"All Good Things..."

...must come to an end, right? Isn't that what they say? Well, even though Emmy still has three more soccer games, Zach's five-game season has mercifully, finally, concluded. Why do I say mercifully? Well, to put it mildly, Zach wasn't exactly enthused about hitting the field with the other kids. I have roughly one hour of videotape of him holding down the field by standing in one place...or by sitting on his ball. As Lady GaGa would say, Eh Eh...nothing else I can say. He doesn't like to play and I hate to push him into doing it. Here are some high-speed action shots:


The more I look at this picture, the more it looks PhotoShopped. Never happened.


Zach: "Whew! I need a drink! I'm bushed!"
Me: "Bushed!? From kicking the ball one time?"
Zach: "Um, YEAH? Takes a lot out of you!"


When he kicks the ball like that, it looks like he's playing Dance Dance Revolution ha ha.


Zach: "Whew! Time for another drink!"

(sigh)

Maybe he'll like it one day. He tends to think with his head more then other kids. Not that he doesn't make a wrong choice every now and then, but...I know he'll be a great adult. It will be very interesting to see him in kindergarten. I predict he'll be the class brain and class clown simultaneously.

We still need to plan his party. I'm proposing a McDonald's party and seems to have some support. There are two places a kid should get to have a party. I mentioned the first one a few words ago. The second is Chuck E. Cheese! I had a party there when I was 12. Was one of the best times of my life. I remember getting the complete set of Constructicons Transformers from my parents. If I knew then it would be worth some bucks I never would have opened it up. But, being a kid, what did I care right? Now they're all gone, but the memory lives on. Each day of our lives becomes its' own photo album, filed away at the end of the day and never to be re-lived again except by locating it, opening it up, and reminiscing. I swear, my mind lives in the past, present, and future most of the time. Maybe that's why Cari says I never listen ha ha.

We're getting our pumpkins tonight!! We usually get them a week before Halloween, but last weekend was one long blur so we never did. I'm picking Emmy up from her church class then it's across the street to Kroger's! They have the biggest pumpkins and cheap too! Once they have been carved of course they will probably pop up on here. Zach told me he is going to help me carve it. Just what I need, a three-year old with a talent for using little pumpkin cutters!

"An Arboretum Day!"

Yes, the time of year has come along where we saddle up in the ol' car, pick up Mom and head out to the Dallas Arboretum where they had not only the Autumn Harvest for the fall, plus they had these houses erected from different kids' stories throughout history. Pretty cool! Here are a few pix:


Wow, a house made out of sod! I guess when there are no trees or bricks around, you use...sod.


Emmy: "Hey Dad, is it true that people used to live in these things?"
Me: "It sure is! However I didn't see a cable hook-up or phone line."
Zach: "Come on Dad, do you think they had those things in the 19th century?"
Me: "They didn't?"

What do I know anyway, right?

I got a friggin' speeding ticket Friday! And worse, it was in a school zone. For some reason I thought it was 40 so I zoomed for like four seconds. When I realized what I was doing I slowed down, but not before Joe Law saw me and pulled me over. ARGGH!!!

Halloween is coming up!! I used to love going out and walking the streets. In a legal way, of course. Now I get to watch my kids do the same thing. I'm not sure if I want to bring a camera or the camcorder. I took a ton of pics at the Arboretum so I will try to get them all on here. This Friday we're going to the YMCA for their Halloween party. Good times right?

"One Productive Weekend!"

It is very rare that a weekend comes and goes and I feel like I got the most out of it. It seems like all I ever do is clean, clean, clean and the house still looks like trolls and goats live here. But this weekend was a little different. I managed to get the kitchen floor mopped so that it looks (almost) as good as when we moved in. Plus I got the laundry done. I was bushed! I normally do the laundry because once everything is washed and dried, I sit myself in front of the television set and fold away while watching such sophisticated fare as the Cowboys game or "Friends". I try to do as much as I can around the house because Cari does so much on the other side of the spectrum. She makes sure all the bills are in order and always seems to know what we have money for and what we don't. Plus she picks up the kids everyday and always knows where Emmy is going on an off-day. I try to let her know that we appreciate everything she does. Which is why…

…I have planned a date night for us! Total surprise! We're going to the Dallas Arboretum this Saturday with Mom after Zach's "soccer game". Is it really a game when all Zach does is stand there and watch the other kids play? Then when you try to nudge him towards the other kids he breaks down and cries. As Chris Farley in Tommy Boy would say in his gayest voice, "That's a mystery!" All we can do is let him play when he wants to...whenever that will be. Anyways, we're going to lunch then to the Gardens. But what Cari (or the kids) don't know, is that after we leave and drop Mom off, the kids will be dropped off with her! Big surprise planned here folks! We have a gift card to P.F. Chang's which we have had for almost a year but haven't used it yet. I really haven't surprised her in about 4 years. I had her parents watch Emmy then I took her to dinner. I wanted to take her to see Phantom Of The Opera (the movie) but it was sold out. So we went and saw "Meet The Fockers"…quite a contrast eh?

Truth is, I like doing things for her. Any chance I get I try to make something happen. I know she doesn't always have time to do things she wants. Heck, no parent does. At least no good parent does. Bad parents have all the time in the world, right? I guess what I'm trying to say is…never let moments go un-seized and don't be afraid to wait for the right ones. They're usually closer then you think.

"What's New, Pussycat?"

Whoa..a whoa whoa whoa!!

Okay, enough singing. No one paid to hear THAT.

But now that I can get my pics onto Flickr again, I got to see Cari and Emmy's trip to NASA Space Camp! I guess selling all those cookies was worth it after all. Was wasn't it worth? My waistline! Darn temptations everywhere I look. It's hard enough to not eat thirty of them at a time but when you have boxes of them in your living room at any given time...well...they just call out to you..."Go on Mike...eat them all...no one has to know...it'll be our little secret..." And I deduce that you know what? They're right. No one has to know. MMM. Anyways...(wiping drool away)...here are a few pics of what they got to see:




Man, some of that stuff looks so cool. I will sojourn there at some point, This I vow.

Now that the ol' CPU is back to (semi)full capacity, now I need to get my camcorder software back on there so I can make some DVD again! Just when I get in the ryhtym of it I have to halt the proceedings. Drag.

Won $25 from a guy at work this week! He bet me $20 that the Rangers could win 5 of the final 7 games against the Angels. Of course I took that bet, knowing the Rangers' famous September collapses of yore. They won 2 of them I think. Then he bet me an additional $5 for thinking the Rangers could win 2 of the last 3 against the Angels (they won one). Good times.