Memorial Day - the unofficial start of Summer

In the USA, three day weekends are few and far between. Monday is Memorial Day here, so I am looking forward to being able to spend some extra time with my family, since my work has had me doing quite a bit of traveling recently! My most recent trip sent me flying to San Francisco on Monday afternoon, to spend two days of training at the YouTube headquarters, before making my way back on Wednesday night. I had a good time in San Francisco, but due to my current workload, I did not have the option to explore the city. The course ended roughly at 8pm on Wednesday, and immediately afterward, I made my way back to the airport for a 10pm flight to Las Vegas. One advantage to flying so late, is that the airports are generally quiet and there is no wait to pass through the security checkpoints. My flight took off on schedule and I landed in Las Vegas just after midnight. Bear in mind, that I had been awake since 5:30am the previous morning......
This was the first time I had been to Las Vegas, and as soon as I came up from the jetway in the airport, I was greeted by a huge welcome sign and row after row of slot machines!

Considering I had 6 hours to wait before my next flight, I took a shuttle from the airport to the (in)famous Las Vegas Strip. I got of at the MGM Grand Hotel, which was indeed Grand! The foyer consisted of mostly marble and gold and could easily accommodate large crowds of people! Then came the casino section, which seemed never-ending. I was amazed how many people were still gambling at around 2am. Also, coming from Ohio where all smoking indoors is banned, I was disgusted to see how many people were sitting at the slot machines and tables, puffing away at their cancer sticks! After wandering around aimlessly in through the maze of slot machines, I managed to make my way out and onto the Strip. The temperature outside was a pleasant 80 degrees (27C) at 2am - so I was still working up a sweat as I walked between the hotels. I walked past the Excalibur and Tropicana (where the finals of Dancing with the Stars is being held), before a saw a familiar skyline. Diagonally opposite me was the Empire State Building, Chrysler building, Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty! I had stumbled upon the New York New York resort, which was my next stop.

I went inside, but once you've seen one casino in Las Vegas, you've pretty much seen them all! Basically there were thousands of slot machines, with hundreds of gaming tables all around (with people smoking and drinking as they emptied their accounts...) I made my way outside again and looked for the Bellagio, home of the famous fountains. My eyes caught the hotel's signage in the distance, and I determined that it was way too far for my weary legs to get me there and back. Shortly afterward I caught a shuttle back to the airport where I could relax for a couple of hours before my three and a half hour flight back home!

This weekend was spent mostly at home, enjoying the record breaking heat, and relaxing in our pool! On Saturday evening, we put our bikes on the bike rack and drove to a local park for a family bike ride which is always enjoyable. Liesel and I worked in the garden on Sunday, pulling out a tree and two shrubs, before getting cleaned up and going on a date night! We chose this restaurant that is owned by a renowned chef, Michael Symon,  and specializes in hamburgers. It is called the B-spot, and the variety of hamburgers is amazing! I also ordered myself their Chocolate Expresso milkshake, and it is by far, THE BEST MILKSHAKE I HAVE EVER HAD! Liesel agreed with me! It was thick, creamy, and had chunks of chocolate and expresso beans that added texture to the delectable flavor. The hamburgers were also out of this world - so it was the perfect end to another good weekend!

Welcome home Summer!

Wow! What a week! It all started with me flying to Google's office in Chicago on Monday, for a two day workshop with the government, our largest customer. From Monday to Wednesday, I spent over 30 hours working in the Google office, so no sight-seeing this time around. I did manage to get this photo on my way from the train to the office.

On Wednesday, after a day of meetings, I headed back to the airport and flew back to Cleveland, arriving around 10pm!

When I came back, the weather welcomed me with wonderfully warm days. The temperatures climbed into the the mid-eighties (30+ C), and on Friday it was time to go into the basement, and emerge with our above-ground swimming pool! Nathan and Josh were very eager to help out, which made the job a little easier. We quickly had the frame set up and soon had water flowing into the pool :)

On Saturday, another beautiful day, I spent the afternoon with my band, The Remnant, as we had been hired to play at a retirement party. We got to the venue at 11:30 and set up our equipment and ran through a sound check. Later that afternoon, we hit the stage, and everyone seemed to have a great time! Mission accomplished!

By 6:15pm I was back at home and in time to jump in the pool with my boys! We had a blast in the icy water. The 86 degree (30C) weather helped keep our minds off the cooler liquid!

On Sunday, the family and I headed to Church. By the time we got home, the temperature had already risen into the eighties (27C+), which meant it was pool time again. The boys played in the pool before lunch. Today, both Lunch and Dinner were enjoyed outside on the patio! After dinner, we stopped at the boys' favorite dessert place, Menchies for some delicious FroYo. We love this time of the year! Can you tell?

Happy Mother's Day!!

Sunday was another glorious Spring day in Cleveland. Blue skies, birds chirping and everything seems so green! It was the perfect day to celebrate mothers! The McCarthy family were able to enjoy a laid back mother's day, as the boys and I gave Liesel her main gift yesterday. We've all heard the analogy: Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish, and he eats for a lifetime. So we've slightly modified that for Mother's day to : Give a mom's some flowers, and she'll have them for a week, but plant her a garden with her favorite flowers, and she'll have them for a season!
So the first item on our agenda for Saturday, was a stop at our local Home Improvement store, where we stocked up with garden soil, top soil, and some of Liesel's favorite flowers!
Next item on the agenda, was to rehabilitate and re-shape an existing flower bed. We made the bed bigger, and gave it a new semi circular shape. This was no walk in the park, and I had to use more than 6 bags of fresh organic soil to revitalize the bed. But eventually it was ready for the new lilies to be planted!
Now as long as we water them regularly, Liesel should have a good supply of her favorite flowers for a while :)

The hard work did not end there. During the day, I also did a couple of home repairs. and then trimmed the bushes and shrubs along our wrap-around porch.

Liesel and I enjoyed a date night out at a local restaurant on Friday night. We had been to the restuarant before for my company's annual Christmas party. But there we have a set menu, so we thought we would see what else they had to offer. We were pleasantly surprised, and we had one of the tastiest meals we've had in a long time! Liesle had a stuffed rainbow trout, and I had a Surf & Turf special which consisted of 3 tiger prawns on two medallions of beef! Absolutely delicious!!!

Now jumping back to our laid Sunday, even though most of the boys woke up late (with Nathan emerging from his room at 8:15am) we managed to leave the house before 9am to get to Church on time. After church we had a leisurely lunch. Nathan and I headed to a local crafts store while Liesel and Josh had afternoon naps. We couldn't find what we were looking for so we headed home, and I installed some shelves in Nathan's room. We also found some time to play outside before dinner! Liesel made a delicious dinner for all of us, which consisted of a steak (that I grilled), garlic flatbread, and potato bake! For dessert she made an amazing cheesecake, with a chocolate cookie dough crust, and strawberry frosting! What a wonderful wife and mother to Nathan and Josh!

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring = Spring Cleaning

We have been blessed to have beautiful weather again here in North East Ohio! Nathan has been going to school in shorts and t-shirts as the skies have been mostly blue and sunny of late. No complaints as we have our windows open day and night. In fact, last week we had a couple of days that were in the upper 80s (30C+), which forced us to turn the air conditioning on to cool the house down!

On Saturday morning, I headed off for a two and a half hour band practice. Afterward, I stopped at a home improvement store, and bought myself a hedge trimmer. We have a number of overgrown bushes and shrubs around our house that need to be tamed. A few minutes after firing up the trimmer, I had a professionally-finished, neat-looking bush! I can't ever remember having so much with a power tool before! So I went and gave the other bushes a makeover in about 15 minutes! To tidy up, I offered Nathan and two of his friends a couple of dollars to put the branches and leaves in to some garden refuse bags!

Then came Sunday - the day that changed the garage forever! As part of the Spring Cleaning program that Liesel is sticking to, it was time to go through the garage. Liesel, Nathan and I took everything out the garage. Then we attacked the shelves, throwing away the stuff that will never be used, reducing clutter and bringing some form of organization back to the garage! With that done, my next job was to wash out the garage with my pressure washer. This is another power tool that I love, as you can immediately see the difference as you spray the high pressured water onto the concrete floor, instantly lifting up the set-in dust and grime! The result looked as follows:

But wait, there's more!! Not satisfied with the current (lack of) storage options, we headed back to the home improvement store and bought a variety of storage hooks that I secured into the wall. Now each power tool has it's own hanging space, the winter sleds have a place of their own, and there are some bonus hooks for electric cords, folding chairs and leaf blower accessories! 

While we were at the home improvement store, Liesel also bought our first batch of vegetables that she planted in the vegetable garden that Nathan and I made for her a while back! 

So all in all, we had a pretty productive weekend! We love Spring!