"Cookies! More Cookies!"

Yes, the time has come for Emmy to start selling those wonderful (and yes, a little pricey) Girl Scout cookies. So far we've sold like 100 boxes...or 20 boxes...somewhere in there. Currently there are eight kinds being offered:

1) Thin mints
2) Thanks-a-lots
3) Peanut Butter patties
4) Peanut Butter sandwiches
5) Lemonades
6) Cinnamon rolls
7) Shortbread
8) Caramel delights

Quite a lot! Fortunately I have reserved a few boxes for my own personal collection.

I entered this contest about a year and a half ago where you had to come up with a funny caption for the picture in the paper:


As you can see, I won! Two tickets to a movie. Unfortunately the tickets have long since been used.

My new job starts in 9 days. I'm kind of excited to see how much I can make if I really apply myself. Healthmarkets seems like a pretty cool place to work for. When the people interviewing you are cracking funnies you know you may have found your calling. Plus I heard the words "internet cafe" mentioned in passing. Even better. Hope they have the "frappes" I like.

"I'm In Baby!"

Well, after nearly two months of going crazy not working, I have finally been offered a job at HealthMarkets in North Richland Hills!! It's more money then lousy Aegon plus there are bonuses and incentives and all kinds of fringe benefits that really appeal to me. I had my second interview yesterday and I guess they just loved me ha ha. I can't believe it's going to be EIGHT weeks of training but it sdounds like it's going to be a little more interesting then Aegon's "shut up and listen for 9 hours" training method. Plus it's right around the corner from WalMart. Can't beat that right?


This movie looks awesome! I'm always up for a good thriller but this one will truly define this part of history. With all the cell phones and wireless networks and websites these days, the world is becoming less human and more robotic. And we're destroying the world to achieve this. When will we learn? In "Untraceable", there is this guy who sets up a website called Kill With Me. The victim is injected with a toxin...or venom...whatever...and the more people who go to the website, the faster the victim is injected. Eventually the guy starts going after the main character...some woman...not sure. I've really done my homework on this eh? Looks great though.

Emmy got to go to the zoo last week to pick up her Girl Scout cookies. Got some good pics:


Zach: "Hey look at me Dad, I'm driving!"
Me: "What!? Well is it a stick or automatic?"
Zach: "Huh?"


Emmy: "Hey Dad, I don't see any monkeys!"
Me: "Hmm...I see one big one...about two feet from me...heh heh."


First lady: "Have you seen the Thin Mints?"
Second lady: "No...have you seen the Lemonades?"
Cookie Monster: "Me LOVE cookies!" *munch munch*

So now I have 16 days left until this thing starts. I must cram life into each and every minute! Now if you'll excuse me, there's a new Maury Povich coming on with my name on it. And right underneath my name it says "You ARE the father!" ha ha just kidding.

"A Day Of Mourning..."

Mourning? "But Mike", you might be saying, "who died?"

Not someone. Something.


Our beloved Dallas Cowboys, who had one of the top two greatest seasons ever, managed to end the 2007-2008 season really before it began. Now it doesn't really affect me a whole heck of a lot. Heck, how much of a part did I have in us going 13-3anyway? Not a lot, maybe...five percent? Kidding. But we all need something to root for in life. For guys, it's pretty easy.

Sports.

For some reason, I told Cari I wasn't much into sports when we first got together. But then something magical happened. The Mavericks, out of the blue, started winning their division and like the rest of the city, I got caught up. But now that I know what they do once they get to the post season *choke* I'm kind of off them. But this was going to be different. The Cowboys looked great all year and it just really sucks that just like that we have to wait until September and start it all over. There's always next year right?

Took Zach to the water gardens last week. If you're looking for unlimited running around space at reasonable rates, this would be it. Here's a few pics:


Sunglasses: $5
Camera: $200
Trying to make a 2-year old pose for picture with his dad: priceless.


Zach: "Um, Dad? I'm really getting wet over here."
Me: "Almost got the picture son...just sit there for about two more minutes."
Zach: "How will I know how long that is?"
Me: "When your skin turns a light blue, you can get down."


This is my favourite shot of us.

Got to see my friend Navid again yesterday. It's a shame he's so busy these days. Plus he's having a girl next week so any free time he had is going to be kaput. He's as close to a brother as I have in my life. Nothing against my other friend(s), but he seems to idealize the same things I do. We always have something we can talk about. That's pretty rare these days. Hopefully we can hang out again sometime.

Have my last interview on Thursday. I think the lady at the last interview said this was more of a formality then anything which is always good to hear. Never thought I'd say this but I can't wait to start working. Staying home all day is fun for a while but man it wears thin. Want to start making some real money and hopefully I can get my new camcorder. Then you'll see a show.

"One Great Week (So Far)..."

...and it isn't even over! My darling of a wife sends me this e-mail for a job at HealthMarkets, so after thinking about it for a while, I decide to give them a call. I had to think about if I want to get back into customer service after the debacle that our whole family had to endure, but unemployment won't last forever. So I call them up and it turns out it pays more then Aegon which immediately got my attention. The hours are a bit strange (10am-7pm) but not so much that I wouldn't ever see my family. So I met with a very nice lady yesterday who just loved me and she called me today and set up the last interview for next week. I hate to say this, but...I think I'm getting excited about things again. That last month or so I've wondered off and on if I could ever be successful in any kind of profession. It's time to find out what I can do with my life.

As it turns out, there are quite a bit of minerals and things under our land and a company called Paloma Barnett gave us $3,800 plus 25% royalty to get it out! This takes care of all our credit card debt which rocks. What would be great is if they found some oil somewhere close to us. Something tells me that's worth a little money.

Plus, after thinking I left my wallet at dinner last night, I ended up cleaning a lot of our room looking for it only to have Emily reveal it was on her bed the whole day. She rocks.

Can you believe it's been 25 years since GIJoe started producing 3 3/4" figures for kids of all ages? I had a bunch and now...*poof* gone. Of course that was 20 years ago. But now they've released some tributes honouring the best of the best. Here's one I found at Target:



Pretty neat eh? There are a few others they had but this one reflects the ultimate battle.

I'm not used to having such job worries. It's been a while since I had to worry about that. Wish me luck.