How much things can change in 2 months

So, thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I suspect this blog post will not contain any shocking new revelations, but it might be useful to gain some insight to my last few months.

Some time around my last blog post, Allison informed me that she wanted a divorce. This is not the first time she has started this conversation, and it is one I had initiated more than once in the last 13 years. I had been feeling very much like we were not "married" for a while, so I agreed with her, without batting an eyelash.

more to come later...

Depression
Work troubles
Realization that a 13 year relationship was ending
Leave of Absence
The Future

Maybe I'm back.... but I doubt it.

Apparently someone out there still checks this long-abandoned blog of mine, at least some of the time. I'm still a terminally quiet person, and not likely to actually keep this up, but it can't hurt to try.

It's been over a year, so where to start?
April - Allison and I went to Georgia to attend "Jordancon", a fan-created convention centered around Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. We had a chance to speak with the author who is taking over the series, and meet the original author's wife, cousin, publisher and loads of fans.
May - McGuire had a piece of art in an art show. There are pictures in the gallery.
September - Archer started Kindergarten, and McGuire started 6th grade.
January - I took a trip out to Indiana to play D&D for three days. It was a lot of fun, and I got to hang out with my friend Steve.
February - We got a trip to Florida, thanks to Allison's sister. We did some volunteer work to get a day pass to Disney World, and had a good time.
April - Allison ran for a position on the Millbury School Board, but did not win a seat. It turns out OK, since she was getting very busy with her new job working on the Census.
May - McGuire finally took the plunge into the spotlight in his Spring concert - playing a trio of the Harry Potter theme in front of a high school auditorium.

I had a request for my Xbox Live gamertag - and who am I to deny an honest query from my nephew. I cleared off a friend I haven't played with in ages, so I should be able to accept his friend request.

How about pictures? Loads of them?

Uccello Journal

I'm really bad at this

I'm having a bit of a shock at seeing that it has been six months since I put anything up here. I guess my "quick post when Allison and the kids are at church" idea isn't quite panning out. Thankfully there is "bored at work, and not really willing to grab another task before I go home" time.

In what might be a record, there is a chance I'll see Kurt briefly tonight, that would make three times in four days - possibly the most I've seen him since leaving for the Air Force! I'm just glad that I was able to help him out in his move, even if just by storing his stuff for a few days. He's so nice, he gave me an old guitar of his, so I can hopefully take my Mad Rock Band Skillz(tm) to the real thing. So far that is panning out to be a bit more difficult than the fake plastic guitar, but I'm not going to call it hopeless just yet.

I made an account on Facebook, so far I have found loads of people from high school that I had totally lost contact with (some of whom I actually regret losing touch with). Still have found no one from Nellis AFB, which is a bummer - I'd love to drop Vito, Seth or Brett a quick line, so I'll just have to keep trying to locate them. I keep checking friends of friends to see if I can find any unrelated loops in friends, sort of a 3 degrees of separation kind of thing. No luck on that either, but I have an idea - my friend Matt from work moved out to Colorado Springs, so I think that is my best bet, see if any of his friends connect to my sister's.

Allison Update

Just spoke to Allison on the phone, she is helping out in the Houston Convention Center. She actually seems to be having a satisfying trip, helping people... some people are strange like that, I guess.

I found some pictures of the damage on-line... wow, she is going to be busy.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

Allison in TX

Since I can't remember who I told what and when, here is a quick update on what's going on in my life. Allison volunteered to go down South to help with Hurricane relief. We thought it might be right around Labor Day in Florida, but that wound up being no big deal. Instead she finds out on Friday September 12th that they need her on Sunday. We had a nice time at the annual Raytheon trip to Canobie Lake Park on Saturday, then Sunday I brought her to the airport to head down to Texas. Here is the email she sent out from there:

Hi Everyone,
I made it fine to TX though my luggage, with all my clothes, didn't. Delta took off my luggage in NY when they shouldn't and it got left in JFK. Good news is that it came in today. I haven't done much yet. I've been assigned a team of 5 others and we're waiting for assignment. I did go on an errand to Marshall, tx - 2 hrs away, to deliver some supplies for a shelter. So that was nice that a few of us were able to do something besides sit around.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring something. They plan on opening shelters in the disaster area and we'll have sporadic everything so I may not be able to keep you posted besides this. I'm staying in a staff shelter in Dallas today and it's not bad - group sleep area,etc. The most exciting thing is that they have phones we can use for calls and there are red "Incredibles" phones! :) Anyway I hope you are all doing well.
email me at allisonuccello (at) gmail.com
Stay well!
-Allison

McGuire Uccello and the Chipped Toilet

The timing really is quite perfect: he's going to be 11 this year, the same year as Harry Potter when he started at Hogwarts, and now he has his very own forehead scar in time for school! Luckily for me, the scar had nothing to do with evil wizards, a dying parents protection or flying motorcycles, but it is a good one.



The version of the story I heard was that McGuire was getting ready to go see an animal display at the library while visiting his grandparents in Maine, and before they left, he needed to brush his teeth. Being 10, and stubborn, he was watching a TV show while brushing. So when his grandfather turned off the TV and made him go into the bathroom, he didn't like that. Solution: sneak back to the TV as soon as Grandpa's back is turned. Of course, he knows he'll get yelled at when the volume notifies the adults of his addiction, so he runs into the bathroom to hide. The tile-floored bathroom. The slippery tiled bathroom. Can you guess what happened?



Note the chip on the tank. That was not there before the tooth-brushing.

McGuire is fine, despite a trip to the ER and a CT scan. He got 6 stitches and might wind up with a thin scar down the road. For now, it is just a red line on his forehead, healing nicely.



Kids....

August Birthday Parties

So, better late than never?
It was a weekend of birthday parties, both of which went quite well. Carrie was first, hosting us on Mom's birthday at her house. Us, in this case, was my family, Kurt, Carrie's family, Dad and Joanne, Mom and Don, John and Laura (it was also John's birthday)

Pictures...
My boys with both paternal grandparents at the same time!