If more people...or anyone at all, for that matter...read this on a regular basis, I might do something different to celebrate this occasion. But, seeing as how it's just me here at midnight on a Friday night/Saturday morning, this will be a little more me-oriented. Tonight I will feature some top-five lists of things that mean a lot to me, some pics that never made it on here, and so on. Let's go back to where it all began...(dreamy music)
January 2005.
I was at McGraw Hill on break and Yahoo'ed "New Jan Brady" just to see who or what come up. Well, turns out someone named Lauren had a website called just that. Clicked on it and it was kind of a Brady Bunch tribute site. It featured what was going on in her life and was mildly entertaining. So for a couple of weeks I stayed tuned to it, never thinking making a page of my own would be given a second thought. Then I saw the bubble in the top right corner "Make Your Own Blog". Clicked on it, followed the prompts and within a couple of days mikeoverall.blogspot.com was up and running. Unfortunately, Lauren has some problems of her own and after a while of me leaving comments on her site, she asked me to stop. I said something kind of mean to her and since she turned her comments off that was pretty much the end of it. But the chain of events had already been put in motion.
At first I wasn't sure what to put on my new site. At first I started out with some of my toys...then some of my baseball cards...some local news stories...nothing of real substance. I never even talked about major things that happened in my life. Like when McGraw Hill let me go in May after they said they wanted to hire me on. Or when a little company called Pharmacare gave me a chance in July that would turn out to be my life for the next 2 1/2 years. Not until I found out what my 2nd kid's gender was going to be did I start to realize what my site could be. It would be a virtual scrapbook of my life. It was there when Zach was born on Halloween 2005 and my family name would be passed on for one more generation, much to the delight of ye olde grandpa ha ha. It was there when Emmy won "Best Speller" in her pre-k class in May 2006 and we started getting an idea of just how intelligent she is. For all of the trips and journeys to the different Texas sights, for each new "collector item" I managed to acquire, it was there. I'm not getting younger and hopefully my kids will keep it going after I am no longer around. I know, it's years and years away. Always mindful of the future, I am. Yoda said it first, but I said it second.
And now, some of my favourite things!
Here (in no particular order), my top five favourite memories which apply to just me (will get to family later!):
1. Going to downtown Toronto for my 9th grade history class
Happened in: 1989
Truly one of my favourite days of my youth. Discussed it on here at one point. We were supposed to be part of a field trip to see how people lived at the turn of the century, but me and a couple of guys took a side trip to a comic book store. We walk in and it's wall to wall wood and a musty smell that was like going back in time. I bought some comics (don't remember which one now lol).
2. Going to Denny's with my sister.
Happened in: 1993
Doesn't sound like much of a night, does it? Well, Mom and Dad were arguing about something or other and didn't want us around to hear it, so she gives us $20 and tells us to go get some dinner. We went and talked about what was wrong with the two of them. Funny how you can get to know someone by talking to them. Sometimes I wish we were closer, but it's pretty cool right now.
3. Being unemployed
Happened in: 1994
Now this doesn't sound like anything right? Well, since I had an unemployment check and no bills, I would go out at night and cruise around in my 1987 Plymouth Horizon by myself, ultimately ending with a trip to Jack In The Box at around 1am. I'd come back and watch TV till about 3. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with my life and wondered if anyone cared. This was the time "Far Behind" by Candlebox was on the radio a lot and would be on every time I drove around at night. Now when I hear it I think of the time in my life when wasting time was the only thing on my agenda.
4. Going to the Ft Worth Zoo with Navid
Happened in: 1999
I had never been before, and I must say it was a pretty cool place. Completely different from the Dallas zoo which I had gone to my whole life. We went and had dinner afterwards and it turned out to a pretty cool day.
5. Taking a trip to Maryland all by myself
Happened in: 1999
I booked the motel room, I got a ticket through my aunt Becky, and I arranged the whole thing with some friends I had met on AOL that were my tour guides. I didn't have as good of a time as I had built it up in my mind, but looking back I got to see a lot of neat things (Smithsonian, Baltimore National Zoo, etc). Funny thing is, I haven't spoken to those guys in years. It's as if they never existed. But they will always live on in my memories.
Hey, that was fun. I'm sure there are other memories that may supercede these, but I'm drawing a blank, so...whatever.
Now here are my top five favourite memories of me and Emmy:
5. The day she was born.
Happened in: 2001
Up until this day I had been a little...you know...freaked out about becoming a father. Someone had made it clear that I probably shouldn't have a kid until I had a high-paying job, but sometimes things happen that are bigger then us. But at 5:30 ish at night (same time I was born), she was delivered, cleaned up and handed to me. Her eyes were closed but when Iheld her she opened them up and looked right at me as if to say "Hey, calm down...it's gonna be okay". It's been a great 7 years.
4. Getting up Saturday morning and going outside
Happened in: 2005
Now we didn't just go outside, mind you. Sometimes we'd go to the park, sometimes we'd go downtown. I had gotten my first job in a long time where there were no weekends involved, so when Saturday morning came around I really made the most of it.
3. Having lunch with her at her school
Happened in: 2006-2007
I know she really enjoyed it when I would bring her Taco Bueno or Sonic, plus we got to eat at the special table...felt like Sinatra being seated at a restaraunt ha ha.
2. Walking down to 7-11 andgetting a Slurpee.
Happened in: 2004-2005
Now this we haven't done in quite a while. We seem to be much busier these days then before, what with her soccer games and Girl Scouts. But every now and then we'd take a stroll and get a treat. We promised each other we'd try to do this more, and with Zach getting older, now he can come along!
1. Taking her to Putt Putt with the go-carts and bumper boats
Happened in: 2007
This Putt Putt 'near Mommy and Daddy's work' has so much more then the one near our house, and she still asks if we can go back. I told her we will when Ethan (cousin) stays over since I'm sure he'll want to go too! But she had a great time on the water. Too bad there weren't many people out that morning, but the great thing about her is she can make the best of any situation. Don't know where she gets it ha ha.
Do I have five memories of Zach? Well, the day he was born was pretty cool. As he gets older I will take him to every place and special event I can imagine.
Now, my five faves of just me and Cari:
5. Our wedding
Happened in: 2002
We had been engaged for over a year and as it turned out, April 13 was on a Saturday. For some reason she's crazy about that number. Was a great day though. We still talk about taking home our fajita dinner and eating it at 2am.
4. Our honeymoon
Happened in: 2002
Now this we needed. It had been a pretty rough year, what with both of us losing our jobs right before Emmy was born and trying to keep our family strong. We went to Hot Springs, Arkansas and had a great week. A lot of history plus some fun things to do. We even cooked out. I think I made the burgers too big but they turned out great, I think. We want to go back one day. We will.
3. Going to Denver during Thanksgiving
Happened in: 2000
I got to fly on an airplane. I met all...I mean all of her family that lived there. But they welcomed me as they would one of their own. I think we missed Thanksgiving by like a week. Ah well.
2. Going to Cheesecake Factory Saturday night then seeing a movie the next day.
Happened in: 2005
This was a great weekend. Mom watched Emmy that Saturday night, and we had a nice evening followed by watching "The Break-Up" the next day. Okay, so the name of the movie wasn't my first choice ha ha.
1. Our dinner and poker parties with Jerramy and Branda.
Happens: frequently
These we try to do as much as we can. Even though I feel bad the gals always wind up cooking everything, so I try to help when I can. Then we get out the ol chips and try to bluff each other out at Texas Hold 'Em. I always have a great time and I hope they do too.
Now here are some of my other faves:
Top 5 tv shows no longer on the air
1. Silver Spoons
2. Perfect Strangers
3. Growing Pains
4. Millenium
5. Seinfeld
Top 5 shows on the air right now:
1. Lost
2. Scrubs
3. Brothers and Sisters
4. Dr Phil
5. The Office
Top 5 fave music groups no longer together:
1. Toad The Wet Sprocket
2. Van Halen
3. Guns and Roses
4. Boston
5. Journey
Top 5 fave music groups still together:
1. Metallica
2. Tesla
3. Chicago
4. Savage Garden/Darren Hayes
5. Slaughter (I think they're still running around lol)
Top 10 fave movies (gotta make this longer!):
1. The Break-Up
2. Aliens
3. Transformers (both 1986 and 2007 versions)
4. Field Of Dreams
5. Wedding Singer
6. Batman Begins
7. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
8. Batman (1989)
9. Back To The Future (I II III)
10. Tommy Boy
Well, this has been fun for me. Nothing lift to do but make it to post 400 sometimes in 2010. We're planning on getting a new house in 2011 sometime. Better believe it will be remembered on here. See ya soon.
