"Christmas Time Is..."

PAST!! But what a time it was! I think the reason most people say Christmas comes and goes so fast is because they narrow it down to a few days of the month. But I say nay-nay. I make the whole month of December Christmas time! That way it seems a lot longer! We had a few get-togethers before the big day:

My sister's house on Christmas Eve:


Zach: "Hey, are there any other presents in this box?"
Me: "For the last time NO! Now would ya get out of there?"


Mom: "What is this...a Texas Rangers shirt?"
Me: "Yes! Cuz they went to the World Series this year!"
Mom: "Silly rabbit...don't you know I'm a Mets fan?"
Me: "Um...why? On second thought...don't answer that."


You have no idea how disappointed I was that wasn't real ice cream.

That night...


Zach: "Hey Dad, do I look like a fountain?"
Me: "Um, sure...whatever you say..."


Look at the muscles on this kid! Pretty soon she'll be fighting me with no remorse or pity...hmm...better learn some ju jitsu fast!


hey look, some Harry Potter books and DVDs! Thanks to best niece ever Megan for those! She must have gotten my letters...and texts...and phone messages...

Then...Christmas Morning...


Wow! Look at the bevy of gifts!! All of us must have been good...like really good.


Emmy got her very own camera!! Now I can impart all of my photography wisdom upon her...that should take about a half hour ha ha.


Zach got a Paper Jamz drum set!! He's gotten pretty good at playing "All-Star" by Smashmouth ha ha.


Cari: "Wow, what a great thermos! Now I can carry coffee around and it will stay warm!"
Me: "Or it can keep cold drinks cold...you could have hot coffee AND cold lemonade at the same time!"
Cari: "Ugh..."

And one of my fave presents Cari and I both got:


Don't we look adorable!! Well, I think we do!

THEN...for lunch at Grandmother Overall's...


At the gift exchange, Zach won this handy-dandy blanket! Cuz we never have any of those around, right?


And Emmy got a lovely watch set! Now she has three I think. If it's good enough for Tony Stark, it's good enough for her.


This one was taken at Woody's insistence. He said so himself...or did he?

All in all I think we had a pretty good holiday season. We really made the most of our Six Flags passes too. We went down the snow hill, saw the shows, and drank enough hot chocolate to fill a bathtub. Don't measure, I have it all worked out in my head.

"And...Action!"

Yes, Zach had his big school play a couple of weeks ago. Funny how I forgot to mention it until now. I guess we get busy around the holidays. My vacation this week has been a spree of stores, buying and returning, and the ocasionial slice of pizza at Sam's lol. Anyways...on with the show!


Ribbons and bows...
Stuck to my nose...
Ribbons and bows...
from my head to my toes...

Yes, that was a real song ha ha.


Zach: "So when is this kid supposed to be born anyways?"
Shepherd # 2: "Oh you can't rush the birth of Christ!"
Zach: "Oh yes you can! It's called a c-section!!"

Emmy also had a Christmas show! Unfortunately, as always, she managed to be hidden with the exception of this pic:


Still smiling, so that's good ha ha.

Cari has to go to work today so it's just me and the kids! I still have to wrap her gifts and I'd rather her not see them until Christmas morning! I still have to print and mail our Christmas cards and letters but hopefully once all of that is done we can go and do something fun. It's like 55 degrees out there which is my dream weather. Is Christmas really 2 days away? Unreal. Of course, it's been Christmas for me since they started playing Christmas music on 103.7 Lite FM. Love it love it.

"204 Minutes Until..."

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!! And not a moment too soon. I thin I'm officially past the thrill of the office that is officially Healthmarkets. It's too bad that everything that made this place special is now a thing of the past. Ahh well. Nothing good lasts forever, right?

Had our Christmas get-together at Grandma's house last night with Dad and co. Picked me up a new (and bigger) battery for my camcorder which was duely needed!! Also got this:


It's a Dallas Stars cap! You may have guessed that already. Pretty snazzy eh?

Zach got these:


More Legos!! I never know what to ask people to get him for Christmas since he has like everything. I guess it's better then his going without, eh?

Emmy got:


A shirt!! Can't have too many of those right? Maybe ya can.


Found this for Dad. He wanted "Catch-22" but no one seems to have it anywhere. I always thought the longest day was when Dad told all those Army stories...? Maybe I was wrong.

We also had Xmas with my mom's side at my cousin Tony's house Saturday night. We got to talking about Josh and what we can do to carry on what he was trying to accomplish so we set up a scholarship in his name and collected some canned goods and some socks to give to homeless people rather then do a gift exchange. Funny how no one felt deprived, but rather blessed with more. I still think about him and why he did what he did. When you never get depressed about anything, it's that much more difficult to imagine anyone feeling that sad that they feel like life isn't worth living.



This song is my new "I think of Josh everytime I hear it" song.

Group photo:


Cari found the timer function on our camera!! Four years we've had this thing and I had no idea it even had one. Kudos babe!!

"They Say It's Your Birthday...!"

Still?

Yes, now we come to the time of year when we celebrate MY birthday!! I think I got 27 Facebook posts wishing me a happy birthday. Aww...I never felt so loved. Well, I'm sure I did, but it escapes my mind right now. So far I have gotten a lovely cherry computer tower shelf from ol' Dad, a $50 Amazon.com gift card from Mom, and a cool iPod speaker system from Keri! Plus a big book of trivia and a new wallet from Cari! A few pix:


This one I love. Goin' on Facebook I say!


Me: "Hey Mom, what's in this cake?"
Mom: "Well, it's carb-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free!"
Me: "Um...yeah...?"
Mom: "So to answer your question, I don't know. Maybe wheat and grass."


Mom looks so pissed that Emmy gets to use my videocamera and she doesn't. HA HA

Every year around this time I completely surround myself with Christmas nostalgia...you know, the tree, the music, the lights...and I wait for that moment when I get officially in the "Christmas spirit". Well, that moment happened Monday night on my way home from work. Don't know what brought it on but I felt like "Hey, get excited, it's Christmas time!" We took a couple of drives around our neighborhood and looked at some lights. We may have to wait until the 23rd to get our hot apple cider. Cari has to work until about noon so I'm planning on surprising Zach and Emmy by taking them downtown Ft Worth then hit the Barnes & Noble and get a hot treat. Can't wait!! My vacation begins Tuesday 12-21-10...one week and counting. In the past I would want time to go faster so I could enjoy something I was looking forward to. Now I try to enjoy the journey leading up to it. Gotta take my foot off the gas in my old age lol.


The best present ever.

"They Say It's Your Birthday!"

Well it's my birthday too yeah!

Okay, enough singing...

Sunday we had young Zachary's 5th birthday at the YMCA for an indoor swim party!! Was a lot of fun. My biggest concern was that Zach wouldn't get enough presents, but thank goodness that wasn't a problem. A few pix:


Is that not the coolest cake! It was even a real mask that Zach wore for about an hour...then the flies started coming after him cuz of the frosting.


This is a pretty good pic of me and the boy. I made sure he was in front so he would hide my muscular flab.


Becky: "Mike! Don't tell jokes while I'm eating my cake!"
Mike: "Um, I thought everyone had heard the one about why the chicken crossed the road."
Becky: "Well, everyone HADN'T!!"



I got him these shirts a while back. Didn't know whether to give them to him for his birhtday or Christmas. I guess we have our answer yes?

After the partay, we went to Babe's Chicken in Arlington. And thank you for building one in Arlington. Best chicken EVER!! After dinner the waitresses brought out a biscuit with a candle in it, I thought for Zach, but Cari told themit was my birthday too. So...



Waitress with red eyes: "Dance Mike!! DANCE or else I'll zap you with my laser vision!"
Me: "How long is this song anyways?"
Waitress: "We have 127 more verses to go! We should be done in an hour!"
Me: "Help."

So far my birthday presents have consisted of a great oak shelf Dad built for my computer so we have a place to store stuff, a new big book of trivia and a wallet from Cari and the kids, and $10 from a co-worker!! Wasn't that nice! I used it to buy lunch for Emmy and I on Wednesday since I was off. We had a great time. We sit at a reserved table near the window and we can see the kids lined up outside. I would point at one of them until they looked at me, then Emmy would whisper something to me then I would look at the kid again and act shocked that they did whatever Emmy whispered which was nothing. Gave the kids a good scare though ha ha.

Number 36...man oh man. when I started this blog i had just turned 30. Did six years go by already? It sure did. I used to think time went by too fast. Now lately I've been thinking it goes by at the right speed. Sometimes too slow, sometimes too fast. But it always evens out. The question is...are you enjoying the ride? And are you ready for when the ride ends?

"The Lists Are Done!"

Yes, Zach and Emmy have finished their lists to one Santa Claus over the weekend. Emmy has been making them since 2007 so she knows what she's doing. But Zach is a rookie, so of course I helped him a bit. All I had to do was suggest things he may want and write them down. Hmm...come to think of it, I did all the work! Little bugger. Here is his list:



Man, is he greedy or what? ha ha. Actually, I had to think of all of that then run it by his Highness to see if he wanted it or not. Of course he did. He did write "DS" as well as his name. Good times.

Here is Emmy's list:


She took things a bit farther and printed it instead of writing it out. I tried to convince her Santa may reward the work you put into your list a bit more but she already had it done and printed. A laptop, eh? Ol' Santa may have to get a part time job to swing that bad boy. We shall see.

Emmy had a Veteran's Day sing-a-long a while back:

Why is she always sandwiched between taller kids...(sigh)

Emmy: "Dad, why is that kid making a dumb face behind me?"
Me: "Eh, who knows...but now he can't run for public office for fear that THIS PICTURE will someday become publicized!"
Emmy: "Um, public what?"

She ALSO had her end of season soccer party too:


Emmy: "Ha! I got a trophy and Baldy Balderson got nothing!"
Me: "Hey now, don't call him that."
Baldy: "No, it's true. My actual name is Baldy Balderson."
Me: "Um, wow...your parents must have been clairvoyant then?"
Baldy: "Sadly, yes...(sigh)"


145 attempts to take a group shot and THIS was the best one we got...

Man, Christmas time is here!! I've got some plans to get some cool gifts for a select group of people. And they won't even see it coming. Now if we can just get a decent lunch break during work I may be able to accomplish this. It's true what they say...as you get older it becomes more about what you give then what you get. Not that I haven't made a wish list on Amazon.com, mind you. 50+ items just waiting to be purchased for yours truly. Hopefully people don't deviate from the list. What's cool is I can't remember half the stuff I added to it. Surprise!!!

"It's Christmas Time...In The City..."

What?

But Mike, you are no doubt asking right now, it's not even December!

Yes, but according to Lite FM 103.7, Christmas begins NOW. And ya know what? I dig it. Plus, it's finally cold around here! Like get out your coat and wear it cold. I went to Target a few times over the last month and they don't seem to have my favourite candle: roasted chestnut! I'm shocked. But not let down. Because they have a new one I'm going to get: cinnamon pecan. All of the good scents and none of the overpowering stuff some candles seem to give off. I want that one and maybe one of those "cookies baking" candles. All about the candles this time of year, ya know?

Not a whole lot going on this week. Work is really starting to grate on my nerves. We didn't get an hour lunch break all week despite us still having to be here for nine hours a day. I really don't think that's fair that we don't even get a decent breakin the day from this place. I mean, it is stressful enough what we have to deal with with the health care reform laws, trying to keep up with all of that.

Our neighbors moved out last week. The new neighbors haven't moved in yet. Maybe they saw me in my boxer briefs getting the paper and changed their minds? Hey, who wouldn't want to see that on a regular basis, right?

I made a blog for a co-worker of mine! She sells jewelry...I think...maybe some other stuff. Here's a link:

Shelley Duncan

Still have some stuff to work on and add to it. But it shall look as good as mine someday!

Sam's is having some kind of uber-sampling of tasty holiday treats this weekend! Can't wait!

"So Long...Pardner..."

And with that line, one of the best movies I have ever seen was summed up in such a way that if you did not tear up just a little, you may not be actually human inside. Do Not watch the clip above unless you have seen the movie as I do not want to ruin what may be a defining moment in your life. Yes, I was that moved by it all.

Toy Story 3 is actually being hailed as a possible Best Picture Oscar winner and deservedly so. I can't believe it's been eleven years since TS2. TS3 does a very good job of filling in the gaps since then which is not an easy thing to do. But here is why it moved me so...

***SPOILER ALERT***

The whole movie was just so well put together and voiced, and only Pixar could make
3-D rendered models of toys look so life-like ot the point that when they laugh, we laugh, when they cry, we cry. If you haven't sene it yet, and judging by the billions of dollars this movie has made, should be physically impossible, Andy is now 17 years old. Emmy actually argued with me that he was 17 as I kept saying he was 18. How on Earth did she know that? Freak of nature she is. Anyways...he still has all of his toys since he was a kid but he must now make up his mind if he wants to put themin the attic, throw them out, or take them with him to college. He decides to keep Woody and store the rest in the attic. Well, the bag everyone is in ends up getting taken out for trash mistakenly, they hitch a ride to a daycare, actually get imprisoned in said daycare, but manage to break out and get a ride back home on a garbage truck. Yes, there is a LOT I left out because this post is not about being in-depth. As they get home, Woody climbs in the "college" box and the rest of the toys wish him well and get into the "attic" box. After thinking about what had happened over the last few days, he decides to join his friends in the attic box but not with the intention of being stored in the attic. He writes a note pretending to be Andy's mom asking him to donate everything to a 4-year old girl, Bonnie, who took care of him while he was at her house and treated all her toys great. So, Andy takes the box of toys to her house and one by one introduces them to her. Then...he gets to Woody. As he does not remember putting him in the box, he is surprised to see him in there. He initially holds onto it, but seeing as how Bonnie knows what he says when you pull his string ("There's a snake in my boots!"), he tells her that Woody is about the best friend anyone could ever have, and decides to give him to her, knowing Woody will be well-taken care of. The look...in Andy's eyes...as he gives Woody to Bonnie...if you can picture bittersweet, this is it. As Andy gets in his car he looks at Woody one last time, and it looks like Woody is waving goodbye. Andy says "Thanks buddy" and as he drives off, Woody says, sadly, "So long pardner...". That...that is the moment where a little piece of all of us gets lost forever.

I didn't have too many toys growing up I don't think. I used to think it was worth my time to cut out any funny picture I saw, say, on a cereal box or in the newspaper. Had a whole bag of them. Not that they're worth anything, but it would be cool to look back through them, like a trip through time. My Transformers were like my kids back in the 80's. To this day I really regret either selling them or taking them apart with a screwdriver or whatever numbskull things I did with them. Maybe that's why I have bought so many over the last four+ years and kept them unopened. A small way to remember the past and also to preserve it.

My mission in life was to not miss spending time with Zach and Emmy and to look back knowing I did everything I could to give them a great childhood. Looking back...part of me feels like I missed out...just a small part. The majority of me knows I rocked it. Knocked it out of the park. And I'm only half-done...

"Halloween Time!"

You know, it gets harder and harder to set aside time to make our jack-o-lanterns. Finally, Friday night, Emmy and me finally got a free moment. So here they are!:


Here we see Emmy hard at work making her pumpkin look like this:


Pretty cool eh? It's a kitty kat in a box if that helps ya.

Here's mine:


Looks like a zombie Homer yes?

Oh yeah, it was also Zach's birthday!! Numero five. A few presents:


A Transformers puzzle! Nothin' wrong with that.


Zach: "Hey Dad, what does this giant Toy Story gun shoot?"
Me: (reads directions): "Um, it says radioactive death discs..."
Zach: "This is a kid's toy?"
Me: "You can only play with it if you have a Ph.D in nuclear physics."
Zach: "Aw, man..."


Cool shirt! he actually got Toy Story 3 as another present when we got together for Cindy's 63rd birthday...man...can't imagine being 63. Can't believe I'm gonna be 36!

Here they are in their costumes:



All in all, this was a pretty cool Halloween. We trick or treat in Cari's parents neighborhood because they bust out the cobwebs and strobe lights and tombstones and fog machines. Can get pretty scary if you're not prepared. Fortunately, Zach and Emmy don't scare easily...unless there's a bug running around...then all three of them turn into crybabies ha ha.

Oh yeah, the Rangers have offically lost the World Series 4 games to 1. Man...now I'm depressed. Ah well. It was a great year. All we were really hoping was to get past Tampa Bay so we could prove to ourselves that were did not deserve to be the last team in the majors to win a playoff series. We need a motto for next year now. Our motto this year was "It's Time". The Yankees have big problems financially plus their marquee players are old and just can't play anymore. I think Derek Jeter is just about the best thing for baseball, but was he worth $19 million last year? Or course not. Just like Michael Young wasn't worth $16 million. We have rookies that did better then these guys and they made the league minimum. More then me though. Something to be said for that, eh?

"Not Looking Good..."

And by that, I mean the Texas Rangers are down 0-2 in the World Series!! How on Earth did this happen? We dismantled the Yankees...I mean literally took the wheels off, stripped the engine, and set fire to the $210 million machine that is New York. But man, the Giants are really sticking it to us. Can we rebound? next three games are at home, so I feel confident we can right the ship. If we can win the next three games we'll be in a position of supremacy, not them. Watch what we can do.

Went to Catfish Plantation last Sunday for our annual "Get dressed up and go to the haunted restaraunt" Halloween trip. A few pix:


If you can spot Zach, he's behind one of the stones as Darth Vader. If you can spot Emmy, then you don't need glasses. I mean, she's like right there!


Camron: "Hey Jerramy, I think we're supposed to put our faces through these holes."
Jerramy: "After all those other people did?? Do you want germs!!??"
Camron: "Um, being a 13-year old kid, YEAH..."


Tracy: "See, this picture is cool because it has only me in it."


Tracy: "And this picture is cool because it has me AND Jay in it."


Tracy: "And THIS picture is super-cool because it's one of me AND Jay AND the cashier from Kroger's!"
John: "These are the greatest pictures ever!"
Cindy: "I concur in spades!"

Emmy had to make a pumpkin for her 4th grade pumpkin parade!



It says "Go Rangers!!" I thought she might be the only one who would do a Rangers-themed pumpkin...turns out every other kid did as well. Ah well. No point for originality, but extra points for her devotion to our favorite baseball team!

Let's win Game Three Saturday night guys...do it for me...and the kids...mostly for me though! Win or lose, the Rangers have made 2010 the greatest season ever. Can we top it? Time will tell...