Oh, no! It’s finally happening! It’s back to school time for Mrs MMD and my kids. Since Mrs MMD is a teacher, this marked the first week that she has had to go back into her room and start setting up for the start of the year. The kids had to actually wake up and go back to daycare while she and I are at work. Overall, it’s been an outstanding but too fast Summer. Unfortunately play time is over and they’ll be waking up at the crack of dawn (with me) every day very soon. The week flew by for me. I spent the first part of it in Virginia for business, and have been playing tons of catch-up at work ever since. Around the house, just after paying for the new floors, our washing machine broke down! Crap! This is soon to become another … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 8/25/2012 – Getting in Back to School Mode!
Weekend Wind Down
Weekend Wind Down 8/18/2012 – New Floors
As some of you already know, this week was Mrs MMD’s birthday. And all Mrs MMD wanted was new flooring in our house. So we decided to make her birthday dream a reality! I’ve wrote before about what a great feeling it was to do your own projects when I installed my own hardwood floors. But I've got to be honest - I really wasn't feeling it this time. Instead, we decided to contract this job out. Even though it cost a little more money, the job got done fast and it looks great. Plus it’s pretty incredible to just come home from work and the entire project is all done for you! Here are a few pictures of the before and after: … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 8/18/2012 – New Floors
Weekend Wind Down 8/11/2012 – Bad Financing Offers
Dear readers - Pop Quiz! Which one of these financing offers is a better deal? A) [Carpet Price + $572] with 24 months, 0% financing B) [Carpet Price + $0] with 6 months, 0% financing Here’s the back-story: So Mrs MMD and I are buying new carpet for our house. We find something we like and we sit down with the sales representative to go over pricing. He gives me Option A with a price that just sounds wrong (of course I calculated out what the price should be ahead of time). When I interrogate him on the cost, I find out he is charging $660 for the installation. Anyone who has ever shopped for carpet knows that pretty much everyone who sells carpet always offers the equivalent of about $100 for installation. So when I bring this to the … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 8/11/2012 – Bad Financing Offers
Weekend Wind Down 8/04/2012
August is here and that means the Summer is quickly coming to an end! Didn’t it just start? I’m glad my wife encouraged me to put together a fire pit this Summer. Friday nights have been becoming our un-wind time to build a fire and leave the stress of the work week behind. Mrs. MMD and I wanted to do something special for the kids this weekend so we’re taking them to their favorite store – Build-A-Bear – this weekend. But don’t tell them – it’s a surprise! Has anyone watched “The Woman in Black”? It started off slow … then got really, really freaky …. Then ended very predictably …. … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 8/04/2012
Weekend Wind Down – The Dark Knight Rises
Has anyone seen the new Batman movie? Man, is it good!! Much like the last one, the movie centers more around some great plot development and a story of terrorism much more than it does actually showing Batman in action. What I really liked was how they did a great job of tying the movie back to the 2004 Batman Begins. Bane’s mission is to destroy Gotham City and complete the work of Ra’s al Ghoul (played by Liam Neeson) from the first movie. But expect a few plot twists! Christopher Nolan (the director) is pretty much on a roll with the Batman series and Inception as of lately. And speaking of Inception, I was delighted to see they used 4 of the actors from that movie in the new Batman movie (one of which plays the main villain … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down – The Dark Knight Rises
Weekend Wind Down 7/21/2012
This week I am saddened to tell you that one of my great uncles has passed away at the golden old age of 86. Although we’d only see each other once per year at the family reunion, I had fond memories of him. You know how family reunions can be awkward, especially when you’re a kid? Well, no worries because here would come my Uncle to ask you how things were going and make you feel totally comfortable. Plus he was a great influence for my Dad which makes him extra important. Coincidently, I’m also reading a finance book that just got to a chapter about estate planning and wills. I’d like to ask: Does everyone have a will? If so, where did you get it from? Does using an online service like Legal Zoom actually count or would I just be … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 7/21/2012
Weekend Wind Down – Niagara Falls
To all my Canadian friends out there, I’m in your home-land staying at the very lovely Niagara Falls. For anyone who’s never been here before, it’s a pretty great place to visit – not just to see the Falls but also for all the activity around here! This is just a quick weekend trip for me and Mrs. MMD. Our hotel package came with a lot of dynamite extras. We’re going to try out the Maid of the Mist tour at the bottom of the Falls, wine tasting, a hypnotist show, a comedy club, spa, a few pretty nice restaurants, the casino, and a bunch of other things! … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down – Niagara Falls
Weekend Wind Down 7/07/2012
Why is it SOOO hot outside? This heat wave is really making it hard to stay motivated to do anything in our yard. Fortunately, we did get our pool back to normal – after we emptied it and then refilled it with clean water. Being able to cool off in the pool has been pretty useful these last few weeks! Canadians – I’ll be visiting your sacred heartland of Niagara Falls next week for a short Me and the Mrs vacation. We’re very excited to be staying right in the middle of downtown near the action. It should be a lot of fun! … [Read more...] about Weekend Wind Down 7/07/2012
