"One Sad Day..."

I've mentioned my cousin Josh on here from time to time...mostly to wonder why this great distance arose between us for the last 6 or 7 years. I always thought it was something I may have said. For all this time I wondered if it was me. But it wasn't. It was all him. Josh took his own life Thursday night and now everything is going to be different. All I can seem to think is, he can't frustrate me anymore with his cryptic responses to my invitations.


What I had hoped would be a nice picture of us resulted in this. (Sigh)

Christmas Eve I asked him if he wanted to go see a movie and he said "It's just too normal for me to do that." How do you respond to that without saying "What's wrong with you?" I almost said it. But I bit my tongue and let him be him.



He loved this song. If you bought the soundtrack to "Angus" back in 1995 it was the last song on it. I never thought much of it until he made a point of mentioning how direct the lyrics were. So I re-listened to it and it sounds like how he lived he last few years of his life. Depressed...rejected...feeling like being alive is just not an option. I had a dream a long time ago that we were hanging out and this song came on the radio and we were listening to it and he said, "I can make songs like this!" and I concurred. He even had a band called the Calicoes. Granted, their songs weren't Grammy-worthy, but they worked on them with everything they had. I went to some of their gigs, mostly to help lug around guitars and amps. I guess I was a roadie lol. Those were some of the most fun times I had in my younger days.

Anyone who knows me knows I usually talk a lot and try to be funny when I can. Hey, when you have the gift, you run with it. Josh had a motto: Talk Less, Do More. Maybe it's time I tried it. He always said he'd find a way to quiet me up.

Mission accomplished...

RIP Josh. We will never ever ever forget you and will talk about you until we can't speak anymore. You left behind a legacy of generosity and compassion that will always be the bar by which we live our lives. I'm thankful I saw you at the Art In The Park show last Saturday and got to see you and hug you one last time before you left us. I know God understands why you did this. Even if we don't...God does.

"Long Time No See!"

I really hate skipping a week on here, so better late then never right? Emily had her 3rd grade field day recently. She got a few ribbons but nothing first place. Ah well. Such is life sometimes. Here are a few pix:


Emmy: "Hey, will ya'll stop pulling on the rope the same time we do? It makes it hard to win!"
Me: "Um...nevermind."


Emmy: "Hey Dad, how far did I throw the softball?"
Me: "Lessee...two feet, three inches..."
Emmy: "Is that good?"
Me: "Well...if you were a Lilliputian, then...yeah!"
Emmy: "Huh?"

And now, a segment I like to call...

WHY DO KIDS DO THIS!!


Our water bill is gonna be like $200, I can feel it.

Then, for Mother's Day, Emmy and Zach surprised Cari with a song! It's from some Nickelodeon show but Emmy sang it very well! And no, Zach does not know how to play that recorder thing. But he sure looks like he does:



And that's without a lesson!

Really looking forward to this weekend. First, I get off at four on Friday instead of the usual SEVEN which is cool. Then, Zach and Emmy are spending the night with their "greendad" Sunday after Campbell, leaving Cari and I free to have a date night! We want to see a movie, but man, some of these movies just don't sound good at all. At least to Cari. As for me, I'd be cool seeing "MacGruber", or "Ironman 2", or "Shrek 4". We may go see Robin Hood. I remember watching the Disney cartoon when I was a kid. Really didn't reflect all the law-breaking or villany that the original story meant to convey, but hey, ya gotta clean it up. For the kids.

"Another Shrek?"

<a href="http://video.msn.com?mkt=en-us&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:679375f5-8246-4a2d-8c5f-dc646d875482&showPlaylist=true&from=IV2_en-us_wonderwall" target="_new" title="Exclusive Look at &#39;Shrek Forever After&#39;">Video: Exclusive Look at &#39;Shrek Forever After&#39;</a>

Looks pretty funny if you ask me. And you know you did. The plot is that Shrek wants to be an ogre again so Rumplestiltskin grants him a day where it's just him. But in return, he has to give a day of his life to Rumplestiltskin. Turns out the day he takes is the day he was born, so Shrek was never around to rule Far Far Away. Now he has to re-meet Fiona, Donkey and Puss In Boots and re-do everything so that they can live (again) happily ever after. Exhausted yet?

Zach started swim lessons! Here's a pic:


Doesn't he look confindent?

Grandma turned 82 as well! A few pix:


Dean: "A resteraunt named Chili's that doesn't serve chili? Now that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever hoid!"
Becky: "Ugh...that's the worst Groucho Marx impression EVER!"
Dean: "Who's Groucho Marx?"


I took this one personally! I swear she hasn't changed in 40 years.

And finally, it was also Mother's Day! Again...a few pix:


HAD TO get Mom the "Planet Earth" DVD series. I couldn't copy it so I went and got one for her. Of course, now that I have 123DVDGold I can copy anything. Mom gets the originals, Dad will get the copies ha ha.


Noel (as Sean Connery): "Bond...James Bond...shaken, not stirred..."
Me: "Um, that was a great Sean Connery impression..."
Noel: "Who's Sean Connery?"

Okay, enough silliness.

Getting read for our annual trip to Campbell in 2 weeks. My cousin posted on her Facebook page she was going up there this morning for whatever reason. Maybe some alone time with Grandpa. Just seems like no matter how long you live, we all fade away into the night too soon. Al Bundy always used to pray for death because he hated living so much. I think the real meaning of life is to enjoy every day you are given, because there just aren't enough of them.

"I Know...You'll See..."

...somehow the world will change for me...and be so wonderful...

If you or someone you live with watches Nickelodeon regularly, and as it happens, I qualify, then you know of a show called "iCarly" where these two girls perform their own "web show" and get into funny adventures and what have you. One of them is a little-known actress named Miranda Cosgrove, who plays Carly. Well Emily just loves watching it due in part that she feels she bears a striking resemblance to Miranda. I say...mmm, there could be something there. Anyways, when we heard she was going to be visiting Kidd Kraddick at the KissFM studios here in Las Calinas, we knew we HAD to drop by and try to see her in person. Well, we did, and we did, and Emmy just had the best morning. Here's what we saw:


This was actually the best one I could take. It kills me how the adults were pushing their way to the front. I wonder who was looking forward to this more, them or their kids. Selfish you-know-whats. Fortunately, Miranda came out and signed some autographs for everyone! It was then that I got this picture:


Miranda: Okay, who should I make this out to?"
Girl in front of Emily: "Make it out to Miranda Cosgrove. That's right, I had my name legally changed so we would have the exact same name! My brunette hair dye should be in the mail when I get home. You wanna go to the mall and get a pretzel?"
Miranda: "Security!"

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best picture. This one is much better:


Miranda: "This pen isn't hurting you while I sign your shirt, is it?"
Emily: "Well, I wish you'd use a felt tip pen instead of a ball point pen, but I'm not complaining."

Here is the end result:


Really hoping Emmy enjoyed this day.

What do you say to someone you wish was your best friend? Furthermore, how do you comfort yourself when you know you'll never be best friends? I'm sensing a little heartache in Emmy, seemingly for this reason. But, as with everything else, time passes and bad feelings are soon replaced by better ones. She's American Superball. Hits the wall but comes back with a vengeance.