at least 25% of my daily thoughts. Mrs. Nutz would no doubt argue that the percentage is higher, but that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

On top of our 7 days at Disney World, we will also be taking a voyage on the Disney Wonder, which is one of their cruise ships to the Bahamas. This will personally mark my first venture outside of the United States, and I can't think of a better way to have that first experience. We are getting our stuff together, as we will be leaving in a matter of days, but I knew that if I didn't update this blog tonight, it would never get done.

After we return, I will allow the Disneyphile in me to take control for at least a couple of longer entries, and I hope that it won't be too boring for those readers who are not as fond of the mouse as I am.

Until then, there should be some HUGE posts coming when I get back. There is much to write about, so please hang on.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas and all Round the House, Not a Creature was Stirring, 'cept One Big A** Mouse!

2008-12-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like just the other day my sister in law was asking me if I was going to update my blog anytime soon. I told her that I really wanted to get one done for the upcoming holiday, especially since I had already missed the previous one. The problem is: the holiday I was referring to was Thanksgiving. How the time flies!

A lot has happened since I last updated this blog. We've had two major holidays, elected the first African-American president, and my oldest brother (Big Nutz) and his wife (Lady Nutz) just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy (Little Nutz.) The whole Nutz clan has been very excited for this occasion, and I'm very happy to report that everything went great. Little Nutz is now home with his parents and big sister (a loveable ball of energy I'm choosing to call Lotta Nutz.)

I'm currently writing this on the evening of Dec 23, and I'm anxiously anticipating tomorrow, which is possibly my favorite day of the year. I have loved Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. Every year we go to my Grandparents (on my mothers side, so they are not Nutz I'm afraid,) and enjoy an evening of dinner and merryment with all the cousins.

Growing up there was the adults table in the dining room, while us kids were reserved a smaller table in the kitchen. My older brothers would share stories with the older cousins about their high jinks during the course of the year, which usually resulting in the younger cousins lauging until our sides hurt. Every year we would use red and green plastic cups that my grandparents had bought, and at the end of the meal they would wash the cups and put them back into the cupboard until the next Christmas.

After dinner, the adults would go to the family room and visit while us kids would go downstairs into the basement to play pool. Grandpa and Grandma would always tell us not to look around down there, as they would have the family Christmas presents down there all around the room. They were already wrapped, put in boxes separated by family, and covered with sheets, but it was still fun to pretend that we didn't see them.

Pool was always interesting at their house. The ceilings are short and there's cabinets that are within close proximity to the table, so much that you would usually have to open the doors to aim at the ball from that angle (or use the short stick affectionately referred to as "stumpy.") My grandparents basement has older carpet in it that conducts static electrticity at an alarming rate. I'm convinced that you could power a small city just by walking around in that room. We soon discoverd that the metal pool cues we played with made great lightning rods, and before too long the game would take a shocking turn.

Before too long, the adults would call us kids to come upstairs so that we could do the gift exchange. We'd all try to race out of the basement first, knowing that the last person up would have to shut off the lights, usually getting an arc of electricity that would knock a moose off it's feet. Upstairs we would exchange our gifts, then Grandpa would let talk for a few minutes to tell the family how greatful they were for us. Visiting would commence for a little longer, and then we would get ready to leave for the night.

As we were going home, my parents would drive through the neighborhood to see all the Christmas lights that the neighbors had put up. Grandpas always raved about a couple of his neighbors that put on an impressive display, usually the result of one-upsmanship, and we were the beneficiaries. Then we would drive home, with my parents encouraging us to look out the window for Santa. I would swear that I could see Rudolphs nose as we were driving, but I know now that I was seeing a reflection.

When we got home, my parents made us wait at the landing while my Dad poked his head over the railing to make sure that Santa hadn't come yet. When it was safe, we would go to bed and try to fall asleep, anticipating the following morning.

Things have changed a little over the years. We still go to my grandparents house for Christmas Eve, but now that the kids are mostly married (and a few even have kids of their own) the adults table has grown. Now we have two large tables and all of is visit together. The games of pool have all but disappeared, though the table is still there. Now when we go downstairs, we don't close our eyes and try not to look at the presents, but rather we bring the boxes up for my grandpa, who is now in his ninties. Perhaps the most noticable change though, is that my Grandma isn't there anymore. She passed away a couple of years ago, but there still is a part of her when we gather together for the holidays.

I still love to drive through "the meadow" to look at the Christmas lights after we're done, a tradition that my lovely wife has enjoyed as well.

When I was younger, I always looked forward to the next morning. Christmas morning meant that Santa had come, and we would be leaping into a mound of presents; but now that I'm older, I realize that I look more forward to the night before. In the end, I think that memories are the real treasure, but once Mrs. Nutz and I start raising children of our own, we'll be able to start new traditions and build new memories.

We have received one Christmas present already. My other brother and his wife gave us an 8 foot tall inflatable Mickey Mouse which now graces our yard every night. Unfortunately I've never owned an inflatable rodent, and didn't realize that I had to tie him down in several places to make his stand up properly, so each night he inflates at a tilt until I get home and straighten him out.

I'll get it right for next year though.

Merry Christmas!

It was a Dark and Scary Night...

2008-10-10T22:29:00.000-06:00

The other night, Mrs Nutz and I jumped at a chance to save some money doing some of our mandatory shopping. My Mother-in-law is a bargain shopper, and a pretty darn good one at that. Since this is the first time I've mentioned my in-laws, I would like to say that there are MANY horror stories out there about Mother-in-laws; however my wife and I were both fortunate to marry into great families. Anyway, mine is a bargain shopping whiz, and she likes to make sure that we are made aware of the deals. She informed us that our local Dan's Grocery Store was going to be having a moonlight madness sale. Basically from 8 PM to 11 PM they would have bargains on potatoes, steaks, and a few other things, plus a discount at the register. She invited us to go shopping with her, even though this store was a little out of the way for us. Considering that we just got paid, and it was time to go grocery shopping anyway, we accepted her invitation.

Somewhere back in the deep recesses of my mind, I knew that it wasn't a good idea; but I just shrugged it off. I worked in retail during the holiday season for several years, and I have very vivid memories of how crazy things were, but that was always from an employee's perspective. This was my first real experience at seeing how crazy things were from the shoppers perspective, and shoppers are INSANE!!!

The night started off for us at 7:30, when we arrived at the store and started shopping for the bargains. A rational person would think that the managers of the store would realize that this advertised sale was coming, and would try to have all the items in stock. Not this manager. One of the sale items that we were looking forward to was a 5 lb sack of potatoes for $1, and we were fortunate to get there just as the clerk was bringing them out... all 12 bags of them. I felt sorry for the clerk, it was like bringing a pizza into a weight-watchers convention. We got ours and ran before we could attract attention.

Our next shock came when we got to the Coke 2-liters. They had them stacked in plastic crates, and this one idiot was literally dumping them into his cart. At this point, I am NOT exaggerating. He was picking up an entire crate, holding them over his cart, and then dumping them. His cart was overflowing with bottles and he still kept going. As we were trying to grab a bottle or two before he could get to them, a couple of them fell to the ground and almost hit Mrs. Nutz. She gave him a nasty glare, which seemed to confuse him. I was just anxious to get away from him before one of those bottles exploded all over.

Another sale item was New York steaks for $2 per lb. My Mother-in-Law was waiting with the rest of the crowd to grab some, and the store was limiting them to 3 packages per customer. She was grabbing them off the shelf, and people were literally trying to grab them out of her hands.

By about 8:15, we'd had our fill of the whole experience, so we waited in the check-out lane that stretched all the way back to Hawaii, and told ourselves that we would never EVER again bargain shop like this. It made me shudder to think of what stores are like the day after Thanksgiving. I know that the economy sucks right now, but I'll spend the extra $30 we saved if that means that we can go grocery shopping without wearing safety gear.

Life as I Know it has Changed.

2008-10-06T22:15:00.000-06:00

There is no turning back for me now.

When I was growing up, vampires and werewolves were nothing more than evil monsters that appeared in old black and white movies starring Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. They were mindless monsters who caused a ruckus wherever they went, whether that be in merry-olde England, or chasing Abbot and Costello around with Frankenstein.

Dracula was always my favorite bad guy. He was the epitome of the monsters that you love to hate, and usually I would root for him to win (which still generally happens whenever I play the Castlevania video games.) There was just something awesome about him.

Now though, my entire view of vampires has been changed, and there will be no coming back for Mr. Nutz!

Recently, I decided to borrow copies of the books in the Twilight series, just to see what all the hoopla was about. I'd seen a trailer for the upcoming movie, and I thought that with a fourth novel coming out, I should really see why everyone on the Nutz side of the ol' family tree was going gaga over these books. I figured that they would be fast reads, but I never expected them to be so darn addicting. No sooner could I finish one, then I had to bury myself into the next one.

For the sake of anyone reading this blog who may not have read the books yet (like Mrs. Nutz) I won't go into any detail about the books, but man alive I can't stop thinking about how incredible I thought they really were.

About a week ago, I just finished off the fourth installment, Breaking Dawn, and already I'm going through withdrawls. While I would venture to say that I thought the series ended on a great note (indeed I think that the fourth installment is my favorite of them all) I can't believe that there are no more books about Bella and the Cullen Family. Yesterday morning, as I was getting in the shower to go to work, I even found myself wondering what it would be like to be a vampire like in the stories (sadly, the reality that vampires don't exist wasn't what pulled me out of my daydream; rather it was the realization that being said vampire would make it difficult to ever enjoy being in Disneyland again. I guess my old obsession still trumps my new one...)

On the plus side, Mrs. Nutz is thrilled that I have finished reading the books. She sees it as a plus that now I can concentrate on some more important things, like school work and helping her design product for her side business. I hope that she will soon pick up the books for herself and see why they're so engrossing, but knowing my wife as I do, I know she won't share in my obsessive enthusiasm for them. She tends to be more grounded in reality than I am, and that's why I love her.

Ironically, it was the trailer for the movie that got me interested in reading the books in the first place, and now that I have read them, I can honestly say that I think I will HATE the movie! I guess my sister-in-law is right, you really shouldn't read a book before seeing the movie.

Greetings From the Nut House.

2008-09-22T22:13:00.000-06:00

I have a suspicion that my family and closest friends would find the name of this article to be more accurate than I would like to admit. Mrs. Nutz and I live in Utah with our dog and our cat. We've been married for almost two years now, and the animals are our only kids; so yeah, they're a little spoiled.

I'm an aspiring animator, and Mrs. Nutz is an administrative assistant. Actually we both work at the same place, and Mrs. Nutz is an assistant to our boss while I am a new peon... so now she has authority over me at work, and at home.

All kidding aside, my wife is wonderful, and with me she has to put up with a lot that makes her roll her eyes (such as this blog,) which she does with quite a bit of grace.

I admit that this is my first venture into the world of blogging, but I think that this will be a fun way for me to keep in touch with family and friends, as well as give my opinions and thoughts about random crap, and post drawings and possibly a web comic. My personal life tends to revolve around movies and all things Disney, so I'm sure that those things will be mentioned too. All in all, I just plan to have fun with this, and I hope that anyone who reads it, whether they be family and friends, or someone who stumbled along to it while googleing something crazy (like yack-butter and goat cheese flavored Pringles, or something silly like that.) will enjoy it for what it is.

So why make my webID a squirrel? Once a few years ago, I was doodling in my sketchbook, and I drew this picture of a goofy looking squirrel holdinga sign that asked "have you seen my nuts?" and I fell in love with that drawing immediately. My wife and I were dating at the time, and even she liked it, despite the innuendo joke. She liked it enough to let me cut it out in vinyl and put it on the window of HER car, and it still sits there to this day. In fact, my wife has a side-business selling vinyl home-decor, and I plan to start selling a line of vehicle decals that I create, and this squirrel will be one of them.

I guess that's all for my first post. I hope to add an update here soon, but first I should probably publish this one and welcome the world to my blog.