"Emily's Graduation!"

Graduation!? Already? No, not from college...from pre-k! Although I'm pretty sure she could ad-lib her way in a higher education setting if we let her ha ha. Seems like just yesterday we were taking her up to her classroom and now here she is, an old pro. Sure, we had our ups and downs. I remember how nervous she was waiting in the cafeteria until the teacher came to get her. She wanted me to wait with her for the first four days or so. Then one day I told her they wouldn't let me in the cafeteria because I wasn't a kid. She shocked me when she said "Okay, bye Daddy" in a calm voice. Man was that hard. Each day after that was a little bittersweet for me simply because she had taken a huge step in learning what she was made of (which is a lot). It was then I knew she would be okay even if I wasn't there.



Would ya believe Emily won the "Best Speller" award??!! I was so proud of her! They had all kinds of awards to give out such as "Best Smile" and "Most Improved Behavior" which if she had won those I would have demanded a recount. But Best Speller is big, at least in the pre-k world. They also sang some hilarious songs which I had just enough videotape for lol. Afterwards we took her to Olive Garden for some (you guessed it) macaroni and cheese. We didn't care. She earned it. One thing I want her to always remember is things worth having in this world must be earned. Never expect anything from anyone. Hold on a sec, I need to watch them draw this week's lottery numbers...

( 1 minute later)

Ahh! I had 2 of 6, which wins me...a big box of JACK SQUAT!

We went to Simply Fondue last night. Was SOOO good! I would never have believed that kind of gluttony existed if I hadn't seen (and done) it with my own eyes (and gut). Because there were 4 of us we got to choose twice as many selections. Needless to say I really can't eat anything right now...and it's been 12 hours! Check out the link above to see exactly what they serve. It really is too much to list.

Afterwards we went to the dive called Scuder's where they have karaoke Saturday nights. My friend Jerramy was suprisingly good at songs such as "Desperado" and "Ramblin' Man". And yes, I even went up there and sang "Until I fall Away" by the Gin Blossoms. People said I did really good which made me feel good until I saw how many empty beer bottles I saw at their tables. Ah well. Drunk love is love just the same.

Big changes going down at work lately. The big one is they took away our internet. All of it. Not even on a break or lunch. Why you ask? Well, Mr. Nosy, a certain domain...call it MySpace...has been used by dozens of co-workers and some of the material has been considered...ribald? Randy? NAUGHTY. So because of them the only reason to work there has been taken away from us. Plus, the phones have slowed down to a friggin' standstill so most of the day we read newspapers/books, do puzzles...I think someone even brought up their needlework project. Cannot wait until my vacation in July so that when I come back I can start to find something where I'm paid handsomely for my experience and knowledge of many things...such as toys! Oh man, that would be sweet if I could get on with some toy company. One day Mikey...one day.

So if my posts become a bit...sporadic, let's say, now ya know why. They're supposed to give us back our internet hopefully sometime this week. In the meantime, I'm bringing my tv/vcr combo and all my camcorder tapes and am going to do some serious editing. I have 4 hours of tape I have to go through and transfer to VHS in chronological order. And what better way to do it then to get paid for doing it? =)

"Grey's Anatomy"

Now something I don't mind admitting to is enjoying a show that may or may not be award-winning. I'm reminded of "Melrose Place" in its prime for starters. Yes, I watched this show religiously! It was so out there and far-fetched yet I was compelled to watch...always wanting more. More of Jane and Michael...of Billy and Allison...and certainly more of a certain Heather Locklear. Can you believe all the hoopla surrounding the love polygon that is Heather/Richie/Denise/Charlie? It's just a sad place to be in when they have to lie and cheat and their kids get caught in the middle. Maybe one day they will learn to put the kids first and themselves second. But enough about that.

This show I started watching for one reason: Patrick Dempsey. No, I don't have a crush on him. Honest. But he was in one of my favorite movies of all time: LOVERBOY!! If ya haven't seen it you can click here to learn more about it. In a nutshell, Randy Bodek (Dempsey) delivers pizza to save up for tuition so he can make it back to school to patch things up with his girlfriend. However, one day a woman orders some anchovy pizzas and turns Randy into a delivery gigolo. It is so entertaining to me personally because for 6 years I delivered pizzas but unfortunately never got invited in.

(cries over what could have been)

Okay, I'm better. SO when I heard he was going to be in GA, I watched. But I continued to watch because the show got better...a lot better...and as overdramatic as it is I made it a priority to be in bed by 9 on Sundays. And now they're moving it to Thursdays! I'll have to watch either GA or ER and tape the other one...ack!



Went out and scored a couple of toys last weekend. Big surprise I know. I am just nuts about these Transformers Alternators! There's about 20 or so out there...hate to think about collecting all of them...but some of them are spectacular:



The Man Of Steel! Now wasn't I just ragging on Superman in my earlier post? I sure was! But this one right here was just begging to be bought. Old school and all. Now why can't they make a Captain America like this? He deserves it!



Now see what happens when kids are left to their own devices? I have a feeling his sister brought her Build-A-Bear she made on her 4th birthday in and set it down next to him. Call it a fifth sense, women's intuition, but I think that's what happened.



Zach: "What are you lookin' at, butthead?"

"Gone Baptizin' "

I think I first mentioned baptizing these kids like 3 months ago? Finally we got it done on April 30 which also happens to be my grandma's birthday. She turned...78 I think? Yeah, that's it. Isn't that terrible?



Afterwards we all went to this place called Birra Poretti's which has a super breakfast buffet complete with eggs benedict, fruit, waffles, and even pizza...yes, pizza. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat any of it due to a wicked stomach virus that had me literally walking on air so as not to upset the tum-tum. Felt great the next day! Cari promised me she would take me there again one of these days though.



Took Emmy to Central Market on my last day off. I always enjoy comeing here. They have a gelatto stand/bar/section with like 20 different flavors. I got the tiramisu...(drool) sooo good! Emmy got (as usual) VANILLA. Never knew a kid that eschewed all the other flavors for good ol' vanilla but one thing I will never do is make my kids feel bad when they make a choice for themselves...assuming they don't screw up their future by doing so. If she wants vanilla then ROCK ON!



And, as always, gotta have my featured toy. Now this thing rang up on the receipt at Toys'R'Us as a toy from the new Xmen 3 movie but I'll be darned if none of the artwork resembles any of the characters...plus, all of the regular characters had this silly stealth battle armor on. Don't remember them needing it. So...I bought this guy: Archangel. I seem to remember him being a good guy so hopefully he will help make the "Last Stand" a success!

"Captain America"

A lot of kids liked Superman growing up. For me though, he just didn't "do it" for me. He seemed too...perfect? Is that the right word? You couldn't hurt him and you didn't dare stand up against him. I guess it was a lucky break he was on the side of good...otherwise, wouldn't he own like the entire world? I think Marvel got into that a bit just to see "what if". Like I said, I never wanted to be him the way most kids did. There was someone else who seemed to have it goin' on.



That's what I'm talkin' about! Captain America looks like he was created simply to unite the American people during a time of paranoia and disillusion (I'm referring to the Communist "Red Scare" during the 50's if anyone was curious). Armed with nothing but a shield which he could whip at baddies with pinpoint precision, CA was a different kind of role model. One that didn't need special powers, only a strong sense of leadership. Plus, you can't find collectables of this guy ANYWHERE! I'm glad I found this guy when I did. He's perfect!

Who are some superheroes you looked up to?

P.S.: If you think I'm gonna dress Zach up as Captain America for Halloween soemday, HECK YEAH!!