My Weekend Without The Boys

Tuesday morning. Everything back to normal. We all survived the May long weekend. My wife took the boys to Toronto for what was to be a girl’s weekend/visit with Nana/work trip. Just the thought of everything my wife was going to do once I dropped them off at the airport made me tired.

While she was being supermom, I was going to be at home, by myself. Did not seem fair. I was going to get to sleep in, have relaxing time and take care of few chores that have been piling up.

The obvious downside for me was I would not get to spend time with the family on a weekend that is traditionally that unofficial start to summer.

Well, not in Halifax it wasn’t.

The weather was more like November. Frost warnings, cold rain and I even had to turn the heat back on. Meanwhile in Toronto it was warm enough for shorts.

So what did I get up to with all my free time? Well I had a list and I am happy to admit that I pretty much cleared it out.

Day 34: No Kids, No Wife, No Problem

day34-1Well today was a throwback of sorts for me. I was left all alone with nothing to do but what I wanted.

I mentioned my two lists yesterday, one for chores and one for fun, and I dipped into both today.

First thing this morning, after sleeping in until 8:30, I did up a photoshop of Rob Ford since his latest scandal just screamed something for   Cuzoogle. It had the immediate effect as traffic blew up for a good 20 minutes.

Ah, it was a classic morning as that is what I used to do every day five years ago when I was a full time blogger guy. Nobody around but me and my computer.

Once that was over, it was time to get out and do stuff.

First I hit up the bank to deposit a cheque and then it was off to the Halifax Shopping Centre. I still had a gift card sitting around from Christmas that had to be used there and I had been holding on to it for new shoes.

Well, I finally got there with the time to focus on footwear.

Review: Hasbro’s KRE-O Star Trek Line Beams Me Up

star-trek-photos

The latest blockbuster movie to hit the big screen is Star Trek Into Darkness and with any movie of that size, you know there will be cool toys for the dads, I mean kids.

Hasbro has been kind enough to send us three toys from their  new KRE-O Star Trek line. The exciting new group of toys includes KRE-O building sets and KREON figures based on J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek franchise.

The package that came in the mail was pretty big, so the excitement shot through the house pretty fast. And that was just me. My boys are not old enough to play with this kind of lego, so it worked out that they are away with their mother. That will give me time to build each ship before they get home.

The three that were sent to me were:

Home Alone The Dad Version

Good morning. A morning post? What gives?

Well that is how it goes when the house is empty and there is not a baby sleeping in a swing next to your computer.

Yep, night 1 of being on my own went okay. I survived the quiet.

I do miss the fam jam based on the following evidence.

  1. I have thought I heard the kids at least three times.
  2. I did not know what to do with myself between 5:30-8 pm.
  3. I watched the 10 pm news just because that is what we usually do.
  4. I woke up thinking I heard the baby.
  5. I woke up at 6:38 am just like I do every morning.
  6. I started making a bottle before making my tea (okay I made that one up).

Needless to say, it is weird being in this house without the wife and boys. It just does not seem right.

Day 33: Where Did Everyone Go?

Day 33, sunny, cold, somewhat quiet and I am getting to the daily post a little earlier in the evening. Why you ask?

Because everyone left.

Yep, my wife and boys got on a plane about an hour ago to fly to Toronto for the weekend. I dropped them off and waved to them as they went to security around 4:30 pm.

Now that I am home, it is quiet and very weird. This is my first time being away from Charlie.

They are all back on Monday.

So now what? What do I do with all this time?

Well tonight is just about living in the moment of peace and quiet. Living in the moment of not having to put anyone to bed. Living in the moment of watching TV during dinner.

Let’s back track before I start looking towards what I will be doing.

The day started with Charlie sleeping through the night again and Harry waking up dry again.

I tell yah, these two impress me every day. This weekend marks the one-year mark of me toilet training Harry, so it is cool that now is the time he is doing a great job going all night without a pee.

The only down side is the cat love to start his moaning at 5:30-6 am which is a really downer when the kids are playing their part in the movie called Sleep Through the Night.

Anyways, the cat is old and won’t be changing his ways any time soon.

Day 32: A Spoonful Of Ketchup Makes Everything Better

Good evening parents and non parents. Tired? Well, sit back and catch up about Day 32 on the PL. Today was the last day of full family until next week as my wife took what was just a girls weekend in Toronto and rolled it into a work outing and a grandkid reunion with Nana.

Simply put, my wife is packing up the boys and heading to Toronto until Monday. Yep, that is right. Supermom. As for me, I will have four days to myself and I hope you don’t feel sorry for me, because it is going to be awesome.

I will talk more about that later.

Back to today. I had both boys today so that meant an outing was needed. The weather was cool, dark and looked like rain, so the playground was out.

Day 31: Don’t You Steal My Sunshine

Day 31, hoo baby what a ride so far.

It is getting to the point where daily readers know everything that goes on. Do I need better material? Nope. Our two boys are all that is needed when it comes to what to write about.

But some days are just hard to write. Some days there is no gas left in the tank or you would rather just move straight to the couch when the kids are finally asleep.

That usually happens to me on Tuesday it seems. Not that end of the week, but Tuesday. Why?

Well Saturday, Sunday and  Monday are full days with both boys so I guess once Harry goes back to school, it is a nice break to regroup and rest up for the rest of the week.

Maybe yesterday it was because the weather was pretty cold and rainy.

So what did happen while I was hope with Charlie?

Chicken Thighs On The Big Green Egg

Updated January 26, 2026 – of course, you can’t get chicken for $5 anymore, but the recipe still stands.

You can’t get a better ratio of price to taste than cooking up a batch of chicken thighs on the Big Green Egg. It seems our grocery store is always having a sale on chicken thighs, and until I started smoking them, I was never a big fan.

But now, for a $5 pack of chicken thighs, I can turn it into a meal that would easily go for $20+ in a restaurant. (Fun 2024 update – wow, imagine if a pack of chicken thighs was still $5 for one pack.)

How do I do it? Well, it is all about the dry rub and the powers of the Big Green Egg.