Mike Overall

"Talent? Where?"

2012-02-03T12:49:00.002-06:00

Why, in the cul-de-sac of course!! Zach and Emmy organized this talent show and some of the neighborhood kids participated. Emmy got out her cello (of course) and Zach did what he does best...rode his scooter up and down and all around. I managed to videotape the whole thing and even snapped a few pix:

Emily:
Don't need nothin'...but a good time...how can I resist...
Don't need nothin'...but a good time...and it don't get better than this...
Me: "You know, you really haven't lived until you've heard Poison played on a cello."

Poetry in motion!! I guess the act was them riding them in unison. Looks like they got it all figured out.

Turns out the kids that won the whole thing were voted on by the judge...who was their brother. The fix is in!!

Looking forward to this weekend. Gonna sell cookies Saturday from 3-6 then...if Zach and Emmy have been good...we'll go to Chuck E Cheese! Not my favourite place, but it's really cool that they are old enough to go and play games by themselves and Cari and I can just relax a little. Then Sunday...is...Super Bowl Sunday! A rematch of Numero 42 between the Pats and Giants. Who wins this one? I think it comes down to who wins the penalty battle. Less penalties should give you the win. I gotta go Pats this time. Why? Cuz I went Pats last time and lost! Once burned...not this time. We're going to a friend's house who supposedly have this huge TV. Gonna make some snacks and play squares. Hopefully I'll win some cash!

Sunday I'm supposed to take Zach to a birthday party for his friend James in his class, but I just got some disturbing news from Cari. Apparently Zach took $20 out of some money that did not belong to him and took it to school to buy concessions. Argh! Why does he do that? Furthermore, why does he think no one will ever find out? Anyways...he's in some big trouble when I get home tonight. I bet the guy who said kids were a blessing never had any. He's going to pay for this one, Zach is. Big time.

I've been organizing our pictures on Flickr lately and it always takes me down Memory Lane a little. Take this picture for instance:

This was during one of our Saturday morning trips. Emily was about 3 1/2. Such a fun day. This was the day we discovered that ducks will eat breakfast cereal when adults won't because it tastes terrible.

This was another really fun day. I should have been out shopping for a birthday present for Cari but instead we went here, to the River Legacy Science Center. I had never been here before, so when we got here we were kind of awkwardly walking around. We found a path, and this half-finished house.

This was during our trip to Disneyworld back in 2006, if you couldn't guess from the Donald Duck and company display in the background. That had to be one of the best weeks since I hadn't had a vacation in like four years. We need to go back again now that Zach is old enough to ride some of the rides. Tall enough? Ehh...we'll see.

I haven't showcased any YouTube clips on here lately, mostly because our work computer now won't let anyone watch it. Geez, what's next? Shock collars to keep us awake?

By this time tomorrow I will have been here at Healthmarkets for four years!! This was a very important anniversary for me to reach, mainly because the record for time at a job was four years with Pizza Hut. Geez, what was I thinking working there for that long? I guess it was nice just to have a job that I could make more than $175 a week. Yeah, that is what I made when I was a temp back in the mid-90's. Geez, what was I thinking working for them!? I'm really proud of myself for realizing that what I was doing wasn't working. The way I was going through life wasn't working. I owe a lot of what I have to some people, sure, but who doesn't? When I'm called upon to help out I'll be there first in line. Maybe that's why we're really here. You can accomplish so much more when you push up then when you just stand there.

"Canyon Is Five??"

2012-01-27T12:33:00.002-06:00

Well, according to medical records and a calendar, yes! Man, it seems just like yesterday she was born:

Aren't kids always better when they can't talk? ha ha.

Well, last Saturday we went to CanyonBash 2012 to celebrate her 5th birthday! Scott and Rebecca always know how to throw a kids' party, and this one did not disappoint. There was Pin The Tail On The Donkey:

Becky: "Hey Scott, isn't it called Pin The Tail On The Donkey?"
Scott: "Why, yes it is!"
Becky: "Well, where are the pins? These have tape on them!"
Scott: "Hmm, that's a mystery...I'd better re-read the directions..."
Zach: "Um, I'm blind over here!! Let's get the show on the road!"

There was a pinata:

Emmy: "Did I break the pinata open?"
Becky: "Mmm, not sure...judges?"
Judges: "Nope!"
Emmy: "Aw man..."

I didn't really get a look at what presents Canyon got, but I sure gave myself (and most of the guests) an early present:

If you look closely, I secretly tied a balloon to the back of Dean's windbreaker. Then, whenever he walked around the balloon would follow him about 2 feet behind him. He kept brushing it away when it grazed his ears and we all had to hold back our chuckles:

I'm obnoxious and I know it.

Sunday morning Emmy and I sold cookies for four hours!! Don't know how Cari does it way more than I do. It's exhausting. Get out of the chair, get back in the chair, and over and over. So, when we got home, Cari was about to take Zach to the park and Zach wanted me to. So we went to the hidden park AKA Jake Langston Park:

This is a really good shot of the both of us. I try to get one of us every chance I get.

Here's one of him in mid-jump. Again, I try to get one of these every chance I get. A bit blurry but all in all a good action shot.

I told Zach to look cool leaning up on that tree. Mission accomplished.

The spinning wheel gave him fits last year. But this year, with some height and strength added to him, he has mastered it. What you do is push off, spin around and try to make it back without letting go.

Tonight Emmy is selling cookies at Chuy's and then it's dinner time! Last time we were there I saw they had a fish taco dinner, so I got it, and I ate it, and man it was so good. Might have to get that every time I go there until I burn out on it, which, knowing me, I'm sure I will.

My stupid car broke down this week. It was Monday morning, and I had just taken Zach and Emmy to school. I was on my way back, and as I was turning into my cul-de-sac the motor went off! Everything else was on, but the stupid thing would not start. 20 feet from my house and this happens. I walked down to the 7-11 to put oil in but that didn't make a difference. Fortunately Cari is friends with someone whose husband fixes cars for a living and he was nice enough to come by and take a look at it. Turns out the distributor cap wore out or something so we replaced it plus put in new spark plugs and new wires and now it seems to run much better. Still makes a loud sound when I back up and the shifter has to be jiggled to get it into reverse, but for now it seems to be in good shape. So glad Daniel was generous with his time and helped me out. I only hope that when my time comes and I am asked to help with something I will do it freely and without any kind of expectations or grudges. That used to be one of my bigger pet peeves. But, lately, I've been open to doing what I can when I can do it.

"Cookies...Everywhere, Cookies..."

2012-01-20T13:55:00.002-06:00

Ahh yes, the time has come that our own cookie monster Emily has picked up hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies and is in charge of selling them. So far she's at around 500 boxes, which is really good for 2 weeks. She has about 4 weeks left to sell them. We've been doing table tops like crazy:

Here we are picking them up from the Fort Worth Zoo. We could have filmed a Cecil B Demille movie with all the extras.

Here Emmy is selling like crazy. She will do anything for a sale. Like dance.

The sun was extremely hot this day and there was no wind, so...that explains the sad / mad faces.

If she gets to 1,200 boxes she is declared a "diva". Not sure what that means but I think it involves a fancy party. All I know is 1,200 boxes equals 2 weeks of overnight camp paid for. So far she's halfway there!

We were at the inlaws Sunday and Zach, who never asks me to come watch him on the backyard swing set, asked me to come watch him on the backyard swing set. Turns out he finally mastered his fear of the monkey bars:

He was so proud that he didn't fall or anything. As long as I was out there I snapped a couple more:

Guy Smiley!! This iPhone doesn't take the greatest pictures but this one is a gem.

Me: "Okay Zach, balance yourself on the edge of the swing and then make a mighty leap into the air!"
Zach: "Um, Dad, I'm all tangled in the chain! I'm stuck!"
Me: "Well that wouldn't let Bruce Jenner stop him, would it?"
Zach: "No...I guess not...will you buy me a new arm if mine gets ripped off?"
Me: "We'll see."

I've been trying to organize all of Cari's iPhone pictures that we finally got off of her phone. Every now and then I'll see one I haven't seen before and really start to reminisce. Here are a few:

This was at the Rangers game we took my mom to back in Septemper of 2009. Just the look on Zach's face is enough to make anyone smile.

Zach didn't really have a lot of fun his first season playing soccer. But he has informed us that he would like to play this spring! Kind of bummed he doesn't want to play t-ball but maybe he'll come back to it.

Kind of a serious looking picture, but the background sure is nice. That was the best day.

I hadn't seen this one before now. Cari did a great job capturing this one. Zach just looks real melancholy and sad even though you can't see his face. Kind of how JFK Jr looked when they were burying his dad. I really wish Grandpa and Zach could have spent some time together now that he's getting older. But...wasn't meant to be I guess. Zach and Emmy still ask about him sometimes. I try to recall as many stories as I can, but there just weren't that many. I'm sure there were times, but I must not remember them as well as I should.

"Say It Ain't So..."

2012-01-13T10:25:00.002-06:00

And by that, I mean one of our state's great tourist attractions is being boarded up...shut down...closed:

Apparently the Dublin Dr Pepper plant and the Dr Pepper / Snapple corporation were at war over licensing and trademark issues. And who always wins those wars? The bigger company. Always. The city of Dublin's entire persona was built around Dr Pepper. They produce other soft drinks, but none as popular as Dr Pepper. Who knows, maybe they will work out an agreement and Zach and Emmy will be able to take their kids to see the tour in the far future. But, for now, the town of Dublin will no longer be known for what it has been known for since 1891.

We were lucky enough to take the tour in July of 2010. I posted some pics here which you can view some other time. But here are a few I didn't post:

These are the souvenirs the kids bought. Emmy got an airplane made entirely out of a Dr Pepper can and Zach got a yo-yo. We never could get the yo-yo to sleep...or walk the dog...or any of the other tri cks it takes years to master but we weren't patient enough. The airplane hung on our Christmas tree this year!! Really spruced up the ol tree. No pun intended.

This is a cool random shot. Cari seemed to know I was about to take a picture but both kids seeemed oblivious to it. Sometimes those make the best shots.

This is all the merchandise they carried. I picked up a softball-style t-shirt that I haven't had a chance to wear it. Oh it fits alright, just not the occasion. Maybe this weekend I will.

But, not all was depressing this week. Whilst on the Texas Rangers ESPN website, I found out that some Rangers were going to be at the local Academy store signing autographs! So I passed the word to Cari and met them up there, but you needed some kind of ticket to get a player's autograph. Zach and Emmy did get an autograph from these guys"

Tom Grieve! He used to be the general manager of the Rangers, but now he does color commentary on the televised games.

Jim Sundberg! He used to be a catcher and now he's president of public relations or something like that.

We did manage to sneak a peek at some Rangers through the exit:

From left to right:

Ron Washington's "half-fro" sticking out
Colby Lewis
Derek Holland
Mike Napoli

Man, if the Rangers had won the World Series like they were supposed to last October, this guy definitely would have been the MVP of the series. Five home runs, ten RBIs, and some darn good defense blocking the plate. The Angels gave this guy away for a song, and we scooped him up. So when the Angels were watching the plyoffs on TV, we were the ones on TV they were watching. But, since they signed Albert Pujols and our own CJ Wilson in the off-season, you would think a lot of baseball writers would be picking them to be the new AL winners. But, they haven't. Everyone still likes Texas to be the dominant team, and why not? Who else could lose Cliff Lee to free agency and still go back to the fall Classic?? Only us. Cliff Lee bolted to the Phillies to be a kind of second coming of the 1993 Atlanta Braves when they had Glavine and Maddux and Smoltz and Avery. I remember when Greg Maddux was a free agent in 1992 and he had a choice between going to the Yankees or the Braves. He chose the Braves because, in his eyes, it gave him a better chance to win a World Series. And why wouldn't he? The Braves had just been to the last two. But man, if he had joined the Yankees, he'd have four World Series rings instead of just the one. Decisions, decisions. Each one always seems to lead to three more choices we have to make. It's very hard to wrap things up sometimes in life. It's a shame we don't get a chance to go back and fix things here and there. But, time always seems to pass by and fix things and put to rest dumb things we may have done.

"Back To Work..."

2012-01-06T16:15:00.002-06:00

(SIGH)

(SIGH SIGH SIGH)

Yes, my much-anticipated vacation has come and gone in the blink of an eye and I had to go back to work...ack. But at least it was a 4 day week and Friday got here much quicken than usual. I believe I covered most of what we did but there were a couple of freezing trips to Six Flags we managed to squeeze in. I say freezing because by sundown it was downright chilly:

This is Zach, his friend Chelsea, and me on the tea cups in the Mexico land. My stomach just can't handle the constant turns and twists. By the time it was over I was near-hurling. But, I didn't.

This is the kids' version of the Superman ride. Zach would not ride this to save his life. But, after watching kids smaller and younger than him ride it and seem to enjoy it. he finally got on and as you can see...

...he had a great time!! We kept telling him it was more fun than scary. Hopefully this will start a trend.

I told Zach to give me a kiss and I'd get a picture of us. Somehow I turned out looking like Shrek. Still a cute shot though.

Cari and Zach said this was their favourite ride, and I cannot blame them. It was so cold they had fire pits everywhere. When you got up close to it you didn't really notice how warm it was unitl you walked away and the cold came screaming back and chilled you.

We usually let Zach play the game where if you pop a balloon with the darts you get a prize. Well, he popped one, and won...Superbear! That's the name we gave him at least. Hopefully he will hang onto this one for awhile.

Something I forgot to mention last month was when Dad came by my office and took me out to lunch for my birthday! I managed to work out a 2 hour lunch so we went to Chili's then over to Movie Trading Company to try and find some Christmas presents. I'm glad I went over there when I did cuz I found a movie for Mom that she didn't even know existed but was looking forward to seeing it:

Maybe I'll borrow it. I loved Field Of Dreams.

That was a great afternoon. Always glad to know someone who should be thinking about you shows he was. Good times...

Girl Scout Cookies are available today. Man...the next 7 weeks are going to be all about the cookies. Maybe Cari and Emmy will have some sales and Zach and I can do some park days. Emmy seems to be getting too old to go to the park but Zach can't get enough of it. We had some great weekends last year. I always feel he needs more parental involvement than Emmy ever needed. She just wanted to try things on her own and seems to learn more going through that than anything she could ever learn in school. She's always cursing the person or people who invented school. Zach enjoys school a little bit more, but that's because in many ways he is a lot like Science Boy, the comic book hero from Friends whose superpower, according to Ross, was...

...a superhuman thirst...for knowledge.

"One Busy Week!!"

2011-12-31T02:41:00.002-06:00

Yes, vacations aren't always about laying around and not doing much. We really packed it in this week! Between Christmas morning, a trip to San Antonio, and a Dallas Stars hockey game, there was plenty to keep us busy! First things first...Christmas morning! Emmy got up first, around 6am. Of course, we were exhausted, so we told her to go back to bed for one more hour. Fast forward eleven minutes. She comes back in again. We tell her the same thing: go back to bed! So, every eleven minutes, this continues, until finally Emmy can't stand it anymore, so she goes into Zach's room and turns his lamp on. Now he was sound asleep, and didn't take too kindly to being disturbed. Emmy kept saying, "Don't you want to get up and see what Santa brought you?" and Zach was all "No, get out of here!" When we heard that, we knew it was time to get up. Hey, who are we to make kids wait to see what Santa brought them right?

OMG, did Santa really bring young Zachary his own iPod Touch?? AND...did Santa really bring Emmy her own flip video camera? Well, judging by the picture, you can see he did. Now Zach won't be asking to borrow someone else's, and Emmy can make her own movies about...well, whatever she finds interesting.

Man, look at those stockings! Whoever thought if the idea of hanging stockings just to get extra presents is a genius!

A Fijit!! If you don't know what this thing is, it's an interactive toy that (sort of) understands what you say, dances, tells jokes, all in a voice that would make Elmo cringe. It's kind of entertaining.

Zach wanted his own deck of playing cards more than anything else. Very glad Santa brought him those. His favourite game right now is Go-Fish. hey, it's easy enough to learn, and easier to play. He's getting pretty darn good.

Coolest...pajamas...ever!

Coolest...hoodie...ever!

After the presents were opened and we had a little breakfast, we headed over to Grandma's house for a yummy lunch! Unfortunately, it was very hard for me to enjoy it since the stomach bug that swept through pretty much most of the country managed to find Emmy, Zach and me. Emmy was done by Saturday but mine hit all day Sunday. I ate a little, but by the evening I was so sleepy and freezing I stayed home that night while everyone else hung out and played games. Ah well. Such is life. Better to get it out of the way sooner than later.

Me: "What's the matter Dean? You too good for a smoothie maker?"
Dean: "What makes you say that?"
Me: "Well...your face...plus that you just told me last week that you were too good for a smoothie maker..."

Wednesday we went down to San Antonio to see some family of Cari's. Not much to do but we did find some enjoyment in their mini golf course:

Zach: "Fore!"
Me: "Um, how hard did you hit the ball Zach?"
Zach: "About 45 yards..."
Me: "On a miniature golf course?"
Zach: "All about the power stroke Dad..."

Poetry in motion!! I didn't actually play, but I sure did give much-needed tips and advice to those who were.

So, we came back, and did some much-needed cleaning around the house, and then...the YMCA had their 2nd Annual Polar Bear Plunge! Now I'm not crazy enough to jump in freezing water in the middle of winter. But Zach and Emmy sure are:

They look like they're having fun...but they sure got out as fast as they jumped in!

Emily even got on the news! Of course, we somehow managed to not record it. We're still searching for it online.

Saturday night. Dallas Stars vs. the Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins! Keri gave us her suite passes since she decided to go see tattoo-ridden Adam Levine and Maroon 5 at the Winstar Casino. And man, this may have been the best game ever to go and see. We won 4-2 and there was even a fight!:

Not really sure who won, but in hockey all that matters is that they kiss and make up afterwards.

Love this shot of us! Possible Christmas card entry for next year I do believe.

Those suites really know how to put out a spread! Roast beef, fried chicken, nachos, hot dogs, salads...and I took advantage. Doesn't make me sound too great I suppose. But that was a great night.

We also managed a couple of trips to Six Flags, but those can wait for next week. I'm doing all of these posts in one day since I got a little behind. I think this was the best Christmas ever. I think I say that every year but this year...seems like everyone got what they wanted. What did I want? To be with family...to have a good dinner here and there...but mostly to keep in mind that Jesus really is the reason for the season. We sometimes forget that, even if we claim not to.

"Let The Vacation Begin!!"

2011-12-24T10:55:00.001-06:00

Yes, as of yesterday my eleven day super-sized Christmas break has officially begun! Been waiting months for this...literally. Had it all arranged in August and then had the next three months to suffer through, but it has now arrived!! Cari had to work Friday, and cousin Dylan spent the night, so Friday morning we did something we hadn't done in a long, long time:

Downtown!! I cannot remember the last time we managed to make our way down here. Feels like years, which is probably was. But Dylan had never been here at all! For shame! Anyways...I am loving this new camera. Gets things much clearer and zooms much farther.

See what I mean? Maybe someone will notice them and publish them!

Emily: "Um, Dad, I'm really getting wet from standing here!"
Me: "Just 30 more minutes so that I can get this shot..."
Emily: "Geez, what's more important, you getting the 'perfect picture' or me getting hypothermia?"
Me: "Hmm...it shouldn't be this tough to choose..."

My goal was to have everyone looking like sailors on a ship, but it turned out more like them looking like tourists. Ah well. Still an inspired shot.

After we were done freezing outside, we made our way to the Barnes & Noble store down the street. It's kind of a pain where the store is located; it's too far to walk, and if you drive down there you have to find another meter. What's funny is every time we went out to the car, the meter always had 2 minutes left exactly.

Man, that was some nice decorations! Christmas to me is all about who can outdo who.

Zach: "Hey Dad, who is the cowboy behind us?"
Me: "I think that was Barnes Noble, the creator of this bookstore."
Emily: "Oh sure, like a cowboy would aspire to open his own bookstore."
Me: "The smart ones do."

My gosh I can't believe how much Emmy has grown. The first shot was taken about seven years ago. She wasn't even as tall as Toad! I guess growing up is inevitable.

After we read, we drank:

Apple cider for everyone! Except me...gotta go hot chocolate...always.

That night we went over to Mom's house for some Fratelli's pizza (/ahref>, egg nog, treats, and of course...presents! It wasn't until about Tuesday that I really got excited about this night. Zach and Emmy were really looking forward to it as well. And that pizza was so good. Mom even got ham and pineapple. I like to think she got it just for me heh heh. A few pix:

Wouldn't be Christmas without Zach getting some Legos!! He has gotten so much this year we haven't even made our way to his Legos yet. But we will.

Emmy got a DS game! Four games actually. Now if she could just remember where her DS is ha ha. Actually I think this week we know where it is!

Oh yeah, PF Chang's gift card!! We go there very sporadically due to their high prices and constant crowdedness. But if we have a gift card, then we always use it. Always.

This has been on my Amazon list for like two years and finally little sis got it for me!! I have always loved these movies and if you haven't seen them, Star Trek: TNG was never about the special effects. It was always about the story, and the relationships between the characters. Mom and I both watched it very often.

Me: "Hey Mom, what's so funny?"
Mom: "Oh...um...wasn't this a joke present? You know, a real gag gift?"
Keri: "No!! Isn't this a good picture of Mike and me?"
Mom: "Ehh..."

I thought it was a good picture. (sigh)

Oh I'm only kidding. Mom really did laugh when she opened it but she thought it was a great shot of us. Hey, if I'm in it, how can it be bad eh?

Saturday we just hung around the house until we went to Cari's parent's house for Christmas dinner. Of course, the kids got their share of gifts:

Zach in all of his love of all things Angry Birds, got himself a handy dandy blanket! I don't think he's opened it yet lol.

Wow, what a cool jacket! Unfortunately, it was a size too small, and I think I threw the tag away so now we can't return it. It fits her, but it's a little snug. Why must things always be my fault :(

Now this is awesome! It's a bluetooth-enabled speaker system for the iPod/iPhone. I'm considering taking it up to work and putting it behind me to have a surround sound experience while I'm watching movies at work. I have it so bad don't I ha ha.

When we got home, we were all very sure to put out some milk and cookies for Santa since we all know he runs on them:

I get the feeling Santa has Zach and Emmy on his nice list.

"Still My Birthday??"

2011-12-16T12:05:00.002-06:00

You betcha! We all went over to Mom's apartment Sunday for a luncheon feast of epic proportions (chicken fried steak, potatoes, green bean casserole, and macaroni and cheese!) and, of course, a few presents. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to break in my new camera! Not break literally...well...you know...anyways...a few pix:

The Beatles Anthology! Two years this has been on my Amazon wish list but it was always too expensive. Glad to see it finally came down to a reasonable amount! Thanks Keri! Zach sure does have this pout look on his face, like, hey, how come no one got me this for MY birthday? I can share with him. I've been known to share things from time to time.

What a cool Mavericks hoodie! Now that the championship team has sort of been dismantled as of late, I'd better enjoy being world champs as long as I can. Thanks Mom!

Saturday we went to the YMCA to have breakfast with Santa!:

Kids: "And I think, it’s gonna be a long, long time
Till touch down brings me 'round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, NO NO NO I’m a rocket man..."
Me: "Um...how is this a Christmas song again?"
Zach: "Ugh, I'll explain it one more time Daddy. Elton John is an astronaut, and astronauts survey the Earth from a great distance, similar to how Santa Claus surveys the Earth from a great distance!"
Me: "Um...wow...thanks for the incredibly detailed explanation son o mine."
Zach: "You know where to find me."

Me: "Hey Emmy, I think that is hurting Zach."
Emmy: "Nah...he makes this face in all of his pictures."
Me: "Oh yeah..."

And yes, after many minutes of waiting, ol' Santa himself finally graced everyone with his presence. He didn't give out any gifts though...but at least he smelled like pork rinds and Vicks Vap-O-Rub.

Zach and Emmy also got their letters to Santa done! Here's Emmy's:

This was literally the first thing I scanned on our new printer, so I may have not aligned it the best. But she sure covered her bases. Two normal front teeth? I keep telling her once all of her other teeth grow in everything will come together...kids believe what they want to believe I guess. New brains for my head!? Such impudence. Here's Zach's:

He wrote all that all by himself!! He had other things he wanted but, being Zach, lost patience writing and left the room. I bet Santa was listening though when he mentioned what he wanted.

I'm really big on writing letters to Santa. Most of your big blockbuster Christmas movies always seem to revolve around a letter that was sent and the kid wondered if Santa ever got it. And, sure enough, he always did. One year when I was twelve I wrote down every new Transformer on a piece of spiral paper and handed it to Mom. I got a few of them but not the entire catalog that I wrote down ha ha. It's always fun to think about things that managed to escape your mind from time to time. The other night Zach asked me to tell him a story of when I was a kid, which is usually does when it's time to go to bed but he's not ready to yet. So I told him about December 1987 when Dad was going to Canada for business. Our old church Kimball had this weekly men's breakfast club at IHOP and when I was able to get myself out of bed and dressed by 6:15 he let me come with him. Well, my birthday came around and Dad was out of town, but he did something really cool for me. The night before my birthday he called and told me to be dressed by 6:15 the next day. So I did, and a fellow member of the men's club picked me up and we went to IHOP and they bought me breakfast as a kind of early birthday party. That was...24 years go...and it still swims around in the deep end of the ocean that is my mind.

"Happy Birthday To..."

2011-12-09T10:32:00.002-06:00

ME, chumps!! ME ME ME!!!! Numero 37 man...and I gotta say...I don't think I've ever felt better in my life. Physically, anyways. Other things...not so much. I'm such an idiot sometimes. I'm putting the rest of the Christmas lights yesterday and I set my wallet on top of my car and forogt about it and drove off to work and it flew off somewhere. Arggh! I spent all morning today at the DMV getting a new license. At least they gave me a temporary one to use until I get my new license in 2-4 weeks. Still have to call my cards and stuff. Hopefully will get it done this weekend.

Emmy had her very first cello recital last night!! She played perfectly. Was so proud of her:

Future Yo-Yo Ma?? I wish I knew other cellists...but...I do not...

Zach: "Dad...how much longer is this concert??"
Me: "Let's see...they've been playing for how long?"
Zach: "About three minutes."
Me: "Ahh...then...six more hours."
Zach: "Aaaghhhh..."

Before the concert, however, we had a little birthday party for yours truly! Got something I've been wanting for a long...LONG...time:

A new camera!!! And this one has some serious zoom action that those thinner cameras just don't have. Will test it out this weekend when we go to Mom's house for Keri and I's annual birthday home-cooked lunch!

Emmy took time out of her busy schedule to make a rose for me! She used only manila paper! So creative she is.

How bout them Rangers! I tried it on last night and it was sooo warm and comfortable. I'm such a woman ha ha. I'm still gonna wear the shirt though, even if they couldn't win the World Series...twice. I can't be mad at them though. Been a lot of fun the last coule of falls.

We had our holiday lunch at work today! Fajitas and more!! Tore...it...up. Since I didn't have breakfast due to the whole driver's license thing I had to make the most of it. And man I did. My department all sat at the same table and had a real nice time.

Hopefully once I get all my stuff replaced...which I guess now includes a new wallet...I'll feel much better. I did finally get some candles!! A red velvet cake one and a pumpkin pie one. Seperately they don't do a lot but together...man it is awesome in our house. Plus I got more lights not only on the house but also on our tree! Looks great. To me that's what I look forward to about Christmas more than any present. Making things look festive and getting Zach and Emmy involved in what the true meaning of Christmas is...and it aint gifts. Sometimes I wonder what ever happened to all those presents I got. One year I was doubting whether or not Santa even existed. And then...I got this:

The G I Joe H.A.V.O.C. This was the present that, for the moment, renewed my belief. A few years went by...and it wasn't until about three or four years ago that the gift tag that said "To Mike From Santa" looked identical to my mom's handwriting. Why could I never put that together...it seems like I've been so clueless my whole life. Could never see the forest for the trees, ya know? Seems like I've spent my 30's waking up...learning how to figure things out easier instead of always taking the hardest most impossible road out there. Sure spent my 20's doing enough of that. So many mistakes...so many bad choices...but it only made me stronger I guess. I still want to find something for Cari for Christmas that lets her know how much she means to me. What to get her...what to get her...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

"Did I Miss A Week?"

2011-12-02T11:34:00.002-06:00

Well I sure did. Four days of Thanksgiving vacation didn't leave me a lot of time so I'll have to make this one a super-duper-sized post! A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks. Zach had his end of year T-Ball party:

Hey, that's one good looking trophy! Of course, 30 minutes later the bat broke and had to be super-glued...ahh, boys will be boys yes?

I love this shot of us. Zach is doing the impossible: smiling nicely AND staring at the camera. Miracles can come true...they can happen to you...

The night before that while Cari and Emmy were shopping at Justice, a store that does not like guys coming in and loitering, Zach and I took some pictures around the newly-erected Christmas tree and surrounding decorations:

Zach: "Hey Dad, how do you light up this reindeer?"
Me: "Um...set it on fire?"
Zach: "Do you have a lighter? I'll light this sucka up right now!"
Me: "Figure of speech son..."

This one looks like a Christmas card! I might be able to superimpose Cari and Emmy in it ha ha.

We also had Emmy's end of year soccer party! They didn't win very many games, but they sure played as hard as anyone:

Man, in a couple of years Emmy will be taller than all of us!

Emmy has a volleyball tourney tomorrow. The more they win, the longer they play. I'm not sure which I'm rooting for more. Sports is such a long season sometimes.

So far our Christmas plans are starting to come together. It's always such a runaround sometimes but if we don't have our family together, the holidays just don't take on the specialness that will ultimately stand the test of time. Stuff comes and goes but to have people around you who don't mind having you around, well...its' value is well above anything we could ever buy or sell.

"Christmas Time...Is Here..."

2011-11-18T10:37:00.002-06:00

...well, not quite yet. But the cold winds have moved in and my favourite station in the winter, 103.7 Lite FM, has started playing Christmas music!! Not looking forward to putting up Christmas lights next week, mainly because it takes a gymnastic effort to get on the roof to hang them in the first place. But I shall persist. In fact, I've already picked out a couple of presents for Zach and Emily last week, and I hope they enjoy them. What are they? Nice try. No one will know until Christmas morning.

Sunday Mom Dad and Keri came out to conclude the celebration of Zach turning six. We met up at Zio's Italian Ristorante. Yeah, I think that's how you spell it. None of them had ever been before, and despite the service being a little slow, everyone thought it was one of the best italian places they'd ever been to. Maybe it was slow due to the Cowboy game. 44-7 win over the Bills!! We are at 5-4, and we should reach 8-4 at some point in the next month, putting us in good position to win the NFC East and maybe go to the Super Bowl! That's a pipe dream, I know. But it's my pipe dream.

A few pix from Sunday:

Me: "Um...how's that bellini sis?"
Keri: "Ugh...agghhhh....*slurp*...."
Me: "That good eh? Maybe you should slow down...?"
Keri: "MAYBE YOU SHOULD SHUT UP!!!!"
Me: "O...kay..."

Me: "Um...how's that pasta fa jole Dad?"
Dad: "Ugh...agghhhh....*slurp*...."
Me: "That good eh? Maybe you should slow down...?"
Dad: "MAYBE YOU SHOULD SHUT UP!!!!"
Me: "O...kay..."

Cool, an R2-D2 Trouble game!! We tried playing this a few days ago. Unfortunately, by the time we figured out the rules, it was time for bed. No worries. We will find some time now that sports is almost over. I tell ya, it's an all day Saturday affair sometimes. Glad to see some rest at the end of the trail soon.

Hey, what a good shot of us. I didn't know the sleeves on that shirt were so short. I wonder if Cari got me a girl's shirt ha ha. I'll have to wear it with a long sleeve shirt underneath I guess. Hey, when it's Captain America, it's all good.

My vacation is offically 34 days away!!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again...11 day Christmas vacation is almost here!! Cari is off the week after Christmas which is good because so are Zach and Emmy. I might be able to work out those mornings before work. Haven't done it as much as I'd like to lately, first because I was sick for almost 2 weeks! Sinus infection I think. Now I have this cold that popped up Wednesday night and I feel lousy again! I keep waking up at 3 in the morning and can't breathe which means I can't go back to sleep. Last night I woke up at 2:30 and then laid there until 5am. Time sure went by fast but I don't remember going back to sleep. Ugh I hate that.

Now that Zach's birthday is done for another year, we can start focusing our attention to MY birthday! Numero 37 is coming up, and now I know that 40 is not far behind. 40. Such a monumental birthday for some. I suppose it will be for me as well. On Dec 20 I'm planning a dinner at The Keg followed up by a trip to Winstar! I've invited 6 friends...plus Cari. So 7 friends then? Yeah, that's the math. Haven't been out for a really nice dinner in what seems like forever. Plus they have steak. And Mike = steak.

"They Say It's Your Birthday!!"

2011-11-11T10:43:00.003-06:00

...well, it's my birhtday too, yeah!

Well, almost. In 27 days it'll be my birthday. But before mine, as always, comes Zach's!! He has finally turned the big 0-6 and is really starting to become his own big little person. Even though he got his folder signed *again* due to some kind of bracelet-stealing misunderstanding, and even though he took money off my bed table to "look at it" then he forgot where he put it, hopefully he's learning from all of these things and beginning to understand to think about things before just blindly doing them and getting in trouble for it later. What's sad is I was a carbon copy of that. Growing up I did so many unbelieveably dumb things. What's even sadder is how long it took before any of it sunk in that maybe I shouldn't continue doing it. So very dense was I. Seems like I still am sometimes. But at least I'm in a place in my life where everything seems to be going really good. Just hoping I can keep it up.

Anyways...a few pix!

Is that not the coolest cake ever!! I can think of one maybe a little cooler...if you know me at all you'd know what would be on it.

Me: "Okay Zach, say cheese."
Zach: "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Me: "Okay, just a little too Guy-Smiley there...can you tone it down a little?"
Zach: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!'

Aww, what a good shot of us. Zach has a couple of acceptable silly smiles. I guess this can be one of them ha ha.

Man what a long afternoon / evening. Wore me out just watching 10 kids run around like crazy people with a handful of tokens. Zach had a blast though. I think we were the last ones to leave.

The Friday before, Little had their annual carnivale`! It was a lot of the same thing they always have, like the karaoke booth! Some boy got talked into singing this song:

If he had a man card it would surely be revoked!!!

Emmy ran into some friends and was MIA for like the whole night. Zach though was wham! right there. So we did a few things together:

PLINKO!! The Price Is Right game was now available to play! I was hoping they were giving away thousands of dollars like they do on the game show, but no such luck. Zach did win a tattoo though.

Golf! Zach got a hole in two! He almost got a hole in one, but it was not meant to be.

Cake walk! Apparently this game was not as easy as an actual cake walk. Zach used up all his tickets and came away empty-handed. Oh well. Such is life sometimes. I'm sure he got his fill of cake at his birthday party. He was smart enough to take up two squares though. Something to be said for that.

Swings! Didn't cost any tickets and I haven't met a kid yet who didn't think it was a lot of fun. Here's Emmy on the swings when she was his age:

Actually she wasn't even four yet, but she looks just like Zach...almost.

Sunday we're having a family get together with my family to complete the parade of birthday parties for Zach. Always have a good time when the four of us can re-unite at the same time. Time always seems to just run away from us and sometimes we need to just sit back and enjoy these moments in our lives. Speaking of time, this movie looks awesome:

Even though I'm not the biggest Justin Timberlake fan in the world, I've been fascinated by how time cannot be stopped, or even slowed down, but it never seems to pass by fast enough when you're waiting for something. For me, I'm waiting for my Christmas vacation to begin! 43 days and counting! Gonna make this one the best ever!

"Trick Or..."

2011-11-04T17:23:00.003-05:00

...treat?

Yeah!

Zach and Emmy got dressed up and we hit the street once again in search of fun, adventure, thrills, and some Kit Kats. Emmy was quite the vampiress this year:

The teeth were a little big unfortunately, but she made it work. Zach of course was Jack Sparrow. We spent a good hour and a half walking around. We even crossed the street and went to this church's Trunk Or Treat where people decorate their trunks and hatchbacks and give out candy. Pretty cool idea. You can make a major haul in like 15 minutes!

When we got back to Cari's parents house we gave Zach another birthday present:

Great big giant Angry Bird! If you haven't heard, Angry Birds is like the biggest sensation to sweep the nation since...I dunno...Facebook? Here's a YouTube clip:

It's so addicting...trust me on that.

Sunday night we went out to catfish Plantation for our annual get-dressed-up-and-go-eat-fish dinner:

Zach got a cool jacket! About time too. All of his are slowly getting smaller.

Of course, we had to get him a Transformer! Ratchet to be exact.

When we got home we gave him some MORE presents:

Hey, cool shield!! Reminds me of one of my fave superheroes...

One busy weekend a-comin' up! Got the JB Little Carnival tonight, sports in the morning AND afternoon, and I have to get the yard fixed up for the winter. Haven't decided if I want to fertilize or not. Always seems like a waste of money, Apparently my grass is supergrass. Once we got some rain it all came back thick and green...with NO fertilizer. Decisions, decisions...I haven't mowed it in forever since it hasn't grown hardly. Might be nice to get back out there and get dirty again.

Watched "Charlotte's Web" at work yesterday. Man, I forgot how sad that movie could get. I also forgot how much singing was in it! Every 5 minutes, someone would bust into song. Ugh. But it did remind me just how short our lives are and how they always seem to pass by too fast. I just hope I'm able to make each day mean something to me so that when I do reach 60 or 70 I can be at peace with it. Not that being old is a bad thing. Just not ready for it right this moment.

"Say It Ain't So..."

2011-10-28T13:24:00.004-05:00

And by that...I mean...the Texas Rangers...who were one strike away from winning the World Series TWICE...have faltered and let this thing go to a Game Seven...tonight!! Maybe the "more is merrier" philosophy applies here. A lot of us were quite anxious to get this thing over with, but the darned Cardinals would not go away. So I guess we'll have a game-watching party tonight and see who wants to come over. But, a lot of other fun things happened this week too. Tuesday night we went to the Taste Of Arlington at the Arlington Convention Center! Now what this is is a sampling of over 30 different restaraunts and vendors, as much as you want (long line notwithstanding), and man, I was beyond stuffed by the time we went home. So sleepy, so exhausted...slept like a baby though! A few pix:

Some nut in a chicken costume wondered around all night. He may have been a crasher, we're looking into it. It got hot in there!

This one is...maybe we should just keep moving.

I won a Dave And Buster's beach towel! They had a spinner and whoever got 1,000 tickets won it! So I spun...and won. Sitting in our towel drawer at home. Maybe Zach can use it. It's kind of small.

Hey, remember those punpkins Zach and Emmy decorated last week? Well, they had a parade and...well...paraded them around the halls of the school:

Again...hate the Phone camera. But Zach sure was proud of his pumpkin. He called it a mummy but he covered it with play money so it was a "munny"...ha ha get it?

Caught Emmy off guard. She made a zombie girl complete with feathered hair! Some of those feathers are still in my car...I'll live.

Today Zach had his costume parade:

I had to literally hold him down so I could take a picture of him completely still or else...IPhone scribbles. That's my pet term for the blurry pictures an iPhone takes. He didn't wear his hair hat which took me 10 minutes to get right this morning. Ugh.

Today we had a costume contest at work! There were a lot of weird get ups. Before I put mine on I Facebooked a sneak peek:

I called it "A Legend Is About To Be Born..." Pretty catchy eh? Cari was nice enough to get me the helmet and shirt. And then...I put it on this morning and wore it to work:

Not as cool as I had in mind. But, I had fun. At work. A first time for everything yes?

Going to Catfish Plantation Sunday for our annual "dress up the kids and go to the scary restaraunt" Halloween weekend. Man, is it Halloween already? Why does time have to fly by so fast? I remember trick or treating when I was a kid. Back then we could be 7, 8 years old and navigate the neighborhood all by ourselves without worrying about not ever coming back home. One time that happens and it changed everything. I enjoy going around town with Zach and Emmy and watching them get a pirate's haul of candy. My neighborhood wasn't too big or too small...just right. The best nights were when it landed on a Friday. I would spend all day at school just anxious as heck waiting around for that night. I honestly don't remember how old I was when I got tired of doing it. Maybe 15? In 1989 we were in Canada and it was Dad I think that got the great idea to use black make up or ink to make my face black as I was going as Batman. Well, between the acidity of whatever that stuff was, plus the 40 degree weather outside, it stung like the dickens! Was so glad to get inside and get it off. Around here we don't worry too much about it being cold since it rarely gets below 60 this time of year. Was cold as heck last night though! Got a torrent of rain too. Glad that's all over with. I like rain but not when there's fun things to do outdoors.

"Halloween...is Near..."

2011-10-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

...and cool weather has come along with it! I thought it was getting cooler then it heats back up. But this weekend was pretty nice. Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out Zach and Emmy's pumpkins for their halloween parade they're having this week:

Emmy: "Hey Dad, have you ever seen a pumpkin this big?"
Me: "Um, yeah...there's several right behind you."
Emmy: "I mean in my hands this very moment in time!!"
Me: "Oh! Then no...no I have not."
Emmy: "Ugh...why must you be so dramatic?"

Zach searched long and hard to find the perfect pumpkin. But he did. Now they have to decorate them by Wednesday. I'm hoping lots of Rangers colours!!

We got our Halloween costumes yesterday as well. Emmy is going as "Draculaura" from "Monster High" and Zach is going as...

...Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of The Carribean! Now, he's never seen any of the movies, but what I think happened is he saw someone else dress like him like 2 or 3 years ago and the idea stuck in his head Inception-style. He thinks he looks like a girl with the hair and all, but I assured him he looks just like the real Jack Sparrow...if he were real.

Rangers won 4-0 behind an incredible (and necessary) pitching gem from Derek Holland. We were up 1-0 and then Mike Napoli hits a 3-run bomb on the first pitch from the relief pitcher for the Cardinals. We haven't been in the lead hardly at all the whole series but last night was great! I think Napoli is going to get MVP of the series if the Rangers win this. Can they? Man I think the city of Arlington could use this. The last of the four major teams to not win a championship would be the Rangers, and the time is now. A lot of great players have played in the majors and not won a World Series. We got this.

"HOW BOUT THEM RANGERS!!!"

2011-10-17T15:54:00.002-05:00

Again??

YES AGAIN!!! For the first time in franchise history, my Texas Rangers are making their first ever repeat trip back to the World Series!! It was one heck of a Game Six against the Tigers. We were down 2-0...and then...they got a hit...and another...and another...and fourteen batters later, we has a 9-2 lead and the game was ours. No Game Seven, no drama, just a flat-out bludgeoning of a team many thought would get past us. But no one gets past us...not without a good beatin'.

No, not my TV. But, I didn't think anyone else had a TV as old as ours ha ha.

Oh man I was looking forward to this game all week. I knew we had this. I would go on Facebook as often as I could and spout my hopefully catching catch-phrase:

WE GOT THIS.

Not bad eh? Last year was "It's Time"...but this year...much better. The St. Louis Cardinals have won the NL pennant so looks like it's us vs. them. No worries...WE GOT THIS.

We've had Rangers-watching parties the last 2 Saturdays. So much fun. Whooping and hollering every time the scored in the 3rd inning. Nine runs in the third inning!! I thought I had lost my voice. Not so good when I have to talk all day.

After Zach's T-Ball game Saturday Emmy and I went out to see my "Mamaw" in Baylor Hospital in Waxahachie. Apparently her sodium levels fell way low which lowered her blood pressure which caused her to pass out and hit her head on a sidewalk! Just thinking about it makes me cringe. Well, after being moved from one hospital to another, she was doing a lot better when we went out there. Mom was there and the four of us had a really nice time talking and catching up. Four generations in one room. There's something to be said for that. I keep thinking about the last time I was in a hospital visiting someone. It was Grandpa, and he never made it out. Hopefully the outcome will be different. Mamaw has really been there for me, pretty much my entire life. All the stupid things I've done, all the bad choices I've made, she always managed to get me out of the dumps and show me there's greater things in store for me. Everything I have I owe to her. A few other people too I'm sure, but mostly her. I'm really glad I got to live with her back in 1995-1997. When Grandpa died the family all told me how glad they were that I was living there to keep her company.

Here she is reading "The Cat In The Hat" to Emmy when she was 4. For some reason I don't have a lot of pix of Mamaw on Flickr. Will have to see why.

There's a couple of funny stories about Mamaw I've managed to keep in my head. One I like to tell is when she bought a treadmill, determined to lose weight. Well, she would get on there and walk about 30 minutes, towel around her head and all. Afterwards, she'd go out to the freezer and get out the butter pecan ice cream and have some of that. After a week she'd weigh herself and grumble, "Why can't I lose any weight!?" I was hoping she'd put 2 and 2 together at some point.

The other is one day she went to Sam's and bought a 24-ct of Dr Pepper for us. Well, she left it on the bottom of the cart and went home without it. So there, in the parking lot, sat a brand new case of Dr Pepper. I wasn't home until later and when I came in the door I hear this whole story about how we didn't have them but we almost did. We pondered going back up to Sam's and looking for them but they were probably long gone. Ah well.

Zach's birthday is coming up! We went to Toys R Us yesterday so he could make a list of sorts so I could send it out to various family members. So far we've gotten:

Angry Birds toys
Annoying Orange shirt
Alien Conquest Legos
Uncle Milton 3D star theater
Star Wars Night Vision Goggles
Pokemon Oshawatt with red/white ball
Spynet Video Watch
Phnieas and Ferb walkie talkies
Squinkies
Hot Wheels Wall Tracks

Here he is trying out a giant magnifying glass:

Man, quite a list for a soon-to-be 6 year old! At least he knows what he wants. We're trying to plan a Chuck E Cheese party, but man, $200.00? I bet he's worth it. I hope Zach and Emmy know what they mean to me. It seems like they never grow up, then grow up way too fast. What's that all about?

"HOW BOUT THEM RANGERS!!!"

2011-10-11T12:33:00.002-05:00

Man oh man what a game two last night against the Tigers!! It was tied up at 3 for most of the game and then...

GRAND SALAMI TIME! The first...first...walk-off grand slam in postseason history and, of course, it was done by a Ranger! Nelson Cruz, who hadn't done jack squat since coming off the DL, is starting one of those streaks...the kind of streak that the entire team can ride to its' first World Series championship. How can anyone not think we got this? We...got this.

Emily won her soccer game 3-1 last Saturday! They so dominated the other team. I'm trying to get some pix of her on here. Not having a camera card reader really makes it hard to take any really good shots. Having to use my phone, so...hopefully we'll have something before too long.

Went to a friend of Zach's birthday party Sunday. Ethan was his name-o. Why does everyone name their kid Ethan? I swear. And they all think they were the first to do it, even though deep down they all know they weren't. While Zach was eating pizza...

Ugh.

...Emmy was reading THIS:

"Dork Diaries"!? She loves it. I'll have to see if they have any more. Christmas is a-comin' soon.

Speaking of which...the heat wave is finally over!! It's been in the 80's for most of the month and I can finally drive home with the windows down. That's one of my fave times of the year. Well, that and seeing my Rangers hopefully win it all.

We got this.

"Goin' To The Chapel..."

2011-10-03T13:04:00.002-05:00

...and we're...gonna...get ma-a-r-r-r-i-ed...

Okay, I'm not getting married. But my aunt Susan sure did. We drove out to Ennis Sunday and watched the matrimony get all kinds of holy as her and Ed joined lives. The pastor that was officiating sure got choked up. He started crying and blubbering like a little girl when he started talking about how two lives have now become one. Was kind of entertaining to watch. He turned in his man card after it was over. Since I broke our printer / scanner even MORE (originially it stopped reading the memory stick from our camera then it wouldn't print anything so I smashed the top of it only to find out about 10 seconds later that by doing that I broke the glass...(sigh), I had to use my iPhone to take some pictures. Plus, now we get to invest in a new printer! Maybe one with wi-fi...ooooh. Fancy. ere are a few pix:

Me: "Hey, get a room you two!"
Ed: "Oh we did, if you know what I mean!"
Me: "Um, no, actually I DON'T know what you mean...please elaborate!"
Ed: "I'd rather not."

Dean and I kept asking Dad to move his head. Dean was much more persistent than me. At one point I wondered if he was kidding or serious. But this one's a keeper!

I know I normally do these on Friday, but there wasn't anything happening last week. So I did it today. Sometimes we get busy and some things get pushed to the side. Like fixing the silverware drawer in the kitchen! I swear, whoever designed these things should be taken out and shot. The glider on the back came off and the brace that held the guiderail broke. Well, I managed to put a new brace in but it was too short, so every now and then the drawer would come off and I'd have to reset the guiderail. So, after many months of procrastination, I took the old one out and put in a new one which works so much better now. Now, I can open the drawer without the deafening sound of the drawer hitting the crock pot. I also called the city to come and pick up our old bed that had been in the back yard since February when I put our new bed in. Slowly things are getting done. I wish I had more interest in household repairs and landscaping. I used to. But, as with all interests, they are fleeting. I haven't bought any new toys since last Christmas! I bought one for myself as a present ha ha. Good times.

I found this clip on Youtube:

I sent this in an e-mail and titled it "Did I ever tell you about the time I took my CDL test?" Eh...I thought it was funny.

Wow, Dad's birthday is this Friday! Numero 59! I know I'm about to be 40, but I just can't wrap my head around being his age. I probably thought the same thing when I was 18 and he was 40. I guess when you live your life worrying about hardly anything and always looking for the positive (like I try to do), time passing by doesn't mean as much. All I want is to be able to retire at some point and not be in a wheelchair or hooked up to an oxygen mask. My goal is to make it to 100. When you're 100 people take notice. Maybe I'll be on the news!

"They Say It's Your Birthday!!"

2011-09-23T11:10:00.002-05:00

Yes, Cari has reached the big 3-5!! Sometimes she forgets how old she is, but luckily I'm always there to remind her. I had something big planned too. I made a reservation at Maggliano's Little Italy restaraunt for eight people. Unfortunately, two of them cancelled at the last minute. But there were six of us! Cari was very surprised. She even got a gift card to Starbucks from the Morrows and a lovely bottle of peach wine from the Barkers! And man, what a meal. They had a "Marco's Pasta For Two" which included a salad, pasta, and a dessert for $39.95! They even threw in an uncooked pasta dinner to take home and have later! We ate like kings for like three days. I got the eggplant parmesan. My goodness, it was good. Here's a funny pic of us:

Taken at just the right time.

Afterwards we went to a piano bar and had some drinks. Was a really fun night.

Emmy had to do a project for her book report on "Matilda". She had three weeks to read the book and get the project done, but of course it got put off until the last minute. The last 3 days to be exact. So we cut and pasted and drew and painted and coloured like crazy to get it done by Wednesday. But we did. Here is the finished product:

The lighting wasn't great so I re-positioned it and took a few more pics:

You start at your house and make your way to Miss Honey's house! There were game pieces, dice, and cards that you can draw to either go back spaces or move forward spaces.

"The Chokey"

Not sure what Zach's race car is doing there, but I'm sure there is a good reason for it.

Speaking of Zach, he got to take Ted home! Ted is the class Build-A-Bear and we had to take a picture of Zach with Ted for the journal:

Not sure which one I like the best. Maybe the one of him asleep?

Zach got in a bit of trouble this week. He bought some play money at Dollar Tree and snuck it into school. Then he gave some to his friends. His teacher saw it and asked him where he got it. Well, he told a lie and said that I put it in his pockets without him knowing. Then he lied about giving it to his friends. He got a pop in the butt and last night Cari and I spent about 30 minutes with him talking about how important it is to tell the truth every time, because one day, someone is going to say something about Zach that isn't true and Zach will want us to believe him. I told him we won't be able to do that if he doesn't be honest with us each and every time. I really hope it's just a boy thing and not something deeper. I used to lie all the time and it about drove my dad nuts. I just have to be patient with him and give him time to break this habit on his own and to carry a big stick when he makes mistakes. Not literally beat him with a stick, but to not spare the rod, to quote Aesop. Sometimes he can be the sweetest, funniest kid, but that's the Jekyll side of him. The Hyde side is screaming, crying, and kicking when he doesn't get his way. Lately that side has been dying down little by little thank goodness. But it still flares up from time to time. My patience level is really tested sometimes. Good thing I do what I do for a living. Patience is definitely my biggest virtue. That and my sense of humour. Wish I could make a living with that.

"One Nice Week..."

2011-09-13T15:39:00.003-05:00

And what makes it so nice? I used some sick days and had me a nice short work week! I usually use them around this time of year because...it's Cari's birthday! Numero 35 to be exact. Kind of a big one I think. So, as I always do, I went up to her office and brought her the finest red roses Kroger's had to offer! $10, how can you go wrong, eh? I got to see her new desk and meet her new co-workers. Probably won't see them until next year around this time, but I think I made my usual impression on them. Definitely earned some brownie points. Cari thought she was being sent another packet of claims to work, so she wasn't in any hurry, but then she saw me and was quite surprised! Mission accomplished!

What else did I do? I also brought some lunch up to Zach and Emmy and we had lunch together! We all 3 couldn't sit together since Zach goes at 10:45 and Emmy goes at noon. I brought Zach Jack In The Box and Emmy got Braum's. Was a really nice time:

The ol' iPhone doesn't take the best pictures, but it travels a lot better than a camera.

Zach showed me some tricks on the playground...

...and Emmy showed me the world's biggest french fry...

Gotta say...it's pretty big.

Zach had his first T-Ball game of the season last Saturday!

Not the best pictures since I forgot the camera at home grrr! But he did hit a couple of doubles. I hope he plays forever.

Zach read the Frog And Toad story "Cookies" almost all by himself!! I was so proud of him!! I guess reading to your kids really does pay big dividends! Last night we tried to read "A Button". Zach was reading it pretty well but he got tired and wanted me to finish it. I love those stories so much. They have been a part of my life since I was 5. I remember Mom reading them to me. They even had records that you could listen to a narrator. Maybe she will get them out this weekend since she is watching both of them this Saturday night. Cari and I are going out to Maggliano's restaraunt for her birthday!! Oh...I wanna say something, but I won't.

Found some really funny Letterman bits on ol' YouTube recently:

That last one always puts me in the mood for a burger...can't figure out why...

97 days until my Christmas vacation!! So ready for a break. It's not actually that busy, but the calls we get just drain me sometimes. Especially the agents. I tell ya...when the sellers don't know anything and they come to us for stuff they were supposed to know in the first place...? Come on guys...get your job done.

Watched Benjamin Button again recently. Man I forgot how great that movie is. Haven't found anything like it. Really changed the way I looked at my life and what really matters. I know that life is supposed to be about more than just a random collection of days. But other times, it is kind of comforting that mistakes I made in the past can stay there and I don't have to worry about them anymore. I look back on them constantly and just cringe that I ever did them in the first place. The best parts of our lives are the ones we choose to take with us as each day approaches. Having this site helps me do that so much easier. Digital cameras and camcorders make memories that will stand the test of time. I hope Zach and Emmy will read these posts when they are adults and parents and know how much they mean to me.

"Time moves pretty fast. If you don't slow down and look around, you might miss it." - Ferris Bueller

"We're Back!!!!"

2011-09-09T13:52:00.002-05:00

Yes, after many hours of driving to and fro our trip to Alberquerque has been concluded! We had a really good time. The first thing I noticed was how much cooler it was there! Was like fall! God forbid it feel like that around here! Actually, this week has been excellent. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the 60s...felt great. We did some cool things too:

What a welcome sight!!

The mountains are very abundant here!

We went to Alberquerque to be part of a surprise party for Cari's aunt Kathy as she was turning the big 6-0. It was pulled off without a hitch:

John: "Oh darn, I missed you coming in and being all surprised. Could you go back out and come back in and act exactly the same surprised as you just did?"

We also got to hang out with Uncle Larry. He's pretty entertaining when the wine is a-flowing:

Me: "Um, Larry...don't you think you've had enough?"
Larry: "I'll tell you when I've had enough! You sound just like those fools at Alcoholics Anonymous!"

Larry actually mixed four different kinds of win into one bottle. The results were...less than tasty. Maybe why wineries don't sell it that way.

The next day we headed off to a place called Exploria! The exclamation point is supposed ot be there, I'm not shouting. Lots of cool hands-on exhibits:

This was a gigantic track that all these balls moved on constantly. The thing on top actually rotated balls upward then they fell back down. Weird!

This was a water fall where the water seemed to travel in perfect unison. Emmy actually was controlling how fast or slow one of the streams moved.

I thought this would make a neat picture. Basically a fan blowing lots of pinwheels.

Zach: "So you see Papa, by connecting these wires and turning this crank, I am able to control the movement of electricity!"
John: "Zach, I think you just showed me how I can save hundreds on my electric bill!"

Lots of mirrors!

When we came back into town it had cooled off considerably. Now it's not killing me to go outside at any part of the day! Was so nice to be at home in my own bed.

A couple of other things happened in the last couple of weeks. I forgot to post anything last week due to it being a short week at work and not much going on.

Emmy lost a molar! She ran out of her room freaking out, which I don't blame her. If you were just sitting there and you felt a tooth pop, you'd be shocked too.

T-ball season has begun! This was Zach's first practice, and as you can see, he knows someone's taking his picture. What a ham. He actually has his first game tomorrow! And it should be around 60 degrees at 9am, not the 90-95 it had been this summer. Now that it's cooler, hopefully we can get some rain through here!!

"School...Has...Begun!!"

2011-08-26T12:05:00.002-05:00

I know it's like the worst day ever for kids, but for parents, it's time to rejoice! Emmy has begun 5th grade and Zach is now officially a kindergartener! He actually had a good week. No issues worth noting. None at all actually. Very proud of him. Emmy had a good week too. Glad to see all of the anxiety she had thinking this was going to be like last year went away. 4th grade was a lot like 1st grade for her. Not much fun and a teacher that didn't have much patience is not a good combination for her.

So how do we begin the first week of school? By a Chick Fil A breakfast of course!:

I think Zach likes his chicken minis!!

Me: "What's wrong Emmy? Don't you like your chicken minis?"
Emmy: "It's not chicken! It's goat!"
Me: "Goat!? I didn't even know that was an option!"
Emmy: "Bad option DAD!!"

After breakfast, we headed up to the school:

Hey, pretty good shot!

Zach found his seat and immediately noticed a table full of cool toys. Just like his dad ha ha.

Emmy didn't want us following her to her classroom and "embarassing" her...but we did it anyway:

Doesn't she look surprised!! I'm pretty sure she appreciated us checking on her.

The day before we went to Hawaiian Falls with her Girl Scout troop:

Awww...no, Zach didn't lose his bottom teeth...just biting on a grape. One of the disadvantages of the iPhone 3GS is no flash on the camera. Ah well.

Starting next week I'm amping up my workouts since I have some free time in the morning! Tuesdays and Thursdays the kids are having breakfast at school and I'm heading to the Y from 7:45 to 8:45. If I can keep this up along with my Saturday workouts then I may be able to do some positive things. Saturdays are about to be tricky with both kids starting baseball. Yeah, Emmy wants to play baseball! Awesome! Zach has one more season of t-ball to go then he'll be ready for the live pitching league. I knew making them watch all those Ranger games would pay off in the long run.

Zach has this funny song that he sang to me a while back, but now that it annoys him I thought I'd mention it. His friend Nicholas (whose parents have been great in inviting Zach over to play for like the whole Saturday) was cleaning up some toys in their pre-k class. Well, he found this doll, and before he put it up he held it like a baby and sang this song:

Night night baby, night night baby, night night baby...to you...
Night night baby, night night baby, night night baby...to you...

It's actually a very sweet song, but only one time has Zach been okay with me singing it to him before bed. Now he thinks he's being babied whenever I sing it and gets all bent out of shape, so I don't do it anymore. The truth is, part of me wants to baby him just a little bit longer before he becomes an actual boy and doesn't seem as sweet anymore. I was so determined to raise Emmy as a self-reliant person that I never really babied her much. Now I wish I had. It's a hard feeling knowing that part of your kids' lives are done with and now we must move on to more important things. When the day comes that I have grandkids, you better believe they'll get the royal deluxe treatment from me. I still read to Zach though, and Emmy will help out sometimes. She's such a great kid to have around. She may not always hang her towel up, or put her dirty clothes in her hamper, but she gets ready really great in the morning, and gets breakfast for herself and Zach whenever I'm running a little behind. She even went behind Zach to make sure he found his classroom okay! What a daughter. Makes me feel a little good to know that maybe I had something to do with it. Hopefully Zach will follow in the same path and stop screaming and crying and fighting every time he doesn't get his way or doesn't want to do something that's asked of him. But that's 5-year olds. I know now why parents buy something for their kid just to shut them up. They know it's wrong, but we do it anyway.

"One Great Movie!"

2011-08-19T10:17:00.002-05:00

Yes, after months of speculation and wonder, I got to see Captain America with Jerramy last Friday night!! I've been waiting for this one ever since the comercials started, but didn't think I would be able to catch it in the theater...you know, the way God intended? Here's a YouTube clip if you're wondering what it's all about:

This doesn't do it justice! What I really enjoyed about this movie was that it doesn't matter what size you are or where you come from. If the drive and determination are strong enough, anything is possible. That is what I took away from it. Maybe I'll put it into use one of these days...

Really enjoying this iPhone! I don't think there's anything it can't do...except play Flash-enabled content...but I'll live if that never happens. Here are some pics I have taken recently with it:

Lake Arlington, once full to the brim of water and boaters, is now an empty shell of its' former self. Just shows what a four month rainless drought will do to a natural body of water. We did get a rainy day a couple of weeks ago...shocking!!

Hey, it's Zach as Captain America! What a timely picture. I hope he picks this one for Halloween.

This one was just taken last night. We got to meet Emily and Zach's teachers! Emily has Mrs. Fike, who seems like the nicest person. Funny how the nice ones usually end up being dragons in the classroom. Hopefully Emmy will have a great year. Zach's teacher's name is Mrs. Baty. No, not related to Ned Beatty (I checked). I didn't get to talk to her a whole lot, but Cari asked some questions I'm sure. God Bless the teacher who has to have Zach in her class. He's a good kid, but he's very...high-spirited. I wonder if he'll conform to the norm and get along with the other kids.

And finally...

No, Emmy does not fit in these carts anymore. Yes, she defied all laws of physics and got in there anyway.

125 days until my Christmas vacation!!! And man, it cannot go by fast enough. Eleven days in a row to take me into 2012. I forget about it from time to time and then when I remember I get a giddy surge of adrenaline. Good times.

Cari's birthday is coming up! The big 3-5! I should plan something really cool for her...but what?

"They're Back!!"

2011-08-12T10:44:00.002-05:00

Yes, Zach and Emmy have returned from their little trips last week! As much as we love them, sometimes a little break can be a good thing. Emmy went to New York but Zach got to go to his cousin Canyon's house for a couple of days! At first he didn't want to go, but once he got there he had a blast:

He even caught a fish!! Hopefully it was catch and release. Knowing Becky, I bet it was. Cool car! It's just a little nicer than my Sentra...(sigh).

Emmy had a great time in New York. How is it my kids travel more than I do? That'll change one of these days. But for now...:

I thought for sure Emmy would try to pose just like the Statue Of Liberty in at least one picture. Ah well.

There's a better shot of Lady Liberty!! Simply awe-inspring.

Great aerial shot! I wonderwhat that big orange building is...Chrysler? Maybe...my geography sucks.

Both of them are finishing their week at Camp Thurman today! Man, for $250 a kid you'd think they could air condition that place. But no, it's all outdoors. But they get to swim twice a day, so...wish I could do that.

School begins in TEN DAYS!! I know the kids aren't looking forward to it, but Cari and I sure am. No more daycare for Zach which means $400 a month comes back to us. I hope it doesn't just dissipate in a sea of bills. Hopefully we will see that start to add up at some point, pay everything off, and start looking for a new house!

Here's some YouTube clips I found recently:

Another Dr Smoov masterpiece! The way Wheeljack tells the Dinobots "Shut up! Shut up!" literally had me on the floor laughing.

Now I don't really care for the song...biggest piece of s^%$ that stations play, in my opinion...but when the Transformers are jiving along to it, it takes on a whole new meaning.

Man this was the crown jewel of the 2011 Mavericks championship run. 20 3-pointers!! 20!! You don't see shooting like that anywhere, ever! What a great time for the city of Dallas.

"I'll be There For You..."

2011-08-01T18:29:00.005-05:00

...cuz you're there for me tooo....

If you've never seen any episodes of Friends, and I really can't imagine anyone falling into this category, then you have truly deprived yourself of some of the funniest material to ever hit NBC's airwaves. I have seen every episode numerous times, and yet I alwayskeep them recorded on my DVR at home. I'm even working on downloading all ten seasons so I can watch them on my new iPhone! Yes, I have joined the ranks of millions of others and now have the 3G iPhone. The speed isn't great, but it certainly comes in handy when there's no WiFi. Now I will use my iPod strictly for movies and keep everything else on the phone. Good times.

OMG, the bloopers are just as funny as the show itself. Now I can while away the hours at work thanks to YouTube!

Last Saturday we got to go to the circus!! Keri got some awesome suite tickets so we got to enjoy it in style. No riff raff sitting next to us screaming and getting drunk. I hadn't been in like 15 or 20 years so it was pretty cool. Zoomed in as best I could with Emmy's camera:

Okay, this guy is just crazy...if only the tigers grasped the concept that outnumbering a human means your freedom...

"The Mighty Meetal"...? That's the best name he could come up with? I think he lifted like 800 lbs there...maybe 400...

Seven motorcycles in a cage...yeah, that's how I wanna spend my afternoon...hoping I don't die.

Elephant #1: "Why are we balancing on these things anyway? What are they paying us to do this anyways?"
Elephant #2: "Um...in peanuts...we get paid in peanuts...get it?"
Elephant #3: "Oh that's such an old joke!"
Elephant #4: "No, I think he's serious...there's like a ton of peanuts in our dressing room."
Elephant #1: "Screw this, there's a Spaghetti Warehouse down the street."

These guys were just plain nuts. Talented...but nuts.

Afterwards we took the elephant's advice and headed to Spaghetti Warehouse to finish the last leg of Emmy's birthday! Cari and I shared this "Italian Feast for Two". Well, they brought it out, and it could have fed four people easily. needless to say, we brought a decent meal home. meanwhile, Emmy got some cool presents:

Cash! She got like $65! Who knows what it'll be spent on. She wants a laptop and her own iPhone. Does she need them? Of course not. She must be the only girl who wants something she doesn't truly need, ya know?

Emmy has been in New York since Wednesday! Her and Ethan got to go since they passed their TAKS test. Hopefully she's taking pictures like crazy. Zach got to spend a couple of days with his cousin Canyon so Cari and I had some time to ourselves. Always welcome it seems. Zach came back yesterday and of course, laid in our bed for a while. He just leaps right up there like it's his. It's okay though. I rarely let Emmy lay in there for fear she wouldn't want to sleep anywhere else. Now I wish I had. But it doesn't look like she's bothered a whole lot by it. And a kid who keeps their cool is a blessing.

"They Say It's Your Birthday!!"

2011-07-29T10:38:00.002-05:00

OMG, can Emily be TEN?? Can she? It's been a great ten years. Saturday we took her and two of her friends to...the Magic Time Machine! This is a restaraunt in Dallas that used to be a school back in 1917 but they renovated it and made each part of the restaraunt its' own theme. Not sure what our theme was, but I would guess "table in a restaraunt"...:

That's Emmy on the right, Kat in the middle and Amanda on the left. Best friends for what seems like ever.

Hey, that's a pretty good picture of us! I hadn't shaved all week so I look quite different from the Ranger game.

Jerramy: "Hey Mike, wanna see a magic trick?"
Me: "Um...sure?"

Jerramy: "TADA!!"
Me: "Wow, that's...great...guess you're not ordering lunch then?"
Jerramy: "NOPE! Savin' $20 today!"

That was our waiter, Paul Bunyan. He was very loud, rude and obnoxious. So, just like any other waiter around yes?

Money money money!! Emily got some serious cash. $125 to be exact! That may include her Target gift card, not sure.

Then, Tuesday night, the family came over for some cake cupcakes and ice cream and of course...more presents!:

New sheets!! Zebra print!! Who else has zebra print sheets? Maybe Austin Powers? What about the Ladies' Man? Hmm...maybe we should get something a little more...less sleazier? But I know she's been in the mood to redecorate her room into something a little more mature. Kudos to her!

Hey, that's a great family shot! Except for the boy...geez, why is it so difficult to smile in a picture? And do it without looking like a nut.

Tomorrow we're going to the circus!! Zach and Emmy have never been, and I haven't been since I was a teenager...or 21...one of those. And this isn't that cheap circus that uses people in animal costumes, but Ringling Brothers!! Hopefully it's non-smoking.

So Emmy is ten eh? It's been a lot of fun to be honest. I took her to Subway this morning for a dad daughter breakfast where it was just the two of us. We didn't talk a whole lot, mainly because we were devouring their new breakfast sandwich. Flatbread, cheese, and breakfast meats equals YUM. We did talk about a few things though. Good to have a kid who actually wants to talk to you about things. We've always been able to talk about things though. Sometimes we're silly, but often we get pretty deep. I never miss a moment to tell her to enjoy being a kid. She told me it seems like her childhood was flying by so fast. But I know she lives every day to its fullest. Next week she's going on a trip to New York with her grandparents and her cousin! I'm gonna be 37 this year and I've never been! Well, hang on a second...I did get to see Niagara Falls twice while I was living in Canada. Truly awesome sight. Wish I had a camera back then. Would have been cool. Dad was my age now when we lived in Canada in 1989. So far I've managed not to have to displace my family anywhere ha ha. Some of my favourite memories happened in Canada though. I'll mention them on here every now and then. One of my faves was in 9th grade. We only had four classes a day, plus an hour at lunch. I would run home each day so I could hang out with Mom. If I ran I could get home in five minutes. I also had my first job while I was up there. Working for Starways! Not as glamorous as it seems. They would drop off tons of flyers at my door and I had to roll them up in rubber bands and deliver them to houses. $30 a month. Underpaid? You betcha! But it was fun to walk around the neighborhoods. You could always smell curry and chinese food cooking somewhere. Emmy probably won't get to live in another country as a kid, but I'm sure she'll be okay with that.

"We're Back!!!!"

2011-07-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

Yes, our week of fun in the sun has come to a much-too-soon finish. Why is it the weeks drag on and on but when you're off work it zooms by in a blur! We did quite a lot of things in 9 days. First up:

The Johnson Space Center

I'm not sure what that look on Zach's face is, but this is a crystal replica of the solar system. Pretty cool.

Some really good shots of us riding the tram. It was a long ride! But it took us around the entire complex.

This is the actual command center where they monitored the space shuttle launches back in the 1960's and 1970's. They don't use it anymore because the needs outgrew the space.

Me: "Okay guys, smile!"
Emmy: "What's that loud roaring sound?"
Me: "Oh, it's just the rocket above you about to blast off in fifteen seconds."
Zach: "What???"
Me: "Oh I'm just kidding..."
Emmy: "Whew, that's a relief..."
Me: "Yeah, you have twenty seconds."

Hey, a great family shot! the rocket behind us is almost as long as a football field. And the booster behind us is one of FIVE.

The crew of Apollo 13! Jim Lovell is in the middle I think. Some people say the movie "Apollo 13" is based on this very mission. Sounds possible.

This was a really cool homage`.

This was one of the capsules in a starry background. Had to turn off the flash so it looked especially luminous.

Me: "Hey, what are you doing with those moon rocks?"
Technician: "I'm preparing them for storage."
Me: "Hey, wait a minute! You're not even real! How are you talking?"
Technician: "We are communicating on a level light years ahead of everyone else."
Me: "Really?"
Technician: "Good Lord no...you're just nuts."

That's a good way to take a nap in space...man that would drive me crazy.

They had something really cool there: human foosball!:

I didn't play...fear of being kicked in small spaces.

What a busy day! Afterwards, we headed to Kemah! I had never heard of it until now, but they have a really cool Aquarium restaraunt which we patronized:

The waiter, "Ryan", said they had the 3rd largets cylindrical aquarium in the country! Plus, they had this:

A 200-lb. grouper fish! Again, "Ryan" said if they live in the ocean, they can get as big as 1,200 lbs. Another great shot of ye olde kids.

After dinner, we went down to the sting ray reef and actually got to pet some of them. One of them kept flapping their fin and getting everyone wet. I hope they cooked him up, but they probably didn't:

Lousy punk.

Tree frogs! They had some other cool exhibits like snakes, a trantula, and some scoropions that glowed in the dark!

Then we walked around the Boardwalk they had. A lot of things to do, and a lot it would cost to do them all. We did let Zach and Emmy play a game and they won these:

These were a source of irritation for everyone from this point forward. They each had one, and yet they found a way to fight over whose was whose.

There's a cool shot of it. I wanted to ride the ferris wheel, but was outvoted 3-1...(sigh).

Then...off to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, TX:

There were other buildings too. Unfortunately we couldn't bring a camera in, so here are some fun facts:

1) Yes, the employees get to eat whatever they want as long as they are clocked in;
2) Yes, we got a scoop of 1 of 16 flavours after the tour was over. I got Mocha Almond Fudge. The kids got...strawberry...cuz, you know, you can't just walk into a store and get strawberry. Cari got the Southern Blackberry Cobbler. One of my personal faves;
3) The pipes that transport the ingredients as well as the finished product look white at first, but upon closer inspection there is actual frost that has formed on them.

Finally, we made it back Wednesday morning about 1:45am after a jaunt through San Antonio to visit Cari's aunt. Now that we were a little more rested, we headed out to NorthEast Mall for some lunch at Genghis Grill, then we made it to the movie theater to see THIS:

Man was this an explosive movie!! It's a shame Optimus got his arm ripped off but he only needed one to kick everyone's butt.

Then Friday we made our way to the Ranger game!! We swung by the Ballpark and bought eight seats in section 315 which is way, way, WAY up there. At some point we managed to get some seats a lot better:

There's Josh Hamilton!! Emmy and Carson would shout "Go Josh Hamilton!" and you could see Josh's head turn slightly to see who was shouting ha ha.

Here Josh is making an incredible catch. I missed it when it happened, but I caught in on the new HD Jumbotron!

What was the final score?

YEAH BABEE!! We destroyed them! Nelson Cruz had 8 RBIs and a mammoth home run.

Saturday night Zach and Emmy spent the night with Cari's parents while we went to a wedding for...someone I never met and will never see again. Afterwards we went and saw:

Horrible Bosses!! Man this was a hilarious movie. So glad my boss is nothing like this. Do I even have a boss? No one ever comes around me and gives me mountains of work to do. It's like being a small business owner with all of the financial stability and none of the constant money worries.

Then, Sunday, we...well, we chilled. I did the laundry and we did absolutely nothing. And it was great. We did have a birthday celebration for Emmy, but I'll get to that next time.

"Here, Fishy Fishy..."

2011-07-15T10:20:00.002-05:00

Yes, the Overall household has welcomed its first pet! Emmy also got her first birthday present: a fish! A blue Betta to be exact. What name did Emmy give him? Why...Blue of course! Here's a few pix:

He sure likes the bottom of the bowl, doesn't he? Better at the bottom then floating at the top I always say. So far Emmy has done a great job keeping up with him, feeding him and making sure she sees to his every comfort. Now only if she would do the same for me ha ha.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!! is right around the corner. Cari is off today but I still had to go to in. But I started the day off right. After dropping off Emmy at her Girl Scout camp, Zach and I stopped by the donut shop and had a guys' breakfast together. I love seeing him get so excited about the little things in life. He's just like his dad. Hopefully we will be able to do more of these things before they get too big and think I'm just not as wonderful as they used to.

So far we're planning a trip to Moody Gardens, then a stop at some boardwalk close by, then to Johnson Space Center, then a return trip through San Antonio. Then Friday night we're going to the Ranger game!! Playing the Blue Jays of all teams. This is the only home game they have all week and it happens to be on a Friday. Plus, we get fireworks after the game!! Rock it!

Man, the Rangers have been lighting it up recently. We've pitched back to back shutouts and have won eight games in a row! We're in first place but not by much. Our nemesis, the Angels, have been pretty consistent too so the lead is only like a game and a half. I think we're finally clicking though, so I pity any team that has to face us right now.

Last weekend we dressed up like cows to get free Chick Fil A! Since I never put any pictures of ME on here:

I guess black is slimming ha ha. I think that's a pretty good shot of me! I may Facebook it.

Uncle Dean turned me onto a site called BTJunkie which is a bit torrent site (hence the BT) and a lot of movies I couldn't convert to MP4 are on here. I guess some people invested in a decent program instead of the freeware I did. I really wanted the Transformers movie from 1986. I have the VHS tape but no one got me the DVD for Christmas. Zach wants to see it now that he got his first taste of the G1 cartoon from 1984. Someone did a marathon on July 4th so I taped them. Well Zach really got into it. Here's a clip from the movie:

I did a whole post back in 2007 on this movie but I felt it deserved a special mention. Zach and Emmy are always asking me why I like Transformers so much. Hey, there's something to be said for things that you really enjoyed as a kid. Hoping Zach will cultivate the obsession as he gets older. So far he's into something called Bakugan. Don't really understand it. Don't want to understand it. All I know is I step on them all the time.

"One Busy Weekend!!"

2011-07-08T08:02:00.000-05:00

Hey, when it's July 4th, it's all business, all the time! And man, did we pack a LOT into 3 days. Actually four. I got off early Friday so I went home and put up a fence panel that was sorely needed. Of course, by doing so, I pulled off some slats on the panel next to it so now I have to replace THOSE. Ugh. Why did the previous owners use mismatched beams? Idiots.

Then...Saturday night we went to Putt Putt! I tell ya...playing with adults is one thing, but when you have two kids who seem to play every hole except the one they're supposed to, it's a marathon:

Me: "Hey guys, that's not a real mushroom!"
Emily: "Yes it is!"
Me: "Really?"
Zach: "NO! Have you ever seen a mushroom this big outside of Chernobyl DAD?"
Me: "Hmm, you have a point...and your vocabulary is ever-expanding son...every day..."

Geez, where did my neck go? Mental note: stand up straight for every single picture for the rest of my life.

Aww, what a great family shot.

Emily: "So now Dad I'm going to actually hit the ball with my club."
Me: "Is that how you are going to get it into the hole?"
Emily: "Yep!"
Me: "Well, that's better than how I was going to do it."
Zach: "How's that?"
Me: "Handheld fan and a lot of light kicks!"

Man has Emmy got a swing! Lots of power! Heaven help the pitcher that has to face her when she plays little league this fall.

Then...Sunday...we went to the Leavitt Pavillion to take part in their celebration! They really went all out. Bounce houses, free cotton candy (which tasted a little like fiberglass, but was still good), and of course, fireworks! They had live music before and patriotic songs during the show. I was beyond exhausted, but it was worth it:

I think I need to teach Zach how to slide down properly...unless he did that on purpose...hmmm.

This was a bounce house where they tied two kids to a bungee cord and the first one to make a basket won. Zach won one and the other kid won one. All good. I got this shot as he was completely off the ground!

Emily did kind of the same thing. She had to get a football farther than her opponent which happened to be a girl in her girl scout troop...also named Emily! Small world sometimes.

Next...face-painting! We waited in line for almost two hours to get this done. I kept asking Zach and Emmy "are you sure you want to spend the rest of the night waiting in line? Cuz that's what's gonna happen!" They kept saying "Yes we want to do it." So...finally...we made it:

Me: "Let's turn those frowns upside down!"

Me: "Emmy, nice work...Zach...(SIGH)..."

Zach got a dragon and Emmy got a frog. $7 well spent yes?

Now for the main event:

That last one is my fave. Very creepy.

THEN...after that...we went to Casa de Overall and shot off some of our own fireworks!:

Me: "Hey Camron, what kind of fireworks do you have there?"
Camron: "It's something called a 'doobie'...I bought it from a guy behind the fireworks stand."
Me: "Um...yeah...why don't we throw that down the sewer before the police show up."

It took an eternity to get this picture...an eternity...

THEN...Monday we went to grandma's house for a cook out:

Me: "Hey Dean...what's with all the corn?"
Dean: "Well, we're trying to eat healthier these days...did you bring pie?"
Me: "Yup...apple...cuz apples are good for you!"

Dad: "Geez, what the heck is this?"
Me: "It's guava paste! Eat it!"
Dean: "He's right Kerry...it's like a gooey piece of heaven!"
Dad: "Um, I see that...would you and the guava paste like to be alone?"
Dean: "Actually, yeah..."

Nice shot of the Overall males...wish Grandpa could have been part of this one. I guess no one lives forever. I think just knowing that helps us live our life a little less hectic than it has to be. If you knew anyone who died does it seem like their entire life went by that fast? Everything they worked for, seemingly pointless now. I really don't think they're in Heaven going "I can't believe what's going on down on Earth." No matter what walk of life we come from, we all have about the same amount of time to live life the way we want to.

"Camp AGAIN??"

2011-06-29T17:41:00.004-05:00

This is my favourite song as of right this minute:

I heard it when I was listening to B96 Dance on the Radio.com app on my iPod. They only played it once over a like 6 week period. Then...they played it again, and I managed to catch who it was. And yes, I have already downloaded it off iTunes. Rocks!

We had a picnic last weekend with Emmy's Girl Scout troop. Well, what was left. Hardly anyone showed up. Had some hot dogs, told some Disneyland stories...even though I was the only GUY there, it was fun. Emmy received her five-year pin! Man, has it been that long? I took a picture but can't find it on the memory card. Grrr.

And yes, Emily has decided to use her second and final week of YMCA camp for this week. "Party At the Palace" is the name of it. Pretty swanky eh? Despite it always being 100 degrees during the summer hopefully they're staying cool. Here is the letters she has sent home so far:

Sounds like a lot of fun...if you're a girl. Although...something tells me Zach wouldn't mind riding around in a limo.

Zach has really come a long way in his swimming. He will jump right in and can swim pretty much anywhere...as long as he can touch the bottom of the pool ha ha. Now it's actually kind of fun to go go the pool without someone hanging on my shoulders 24/7. That goes for Emily too. She's a force to try and shake off of you when she's determined. Her favorite thing now is wrestling. I'm like, "Where were you 6 years ago and I wanted to and you didn't?" But better late than never I guess.

A while back I found a school project I did in 6th grade and scanned some pictures. Here's the gem:

If you hadn't figured it out yet, I'm the one looking like a blowfish on the right. No good pictures of me back then. None. And why the bowl hair cut? Although, I wish that was an option nowadays. I miss that shirt though. I loved it so much I wore it to summer church camp three days in a row. By the third day the boys...THE BOYS...were complaining that I stunk. When your friends, who stink all the time, complain, you know you got something special. The blonde-haired kid's name is Peter Bellamy. I actually connected with him on Facebook a couple of years ago. We're going to try and go to a Ranger game together. In 6th grade they really screwed his name up in the yearbook:

Bellamy Pester!? Did they really think that was his name? See, this is why you should never put kids in charge of anything. He hadn't seen that in 20+ years and it all came rushing back to him.

The other kid with the white and green shirt was Ray Graves. Or is...I'm sure he's still alive. We used to hang out all the time back then. Then after 7th grade I moved away to Canada. I think Ray was a little bummed out by it. He gave me some packs of baseball cards as a going away present. We called each other every now and then and hung out some during the summer but when I came back in 1990 he wasn't really interested in being friends anymore. We were going to go to the after-graduation party they had at the Holiday Inn but he ended up going with some other guys. So Mom dropped me off and I stayed for about an hour, but just wasn't in the mood to "party". So I walked home. Haven't seen him since. If I saw him today I probably wouldn't even recognize him. He doesn't do the Facebook thing either, so...who knows.

Can't wait for some fireworks this weekend. Plus, I get off at 3pm today while everyone else has to work till 4. Heh heh. Holidays are the only time this 10-7 schedule pays off. Should have some pics from the Overall cookout next week. As usual, we've been e-mailing back and forth about what to bring. It's good to come from a family that has a sense of humour. Plus, we can make jokes at each other's expense and (hopefully) don't offend anyone. I dish it out but I also take it so it all evens out.

"Father's Day...Is Here..."

2011-06-24T10:19:00.002-05:00

...and what a fun weekend that was! Swimming, a trip to the park, and presents!!

Saturday after we got the house looking good...well, good-ish...I took Zach and Emmy to the YMCA outdoor pool for about an hour. Why only an hour? Because they close at five pm! On a Saturday? Cari swears I knew what time they close but it was all news to me. So, we went home and got cleaned up, and since Cari was going out with her friends for a well-deserved girls' night, we had to brainstorm about what to do. Finally we decided to go to Braum's, pick up some dinner, then go to Chisholm Park near my office for some park time. I got Zach the 1/6 burger which is pretty small. He ate about 1/2 of it and said "I'm full!" I tell you, if there's anyone to get stuck on a deserted island with, it's him. Eats like a bird. Afterwards, we went by Sonic and got a treat and went home and crashed. I was asleep by 11.

The next night we went to Cari's parents house for a cook-out and presents! Zach's favourite thing to shout is "Present time! Present time! Open the present and see what's inside!!" I think he got it from Blues' Clues. Cari got me four pair of shorts for the pending Texas summer. They say summer beigns June 21st, but around here it starts mid-May. Emmy made me a coil pot during her week at camp and painted it and gave it to me!

Isn't that a good shot of us? People always say Emmy looks just like Cari, then when they see me they quickly change their mind. Everyone at work thinks she's my "Mini-Me".

Zach appears to be holding...nothing...but he did make me not one but TWO Father's Day cards! he made one at his YMCA camp that even has his picture on it! He thought I saw it early when it was on the table and started to cry that the surprise was wrecked. But I had only seen the back of it. So all was good. I swear, he's just like me. Loves to plan surprises but gets a little freaked if something threatens to ruin it.

Me: "Hey John, smile for the camera!"
John: "How's this?"
Me: "That's more of a scary I-just-saw-a-bear face than a smile."
John: "Well that's the best I can do!"
Me: "I know...(sigh)..."

Emmy has her second week of YMCA camp next week! Her first week was "Hammocks and Ceramics". I guess cuz they made ceramics and...laid around in hammocks...I guess...I wasn't there, so I don't know. Next week is something else. I forget what it's called though. So next week it'll just be me and the boy in the mornings. I keep telling myself to take him in to camp early then go work out, but I keep sleeping until the alarm goes off. No motivation. Fortunately, the building we work in now has very few decent parking spaces and by the time I get there the only ones left are in another zip code. Literally. the line falls between us and Birdville High School. So I am walking a lot during the day, whether it's to my car, to the front door, or to clock out. To quote Joey Tribbiani when he and Ross were throwing that ball and he missed a meal: "Yup...my pants are a little loose!" Mine actually are. So it's good that when I can't work out, I can still get a mini-workout...at work!

"MAVS WIN!! MAVS WIN!!"

2011-06-17T08:10:00.000-05:00

Oh man!!! There was nothing sweeter than listening to Chuck Cooperstein, the voice of the Dallas Mavericks, whoop it up as the final seconds ticked off in Game Six in Miami! His exact words were, "...and the Dallas Mavericks...have scaled the championship mountain...and have left their flag!!!" We were very busy that day as we got Emmy packed for her annual week-long Girl Scout Camp! I honestly don't know how they manage to have fun in 98+ degree days, but they find a way. By the time we got her settled in her cabin, which is basically an outdoor tent with walls, it was after six thirty. By the time we got to the inlaw's house for dinner it was already 7:45. The Mavericks had a 1 point lead which they turned into a 2 point lead at halftime. Then...the show really began. 3-pointers, jump shots and the occasioanl slam jam dunk started showing up. Throw in some steals and some sloppy play by Miami and you get a 6-game, knock down drag out series in which Dallas out-played, out scored, out-defended, and out-classed a Miami team who, let's be honest, was looking for a shortcut and trying to buy a championship. If Miami had won it, I probably would have lost faith in any other team trying to do it honestly. But,they didn't. They folded in the 4th quarter and showed they do not have what it takes to close out the important games despite all of their weapons. Man it feels good to have a team that doesn't whine and pout when they don't get their way.

Heard a couple of Lebron James jokes on the radio the other day:

"Don't ask LeBron for change for a dollar, he's only good for three quarters."

"Today is LeBron James Day in Ohio. All kids get out of school 12 minutes early!"

Get it? No? Well let me explain them to you. LeBron's performance in the 4th quarter of all six Finals games was...well...awful. God-awful. Talk about letting your team mates down in every possible way. Everyone else was busting thier butt trying to hold the double digit lead they had in two of those games but not Bron-Bron. Ah well. He's got a l-o-o-ng summer to figure it out.

Zach is starting swim lessons again! He's already had one session last year. He's almost there. He can almost swim across the pool without a float or noodle. Here are a few pics of him doing his thing:

Zach: "Hey Dad, how long have I been holding my breath?"
Me: "Um, about 15 seconds..."
Zach: "Ohhh..."
Me: "Hey how can you talk if you're underwater?"
Zach: "Hmmm...that's a mystery!"

Not sure what he's trying to do here. If his mission was to impersonate a bullfrog, then...mission accomplished!

Then he had his final T-Ball game of the year:

There's my little Michael Young, looking manly and professionial and not at all like a teacup.

Great action shot, if I do say so myself. And I do. No one runs the bases better than Zach. And I'm not just saying that because he's my son. Well, maybe a little.

Afterwards we went to someone's neighborhood community pool and had our end of year party! Here's Zach getting his trophy:

I hate our camera. Hopefully I can make this one a little more..less blurry.

That one's a little better...I guess...whatever.

I've been uploading all of our pictures onto Cari's Flickr account since that is the one we can view on channel 91. So far I have 6,636 pictures on there. I'm about halfway through 2009. Almost there!

It's too bad that when one of the kids is away, the other one is a little more...less bad-behaved. Zach hasn't screamed or threw one of his world-famous fits all week, and man has it been music to our ears. Emmy hurt her ankle roller skating right before her camp started and she had to wear a little boot for a few days including on the way to her camp. First the arm, then the ankle. What's funny is Cari begged her to not choose to go skating since she wouldn't have much time to do it but Emily, whose heart is bigger than her head, just had to do it. But I know she's having a great time down there.

"HOW BOUT THEM MAVERICKS!!!!!"

2011-06-10T10:31:00.003-05:00

Man oh man can you believe this! Our beloved Dallas Mavericks...always the bridesmaid, never the bride...are just one win away from hoisting their first NBA title! If you play the clip above you can see just how determined they were to win on their court. And, since we won Game 2 on their court last week, we have proven we have what it takes to win anywhere. Can we do this? We...must...do this.

I felt like I was jinxing the Mavericks for a while. Every time I would turn the game on in the middle they would be ahead, then as I watched them they would slowly give the lead up and have to play from behind. So...Game Four...it happened again. So I turned the game off, turned on an episode of "Friends", and hoped for the best. Several Facebook friends gave me kudos for my extreme sacrifice. And if you knew how much I enjoy watching the Mavericks, you would agree the sacrifice was extreme.

Emmy has her week-long Girl Scout camp next week! She always hesitates a little on the way there cuz it's so hot, but after a while she can't wait to get there. We always make a trip of it cuz sometimes we stop at Taco Casa or Dairy Queen. Man I love those Blizzards. So next week it's just gonna be me and Young Zachary in the morning. He has a YMCA camp that I know he will love. Man, it seems like just yesterday I was taking Emmy there when she was five.

No pictures taken in a while! A rarity for me. I've been moving all of them under Cari's Yahoo account so we can watch them on channel 91. Man, it is hard to figure out when some of these were taken. Some show up as 2003 (before we had a digital camera) or baby pictures taken in 2011 (which is impossible). Fortunately, work lets me organize them on Flickr between calls. Good times. Here are a few gems I unearthed along the way:

I had forgotten all about this one. Back in 2006 Pharmacare participated in a series of sporting events and awarded medals. I still have the shirt and medal. To my left is Javier Alonzo. He was a supervisor and a good friend. Last I heard he was selling cars in Irving. Maybe I should look him up.

This was a Girl Scout meeting at the park in 2007. I can't believe Emmy was ever this small. Nowadays she asks me to pick her up and she's so solid it takes everything I have. I can still do it though.

This was us at the "flower gardens" back in 2005. Every Saturday morning we would wake up early and head out somewhere. I think about doing this again but Saturday mornings are the only chance I get during the week to work out. I guess I have a choice, but I really need to do it when I have the chance. Sucks not having a clone.

Zach and I really had a lot of fun being on our own last weekend. Studio Movie Grill tried to charge me twice for movie tickets...grr...but they resolved it. We had a nice meal and watched Kung Fu Panda 2 which was a lot better than the first one. A lot deeper. I kept waiting for Zach to fall asleep and he almost made it...until about 20 minutes before the movie ended ha ha. I picked him up and carried him to the car and tucked him in our bed about 10:15. He loves sleeping there. The next morning we played Legos! He's really getting good at building things. We tried to organize them by colour but eventually they'll get mixed up again. I should have mowed the backyard but didn't. Too hot. Cari was nice enough (with some help from her dad) to find a place and get it fixed. Had been broken for almost a year. Turns out all it needed was a good cleaning. I started it up last week and it seems to run fine now. Maybe I'll get it mowed this weekend.

I think this summer is going to be a great one. We've got a 3-day weekend coming up in a few weeks plus two weeks after that is my vacation. GO MAVS!

"A Blast From The Past!"

2011-06-03T07:50:00.001-05:00

I remember watching this back in 1997 and thanks to Daily Motion I was able to find it after 14 years. There is this guy, Steve Oedekerk, and I knew he did some stand up comedy from time to time, but he actually wrote a lot of movies, most notably the Ace Ventura movies. But he is also a bit of a computer guru, and he created this show for prime time TV where he can basically do anything he wants in the CGI realm. Here is the entire show in three parts:

Steve.Oedekerk.com, Part 1 by VinnieRattolle

Steve.Oedekerk.com, Part 2 by VinnieRattolle

Steve.Oedekerk.com, Part 3 by VinnieRattolle

Did you recognize the angry guy at the gas pump and the talk show host? That was none other then Tom Wilson, aka Biff Tannen from Back To The Future! Even though he has denounced the movies that made him known to everyone, he still shows up from time to time on various shows and movies. I remember seeing BTTF in 1985 and not being able to sleep good for a while because I was afraid I would be wiped out of existence just like the McFly family almost was. Even to this day I still wonder if that could ever happen. My thought is, if someone at some point had discovered how to time travel, wouldn't we know how to already? At some point someone would have showed up with this knowledge by now. Food for thought.

Had a nice time at Campbell Sunday. Finally got to meet some people everyone else already had months ago, but what can ya do sometimes. Cousin Caleb is having a kid! Finally, Grandma can have a great grandchild under the age of 6 instead of a grandchild! So on the way home, I drop Grandma off since it's on the way and then I get a text from Cari asking me to meet her at this address. So I make my way there, and it turns out they found a guy who fixes iPhone and iPod screens! Mine had been broken for the last year after Zach dropped it on the floor at one of Emily's indoor soccer games. So he fixed it for $40 and now it looks so much better. Now when Zach asks if he can play with it I may have to decline his request. Unless he's on a bed. On a bigger bed. Surrounded by pillows. And air mattresses.

Cari and Emmy are going to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend! For Girl Scouts of course. They do so many things and each one seems to be more fun than the last. There's a trip to Hawaiian Falls coming up plus a trip to the 6th street museum in downtown Dallas where they look at how Kennedy was possibly killed. Sure, we all know the stories. Lee Harvey Oswald in the textbook depository window who picked him off...the 2nd shooter on the "grassy knoll"...but will we ever really know the truth? Someday...someday...anyways...this means Zach and I will be on our own! What to do...what to do...so far, we are planning on going to Six Flags in the afternoon till about 6:30 or so. Then...head home...clean up...and head off to the Studio Movie Grill to see Kung Fu Panda 2! I already reserved tickets for the 3D showing (all they had in the evening) which I don't mind. Then Sunday...maybe go to a couple of parks. Of course, I'll make sure the house gets picked up and the laundry done. Maybe try to work on re-tiling the guest bathroom. So far I've managed to get four tiles down. Hey, it's a start right? Only about 30 more to go I think...maybe a few less. The front of it looks darn good though. Looks like one big piece of tile.

No pictures this week? Nope. None taken all...week. Zach has been out of school this week and Emily gets out after this week. Man it's gonna be nice. Sleeping till 8 every day. I don't sleep that well anymore. I wonder why. What i won't wonder about is...

...THE DALLAS MAVERICKS HAVE TIED THE 2011 NBA FINALS 1-1!! Please let this be the year...PLEASE...

"Ready...Set..."

2011-05-27T10:43:00.002-05:00

...GO!!! And go Zach did, as his wonderful Tate Springs Baptist School had its' annual Field Day yesterday. Ten events! Plus, Cari and I had to walk around to each event in the hot sun. We were wiped. And we just stood there for the most part. For me personally, standing requires as much work as actually doing anything. But I know Zach had a great time. He's so fast! Even at the very end he still had loads of energy. Here are a few pix of the day's proceedings:

Event One: The Turn 'N' Run

Zach: "So I'm supposed to turn the bat around using my body? What is this going to accomplish?"
Me: "Well, if you were part of the Barnett Shale mineral excavation team, you might find some valuable minerals if you go deep enough."
Zach: "Well, that's something...I guess...wait, what!?"

Event Two: Potato Sack Race

Zach: "You know...wearing these potato sacks makes it really hard to get around."
Me: "Oh those aren't potato sacks...those are manure sacks."
Zach: "EEWWW!"

Event Three: Egg And The Spoon

Yes, this event was as exciting as Zach is making it out to be.

Event Four: Water Balloon Toss

Zach: "So what's in this balloon anyway? Water?"
Me: "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

Event Five: Face-painting!

Hey, that's a pretty good picture of us! Zach chose to be painted like Jack Sparrow, and when the other boys saw it they had to have it too. My boy the trendsetter.

Event Six: Scooters!

Admit it: You'd do this too if they'd let you.

Event Seven: Bouncy Ball

He's completely off the ground! Lucky shot I got.

Event Eight: Bowling Toss

The wind-up...

...and the pitch:

Again, lucky shot. Check out how the ball looks like it is stuck to the canvas. Even though Zach missed his shot, I got mine.

Mercifully, after 2 hours in the hot sun, it was over. Everyone got a Bullet popsicle to cool off. Zach got a red one, ate half of it, then asked me if I would switch cuz he liked grape better. Then he did the same thing with Cari's orange popsicle. What a con artist. Here's a parting group shot:

...and here's a picture of Zach in front of his locker space:

I sure hope Zach enjoyed his time here. Barring some unforseen circumstance, this will be the only year he gets to go here. Is Zach really going into kindergarden in three months? I remember taking Emmy to kindergarten when Zach was just a baby. And now...now I get to take both of them to the same place and knock out two birds with one stone. Not that I think my kids are birds...or throwing a stone at them.

This just happened while I was on a call at work. I won Employee Of The Month for March 2011! Got $20 to Walmart! What to use it on...hmm...knowing me, I'm sure I'll find something useful...or frivolous ha ha. Saturday night we are going to Wal-Mart for an ice cream sampling! Only way to have more fun is when it's free.

Cari and I are going to go see "Hangover 2" Sunday night when I get home. Hopefully it is as funny as the first one. Love these kid-free Memorial Day Weekends. So glad Dad wants to hang out with his grandkids when he gets the chance...which isn't as often as we'd both like I'm sure. They just love him to death though. Glad we have a grandpa in our family that will stay the course and be an influence on us all just like Grandpa did. So many stories he told us...and could figure out anything. A rare breed these days. It's a shame we don't get to be with people longer down here.

"Batter Up!"

2011-05-20T08:10:00.001-05:00

Well, it wasn't a Ranger game, but it was the next best thing! Jerramy got tickets to a Frisco Roughriders game Sunday, and he asked me if I wanted to go. So I did. And we did. Turns out there's only about a 4,000 seating capacity so any seat is a good seat. And, as always, I had my trusty camera on hand to capture the festivities:

Isn't that cool? Apparently you can rent out the pavillion for the right price. Imagine watching the game and cooking out and swimming all at the same time.

Jerramy: "My Country Tis...Of Thee...Sweet Land Of Liberty..."
Me: "Um, I don't think that's the song they're singing..."
Jerramy: "Hmmm...you're right...it sounds more like..."
Me: "It's Rainin' Men"?
Jerramy: "YES! That's it!"

Hey, great action shot!

Hey, great action shot!

Now that's a nice shot of us. I will be a-framin' it and a settin' it down at home. Nice use of Southern twang yes?

It was tied 3-3 after 10 innings so we left and about 5 minutes after that I think they won it. Ah well. We had a good time. They even had an all-you-can-eat lunch set up for us special members. I tore...it...up. Was so full...but so glad I took advantage. Free burgers and hot dogs don't come around too often, knowhutimean?

Afterwards Jerramy wanted to go see the Ikea since it was close by, so we did. Should have seen his eyes light up at everything they had. Should have seen mine too. Some really cool entertainment centers that I have to have now. NOW.

Campbell is coming up! This year hopefully nothing will pop up unexpectedly like last year and cause me to miss it. Geez, has it been a year already? Still have a lot of mixed feelings about how that went down. I was always under the impression that suicide meant eternal damnation. But...maybe...there's exceptions to that. Hopefully Josh is that exception. He's the only person I know who was funnier than me. Such charisma.

Hey, how about those Mavericks! I should have posted sooner about their current playoff run sooner, but...man, SEVEN games in a row where we just flat out dominated. Lakers who? What a way to send Phil Jackson out...being swept and making his team just look awful. Now we're in the Western Conference Finals and up 1-0 against the OKC Thunder. We didn't look great defensively, but Dirk was a monster on the boards. 48 points and free throws all...night...long. ESPN is still talking about how it might be the greatest shooting display in the history of the postseason. I'd have to agree! Here are some cool shots I found of ye olde Mavs:

Those are the main guys, right there. If we want a title, we know who to give it to.

"Mother's Day...Is Here..."

2011-05-13T12:18:00.003-05:00

Yes, the time of year has come for me to pay homage to not only my own mom, but to Cari as well, who goes above and beyond for Zach and Emmy each and every day. Hopefully they won't hold it against me for not paying more attention the rest of the year if I show them how much they mean to me on this day ha ha. We got together at my sister-in-law's house Sunday for a Mother's Day omelette breakfast cooked by...the guys!:

Jay: "So you see John, by mixing the eggs and ingredients together, that's how an omelette is made!"
John: "Yeah, I know how to make an omelette Julia Child..."
Jay: "Ah! Are you saying I look like a giant Hungarian woman!?"
John: "Well, if the souz-chef hat fits..."

Tracy: "WHO GOT DA BOOZE!! WHO GOT DA BOOZE!!!!!!!"
Me: "Um...those bottles are empty..."
Tracy: "Ohh...um..."
Me: "Yes?"
Tracy: "What about...WHO HAD DA BOOZE! WHO HAD DA BOOZE!!!!!!"
Me: "Bullseye."

I bought this shirt over a year ago and I could never get it to fit right. But I kept working at it, and now I think I look pretty decent in it! Yay me.

Then we gave Cari her present:

It's a 3 month membership to Massage Envy! It was a pretty good deal. She gets four one-hour massages plus she can buy more services at the lower member rate! She's already planning one for this weekend, so maybe ye olde kids and I will have to find something to pass the time...I'm sure we can!

Last Friday Zach's school had a Mother's Day lunch (read: you bring the lunch) so Cari brought Zach lunch and they had a good time together:

I officially hate our camera! I found a new one at Walmart for the same price as the one we have now ($199.99) which Cari wants but we can't swing right now. What he made was a magnetic clipboard that can hold pictures and notes, etc. I had to move some of his WordJammer letters out of the way but now it resides on our refrigerator!

McDonald's! Where else, ya know? There are his BFF's Blake and Gavin in the background. They're okay I guess. Nothing against them.

Zach had his first T-Ball game of the season Saturday!:

Doesn't he look interested?? I didn't think so either. He's just in a deep concentration I bet.

Cari took this one! Great action shot! You can see me in the background videotaping the highlights, which...pretty much anything Zach hit and when he ran the bases.

I usually take pictures of his first game but none of the others, because...hey...seen one, seen them all, right? But one regret I have was not enjoying Little League a lot more when I was playing. I looked upon it as an intrusion on my busy life after school. You know, watching Brady Bunch reruns? But I did play two seasons and even managed to hit a home run. I'd give anything to relive that time in my life. Any magic genies out there waiting to be freed from a lamp?

"Emily's Home!!"

2011-05-06T16:09:00.002-05:00

Yes, after a harrowing two days away from home, Emily made it home from her Diva Camp she got to go to since she sold 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies!! Gaw that's a lot of cookies. We still have em all over the cupboard and freezer. So I tell her to take pictures of what she did. And...well...

This looks like some kind of shark...? Emmy said the glass was two-sided...or one-sided...whichever one that lets them see the shark, but the shark can't see them. Probably a good thing.

Hey, she's home! I don't know what was more fun...getting up at 5am to drop her off or racing around to get there by 1pm to pick her up ha ha.

Emmy also had to do a project on Texas that took pretty much a month to finish. But, here is the completed project:

I really learned a lot researching facts for this thing. Texas is the 2nd largest state next to...? Alaska! Now I'm sure that was common knowledge to some of you but I always thought California was in the mix there somewhere.

We took Mom out for Mother's Day Sunday! PF Chang's to be exact. I tell you what...that had to be the worst service I've ever had! The waiter who looked like Bruno Mars only darker was nowhere to be found, and when he did show up he brought the wrong appetizer to us, the water glasses were constantly empty, plus other things that i can't recall at this time. But it was a great meal once it finally got to us.

We gave Mom "The Paris Wife" by Paula McClain. I'm normally not much of a reader but I saw some great reviews and I know Mom is always on the look-out for a good book.

We're moving at work...again...I swear, who knows how much wasted labor this place pays for. When I got here I was on the 2nd floor...then the 4th floor...THEN back to the 2nd floor...now we're changing buildings completely. The "B" building is a lot nicer and hopefully won't be burning hot or freezing cold like this one always seems to be.

So we had to take this survey at work and if enough people completed it we got two weeks of jeans and sneakers instead of just every Friday. Well, we got that. Plus we got December 23rd paid and off! So we get a nice 4 day weekend at Christmas plus any vacation time I managed to save. I have reserved the Week of July 18-22 and I hope we get to do as many fun things this year as last year. Maybe we'll even work a trip in to somewhere. Love me a good trip. Cari and I managed to survive the layoff scare that has decimated our companies which is good. Now it looks like things are back on the rise...including GAS PRICES!! $3.88 a gallon!? Are ya kidding me? Ugh...I tell ya...the Nissan Leaf is looking a lot better these days...

"All Good Things..."

2011-04-29T08:18:00.000-05:00

...should keep going on forever, right? Well, some should. Seinfeld marathons on TBS, Friends marathons on TBS...you know, the important things? But, mercifully, Zach and Emmy's soccer/volleyball seasons have come to a close. Now I enjoy going to them mind you, but it's all day Saturday (and some Sundays) and it seems like no one ever gets any time to themselves unless they get up at 6:30am and goes and works out at the YMCA. But I enjoy that time in the morning. I try to sleep in Sundays but Saturday if I sleep past 7 it's a miracle. I have a certain set of machines I will use religiously such as the ab cruncher, lateral press, bicep curl, and hammer press. As always, I am sure to leave a day between using the same machine twice. I'm giving up my steak & egg burrito from Jack In The Box for one month to see if that makes a difference. There's got to be 800 calories in that combo meal. I don't think I'm doing myself any good by having that every Monday. So let's see what happens, right? Here are a few pix from Saturday:

Emily: "Hey Dad, who do I look like when I stand like this?"
Me: "Um...Mickey Rooney?"
Emily: "Huh? Who's that?"
Me: "WHO's THAT!? Only the greatest volleyball player ever back in 1939!"
Emily: "Way to be relevant DAD..."

What happens when you give a 5-year old a camera? Um...this.

I think our camera has had it. Now when it turns on I have to pull the lens out a little more to get rid of the unfocus. Grrr...

We also celebrated Easter!:

Seriously. doesn't that boy know how to wear a shirt when we take pictures? They both got $10 Target gift cards from the Easter Bunny! Zach already knows what he wants to buy...weights! He wants muscles just like his dad heh heh.

Man, how rare is that! The two of them not trying to rip each other's head off.

I think we have enough candy to start a sweet shop.

Hey, that's a pretty good family shot. I know, I wore the same shirt in this picture that I wore in last year's Easter picture:

Hmmm...do I look any different? As always, the hair is a little less thick than the previous year...(sigh). I do look a little thinner though...more built...glad to see the YMCA is serving a purpose for my $58 a month.

So now that sports are over for a little bit, how do we fill the hours of the weekend now? I want to go to a Ranger game one of these days and there's like four people who want to go see one with me. I also want to go see a movie...or a bunch...as soon as they all come out. Plus Navid and I haven't seen each other in like 2 years. Now that he has Facebook we can try and communicate a lot more...but it isn't the same. His hours and mine are very different. Hopefully good friends don't need to be around each other constantly. We text sometimes too. Never thought I'd be a texter...who knew?

Wondering how Emmy got that big bandaged hand? Saturday she was playing soccer and a kid kicked the ball right into her arm! She was playing goalie and even though she stopped the shot, she fractured her arm! Poor kid. She was crying from the pain. Now I know all kids cry when they get hurt, but Emmy isn't all kids. In fact, the last time she cried from any kind of pain was about 5 years ago when she got a terrible stomachache. The doctor said it was some kind of constipation...but really...how many kinds are there, ya know? She cried for three days and three nights on that one. She's getting a cast Wednesday which she has to wear for 4-6 weeks, which also means she's going to miss her field day next month! Geez...some people just seem to have bad luck when it's most inconvienent, ya know? I was planning on taking a couple of days off to watch the festivities too. I still may. If nothing else I can have lunch with Emmy one day and Zach the next, right? I'd better have lunch with them while I can before they get too big and embarassed anytime I'm near. Honestly. I'm surprised thay aren't more already lol.

"I'm So Funny..."

2011-04-22T08:47:00.000-05:00

Why do you say that, Mike? Well, calm down and I'll tell ya! Last Friday, as with all Fridays, we keep it pretty casual around here. Jeans and sneakers make it really the only day of the week worth getting excited for. So one of our managers wears this very loud red and white striped shirt. Well, my mind starts to imagine what I can do with this as she looked just like Waldo from "Where's Waldo?". Well, a co-worker who sits behind me hanneded to have this big black glasses that Waldo wears so she asked her to wear them, which she did. She also had a camera and said "Cheese!" and took a perfect picture of her. When she e-mailed it to me, I went and made it a real Where's Waldo? game by superimposing some other people in Waldo costumes behind her. Here is the finished product: Tell me that's not genius! The tricky part was shrinking the background people down so everything looked proportionate. The guy on the left looks like he's standing on a chair kind of. Ah well. It got a tremendous reaction in the office AND on Facebook. I should be a publicist, I swear. So, about an hour later, I e-mailed Kelly:

Me: "Say Kelly, do you know of any good framing places around here? Preferably a place that can do life-size shots or maybe bigger?"

Kelly: "As a matter of fact, I do not!!! I don't have any pictures that I would need framed in that size!!!! And....I am quite sure that you do not either!!!!!!!!!!"

Me: "Well I have to say I am more than a little disappointed. I thought our management team was here to assist us with urgent issues."

Kelly: "We are here to assist with urgent issues, however, this does not appear to be one of those types of issues!!!!!! "

Did I go too far? She seemed to have a good sense of humour about it. Even when my co-worker printed up 8"x10" glossy photos and passed them out around the office...now that's a trooper.

I can always count on Uncle Dean to send me interesting e-mails when he gets them. Hey, remember the tsunami that hit Japan a couple of weeks ago? Well, it turns out that it kind of turned the ocean upside down and a lot of fish and sealife that are not ordinarily seen were discovered. Here are a couple of examples:

Ugh...any craving I had for Red Lobster just went out the window.

Work has actually let up a little. We are actually getting a lunch break from time to time. I guess Februrary was just a bad month since we only got an hour lunch 3 times. In April I think we've gotten 8 or 9. Good times.

We got Zach signed up for Kindergarten on Tuesday! While the school was talking to us parents, the kids went on a tour of the classrooms and what was in store for them. Well, each classroom has baby chicks that they hatched and are monitoring their development for the kids to see. Zach was just in love with them. We had a heck of a time getting him away from them. I can't believe he's about to start school. He didn't have the best week this week. First, he drew on our couch with a Sharpie. THEN, he used a glue stick on Emmy's glasses. I asked him why he did it and he said, "I wanted to pull a joke on her." I guess he thought enough glue would cause them to be stuck to her face. OMG that is so something I would have done if my sister had worn glasses. Then, when he doesn't get what he wants he flies onto our bed and buries his head in the pillows and sticks his butt up in the air and cries about it for what seems like forever. I can usually manage to calm him down but it takes about 30 minutes. We talked last night after he got in trouble. I think slowly but surely he is getting to the point of maybe giving his actions a little thought before just blindly doing them. I don't think I thought about anything until I got to high school. Man...I hope it doesn't take Zach that long. Patience is a virtue and I have a lot more than some people, but my kids stretch it pretty thin sometimes.

"One Productive Week!"

2011-04-15T07:56:00.002-05:00

Well, not productive in the way that you think it would be. Since I can use Flickr at work now, I have been going through every picture and "tagging" everyone in them so that when I'm searching for someone specific it might not take as long. Hopefully it works the way I think it will. Plus, now that someone has knocked off my picture frame that I worked so hard on back in 2008 off the wall, breaking the frame but somehow not the glass...I will just have to make another one. Remember the one I made?:

I'm not sure if I should keep this and just buy a new frame or just chuck it and make a newer one with much newer photos. I already know I want to make a new one, but shouldn't I keep the old one? I mean, I put a lot of work into it while I was home alone back in 2008, so maybe I should. We shall see.

Hey, it's our anniversary this week! Wednesday to be exact. We had a romantic dinner at Taco Cabana ("the sexiest restaraunt in Arlington!"), then I stopped at Kroger's for some flowers for Cari. She even got me a card that perfectly summed up how she treats me . Hint: it wasn't positive lol. Maybe we'll go out this weekend but Zach has another birthday party to go to, so...probably not. Ah well. All part of the package sometimes.

The Rangers are on a bit of a skid lately. We lost the last 2 games against Detroit of all teams, now we have to go to New York for the first time since embarassing the Yankees in last year's ALCS. Out of curiosity I searched "Texas Rangers" on Flickr and came up with a few neat shots. Unfortunately, everyone locked them up so I could not get the HTML code. So, here are a few that I took:

Real good action shot and no blurries!!

One of my faves. So glad I have kids who like going to the BIA.

Nice outdoor shot on a perfect sunny day.

Love when they have fireworks at night.

Here's Emily when she was 6 months old:

I know, I have some editing to do to make the background all one colour. Very time-consuming, ya know. Why do my kids have such big heads when they're young? Is that really necessary?

Here she is in a recent photo:

I tell you, it is the fastest 9 years of any parent's life sometimes. During the spring our weekends consist of volleyball games, soccer games, and more soccer games. And now she's going to be ten this year! I don't post as much on here about her as I do Zach, and I should remedy that. Here are some pix of our Saturday mornings together before her brother came along:

This was actually on Martin Luther King day. I had the day off work and Emmy was off school. I remember the weather was just perfect for going outside.

This was a day when Cari had to go into work so the two of us hit the road. I love that big clock. A wonder of the world I think.

This was my Blogger profile picture for a long time. Look how innocent she is.

Went to Half-Price Books yesterday and scored a plethora of items!:

INXS Live CD
Concentration computer game
Justice League comic book
Book of trivia questions

I tried to read the comic book to Zach last night and the story was so far over his head, even when I tried to dumb it down it still didn't make any sense to him. But we looked at the pictures and talked about who was tougher, the Green Lantern or Superman. I think we agreed to disagree. But he's really starting to take after his old man. He got his first baseball cards recently and now wants to get them all the time. I feel it is my job as a good father to indulge him in this hobby as much as possible ha ha. I remember back in 1988 when I bought my first cards. Topps still made them out of that thick gray cardboard stock where the corners would get damaged almost instantly. I collected them all the way through...August 12, 1994. Yep, that's when the players decided to strike and baseball was cancelled for almost a year. It took a while, but now I like ocllecting again.

Big movies coming out this summer!! Here are a few:

Captain America

Man oh man Zach and I are seeing this one no discussion needed!

The Green Lantern

This one Zach is VERY keen on seeing!! Still his favourite superhero.

Transformers: Hunt For The Moon

To be honest I enjoyed TF2 a lot more than some people. Some felt that the story kind of got pushed aside to feature more action, but every time I watch it I can't look anywhere else.

Then of course there are the Pixar movies that will also be everywhere, but too many Youtube clips spoils the broth, knowhutimean?

"One Bittersweet Day"...

2011-04-08T07:51:00.002-05:00

Maybe it's just the sentimental part of me, but I really try to enjoy every day that my kids are still kids. For the most part it's been an enjoyable time in my life, making sure they understand just how short being a kid is and to appreciate every day. But, every now and then, there comes a day where something changes and things are a little different going forward. Take Monday for example:

I guess Mondays are a universally bad day to get kids out of bed and get them to school. Emmy's been doing this for a while so she shows a little more get up and go, but Zach...I swear, every Monday is an absolute struggle to get him to do...well...anything. I manage to get him dressed and to the table. Emmy called Lucky Charms so I made Zach Honey Nut Cheerios. Well, since he didn't get what he wanted, he decided to grab her bowl and caused a big mess. (sigh). So you better believe he got a pop on the butt for that one. So then I asked him to brush his teeth. He comes back and something isn't quite right so I ask him to show me which toothbrush he used. For some reason we have like five open toothbrushes. Ah well. So he points to one and it is very dry. So he got another pop on the butt for lying to me about it. After we drop Emmy off at school we head over to his. Neither one of us said anything on the way there. When we walked into his school we had to wait until they unlock the doors to the classrooms and he wanted to sit on the front desk. So I picked him up and set him on it. Then, in a sweet but totally unexpected way, he wanted me to sit with him. So I did. And he gave me a big hug in a kind of "I'm sorry I was such a piece of work this morning". Then they opened the doors and we walked right in all by himself as if to say "I got this". I hadn't felt like that since the day Emmy was in pre-k and I had t tell her I couldn't wait with her in the cafeteria anymore. She looked at me and said "Okay, bye Daddy..." and I knew she was on her way to being her own person.

Speaking of Emmy, she went a-campin' about 3 weeks ago. She even took her own camera! A chip off ye olde block yes? Here are the ones that actually indicated she was outdoors:

And finally...what camp would be complete without a friend:

Aww...

Will try to get some pics of Emmy plaing soccer one of these days. I try to get some from each season but for now I can watch about half of her game then I have to take Zach to HIS game since his game starts at 3pm and hers starts at 1:40. Gotta love the YMCA's scheduling department right?

Found this on YouTube:

Gaw that's hilarious.

Oh, and did I mention the 2010 AL Champion Texas Rangers are now 6-0!! No losses. Now I'm sure as the season goes on there may be a loss here and there, but right now we are just clicking awesomely on ALL cylinders. I'm currently in the market for a t-shirt and a ballcap. I saw some cool ones at WalMart so I may have to get them...soon...for you see...I'm a patient person when I have to be...but when I don't have to...then I'm not! So there! Okay I'm better. But I do want it before the month is out. Oh, and I also found my gym bag! It was in the garage. I get the feeling Cari hid it out there but I can't prove it. I thought someone stole it out of my car. I mean...who would steal someone else's gym bag, ya know? Sick sickos, that's who.

"Soccer Time...Is Here..."

2011-04-01T08:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, after many weeks of hemming and hawing, young Zachary has decided to play soccer this spring! If you've ever seen a five-year old hem and haw, you know it ain't pretty. But so far he has shown a lot of hustle to not only run after the ball, but to also kick it! Here are a few pix from his first game:

My gosh he looks so big. Compared to the other kids, I mean. When we stand next to each other I tower over him. But that's probably normal.

Zach: Hey Dad, I'm intentionally not tucking my shirt in as a way to rebel!"
Me: "Um...that's...great?"
Kid on left: "What does intentional mean?"
Kid on right: "What does shirt mean?"

Went to Winstar Saturday night for Jerramy's birthday. First we went to Catfish Sam's for dinner. They have these rolls...baked with honey and light...mmm...after we were all done there was still a basket of about 6 of them. Well I turned into Frog and Toad and kept telling myself, "Just one more roll, and then I will stop". Well, I fisnhed off the whole dang basket. Cari was like "You had ANOTHER one!?" And I was like "Well...yeah..." and smiled sheepishly. Then at Winstar, I found a Goldfish game that I won $130 on last time and really tried to do the same but this one wasn't giving it up! I did manage to play the same $20 for 2 1/2 hours and really lost track of time until the rest of the gang showed up behind me TAPPED OUT and ready to go. Ah well. Can't win every time I guess, which is why they call is gambling and not wineverytimimg. I did leave with the $20 I didn't bet with.

I managed to "geotag" all my photos during work now that I have my Flickr page back! So now I know where each photo was taken. Does it help me enjoy them more? Probably not. But it does give me something to do when it is not so busy. Hey, when they tell me to find something to keep myself busy, I listened! Now I'm finding even more things I can do with my pictures. I'm ordering some for Dad so that people won't think Zach is two and Emily is six.

YAY we get to wear Rangers t-shirts this Friday!! And now that we can wear sneakers on Fridays this could be a great weekend. Emmy liked NorthEast mall near my office so much she wants to go back. Now that I'm feeling much better than last time, I think that would be a lot of fun. I say we go to Chisholm park first, then the mall, then maybe to the Rave movie theater and see a movie! Looks like "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 2" and "Rango" are the family choices. Ehh...maybe.

Someone at work sent me an e-mail of this tree in Africa:

At first you doin't really notice anything unusual about it. But, when you look closer...

Isn't that something else. We had a tree in our front yard in Duncanville and one day I thought it would be cool to carve a picture frame in it. Of course, being a kid, I had no pictures, so it was really just a big hole. The tree then proceeded to die...slowly...ah well. All in the past now. Great thing that all lousy things get left behind and never worried about again. If only the really great things didn't get left behind too...

"Shut Up And Drive..."

2011-03-25T08:20:00.000-05:00

Well, we didn't get to drive any of the cars (despite my constant pleading), but Dad, Zach and I sure had a fun time at the Fort Worth Auto Show on Sunday. We even (big secret) sat in some of the cars! Don't tell anyone, I don't want to go to jail on a trespassing or vagrancy charge. A few pix:

GAW this car is small. And since it is electric...

...there's no engine! The woman with the dealership said we could use it as a beer cooler. Man, you should have seen Dad's eyes light up...I wonder if he knows she was just kidding.

Dad: "Hey Zach, what are you doing?"
Zach: "Um...not hot-wiring this car if that's what you're implying!"
Dad: "Hey now! Where did you learn how to do that anyways?"
Zach: "Um...not from watching my dad do it if that's what you're implying!"
Dad: "Do I imply too much?"
Zach: "A little bit..."

Zach even got to do some rock-climbing! Never have I seen a rock-climbing set-up in a car show! First time for everything I guess:

Zach: "Uh, Dad...I'm getting really scared at this height..."
Dad: "What!? You're only three feet off the ground!"
Zach: "But I'm only three feet tall!"
Dad: "Hmm...you may have a point...I'll get the oxygen."

Oh is this the gem of the show. 2011 Camaro Jolly Rancher Apple green. I didn't get to sit in it since all guys everywhere were lined up but at least i got a shiny picture!

After the show we went and walked around the Water Gardens for a while:

What a great picture! This one I'll get printed up for Dad since the ones he has are from like three years ago ha ha. I'm sure Zach has grown a little since then.

Also a good one. Glad to see the cardio and ab crunches I've been doing are worth it.

We actually got Dad to play Just Dance!:

Ohh...good times.

Gonna be kidless this weekend! After Zach's soccer game we're taking them to Mom's where Zach is going to spend the night with her and Emmy is going to spend the night with Keri. By themselves they are both really nice and obedient kids. But man...ya put them together, and chaos just breaks loose! Esp. with Zach being a boy and thinking it is so funny to call people names and hit his sister...I really didn't want to be the kind of dad who answers every question with a spanking. Dad did that more often then not and I really used to resent him for it. I say "used to" because it wasn't until I had a boy that I realized sometimes it's the only answer. I remember one time when I was about eight. We were going to throw the football around after dinner. I was in the front yard waiting for him to come out and a friend rode up on his bike and asked me if I wanted to ride around with him. Well, being a kid, I completely forgot Dad was on his way out and I just took off. I came back around an hour later and Dad was furious. He said his famous, "Go to your room and wait for me" line and gave me a whoopin' about one minute later. Sometimes I feel like I was just the most dense kid ever. Now, watching Emmy and Zach grow up, I realize it was just me being a kid and sometimes having to learn things the hard way. It's too bad being a good parent means having to be a jerk sometimes and set the groundwork one brick at a time.

"A Modern Day St. Patrick...?"

2011-03-17T18:41:00.003-05:00

Nah...but Zach and I are very much looking forward to this movie coming out!! For some reason he has really taken a liking to this particular member of the Justice League. Not Batman, not Superman, thank goodness not Wonder Woman...but the Green Lantern is his hero of choice right now. He got a Green Lantern cartoon movie for Christmas but man there are a few unfavourable words in there I'd rather him not hear. Why does DC have to do that? Ugh... but I will take him to see this one. He's very excited about it!

So we made it back from San Antonio in one piece!! All in all it was an okay trip. Not without its' usual arguments and foibles though. Here was our itenerary:

Monday: Fiesta Texas!

This is the equivalent of the Flashback at Six Flags. Looks massive! Too massive for me. In all honesty, I probably could ride most of the rides, but my gut was not made for sudden twists and drops.

This is the Rattler! Basically the same design as the Texas Giant. Cari and Emmy spent about 1 1/2 hours waiting in line. Was it worth it? Not to me lol.

Hey, what a great picture of us...NOT lol

Christine: "Hey, look kids, it's a copperhead snake!"
Zach: "Um...what's it doing in a family-themed park?"
Christine: "Realism my boy, realism!"

Tuesday: The Riverwalk!

The water is certainly a lovely shade of...jade? Emerald? Well, some kind of stone.

Aww, it's Cari, happy as a lark to be on a boat going 3 miles per hour. I like the waterfall in the background. Very photogenic.

Man that is one tall building. Reminds me of the buildings in "Inception" that folded on top of themselves. Apparently they shot some movies around here. One of them was "Miss Congeniality". Never saw it.

Why can't Zach make a nice face when I want him to? I mean EVER?? (sigh) at least he is smiling. Love the backdrop though.

That night we cooked some chicken and pineapple:

Just the fact that the fire actually seperated itself from the grill worries me.

Hey, that looks pretty good. The foil-wrapped items were given to us by a very nice (and very drunk) Mexican family staying in a nearby cabin. Well, that's not entirely true. The little boy wasn't drunk. At least I don't think he was. He did slip on the rocks a lot though.

I took the day off after we got back, so once we got the house cleaned up real good we went to: where else...the park! This was a park Zach had never been to, and I took Emmy there only once, when she was 2. We were there for about 5 minutes, then she had an accident (if you know what I mean) and I didn't have any clean clothes to change her into. so...we went home. Haven't been back sense, but only because we never thought about it until we were at another park lol:

Isn't that a great shot! Let's see a $2,000 camera take one as good as that. While Emmy was on the playground, Zach and I took a walk around the lake and had a real nice talk about how proud I was of him growing up a little and doing more things for himself. Why, just that morning he had taken a shower by himself, gotten himself dressed by himself, and even put up his own laundry by himself. Man...now I can put their baskets in their room and make them both put up their own clothes ha ha. Emmy has been doing it for quite a while now. Hopefully she will become more organized as a result. Zach too!

Me: "Okay guys, go ahead and feed the ducks!"
Emmy: "They don't seem to like the crackers a whole lot Dad."
Zach: "We should have brought what those other kids brought."
Me: "Oh yeah? What was that?"
Zach: "Bacon-wrapped scallops."
Me: "What the...what kind of a nut feeds that to a duck, anyways?"
Emmy: "Bobby Flay?"
Me: "Mmm...yeah, that would be the exception."

After the park we went to...Chili's!

I hadn't eaten all day so those chicken crispers were extra delicious! This was one of my favourite days and I enjoyed every minute of it. I even made dinner! Chicken Parmesan with Caesar Salad and garlic bread! Very good if I do say so myself...which I do. Which could not have come on a better day since Cari had a really lousy day. She started crying right there at the table. When your office treats you lousy and unfairly, it will really stay with you even when you go home. I know when I was at the mall I had to put up with so much crap and favortism. The happiest day of my life was when I didn't have to be there anymore. When you're light years smarter then the people in charge, there's a problem. Fortunately, Healthmarkets lets me do my own thing and as long as I take care of me, they take care of me. Maybe this isn't such a bad place to be.

"Our Camera Is..."

2011-03-11T10:13:00.004-06:00

...found!! After weeks of wondering what in the heck happened to it, Cari gets a hunch to look under my car seat and in 5 seconds...wa-la! Found it! I think she had it the whole time and planted it to make herself look smart which she adamantly denies. I wonder if the whole story will ever be known to us...maybe, maybe not. There were some pictures on there of Zach and me at the "hidden park" which I was really sad I didn't get off the card sooner. Here are a couple:

He sure does love that monkey doesn't he.

This was the day Cari and Emmy were selling Girl Scout cookies now that all the snow and ice had finally melted off and it was so pretty outside. Of course, I was bouncing off the walls wanting to go outside as was Zach. We laid there and looked up at the sky and had a really great talk about a lot of different things.

Zach's rodeo was a big hit! He had to get on a big bouncy ball with a handle and ride it like the bullrider he was listed as in the program. Needless to say...very entertaining. A few pix:

Zach: "Hey Dad, wanna see my Michael Jackson impression?"
Me: "Isn't that a little...I don't know...out of place here?"
Zach: "Hey, you're the one who made me practice the moonwalk."
Me: "Ah yes...best possible way to spend a weekend!"

Look at him go!

I guess a silly face is better than...well...not much...but at least I look decent ha ha. Ehh...I guess he looks okay. Love the high hat!

Saturday night Cari took a much-needed break from it all and had a girls' night out. So...the three of us were sitting around trying to think of a game plan. Then I realized there was a really cool park near my office that every time I would pass it in the car I wanted them to see. So we got in the ol' car (and I mean OLD) and went there:

Where is the rest of Zach's torso? And is Emmy slowly choking him? Questions abound!

Love those pictures with everything in the background and both kids actually smiling AND looking in the camera at the same time.

Ya rarely ever see baby ducks anywhere in a park, but there were a lot around this one!

Afterwards we went to NorthEast Mall for a little shopping and some dinner, then went home and watched AFV before I finally collapsed around 9:45. I had been sick all weekend and was running on fumes when we got to the mall. Emmy was a little upset I wouldn't take her to Justice. She's so funny. No matter how muhc you rationalize to her that you don't feel good and if we don't go home soon I may fall asleep while driving, but she was still disappointed. I guess one lesson we all learn as parents is no matter how much you do for your kids, sometimes it just isn't enough. But, I know she's a good kid. A great one actually. It really is like watching me when I was a kid. I was so sensitive about things and got upset so easily. But what kid doesn't, ya know? Zach's favourite thing to do now is scream "NO!" when he is asked to anything. I'm probably the most patient person I know, but he tests that repeatedly these days. Then, other times, he is the sweetest kid I've ever seen. He's a real mystery, but one that may be fun to solve.

I found a bunch of old Sierra games from the 1980's on Youtube! People play them so that you can see how to get past a certain point. here are my top 3 faves:

Gold Rush

In this game you are a nobody (no, really) who decides his life is boring so he travels to San Francisco to try and find his brother. Along the way he must decipher lots of clues and try to strike it rich. Was a lot of fun when I played it as a teen-ager. Yeah, a lot of guys would go out with girls, but when ya looked like me...well...the girls just weren't a-lookin'. (sigh)

Space Quest 2

This game came free with my Tandy computer I got for my birthday in 1988. Anyone remember Tandy? No? Okay. Basically you were a janitor who saved the universe in the first game but are now still a janitor and you have to stop the release of insurance salesmen clones from invading. Great plot eh?

King's Quest 1

This game was the first one I ever bought with my own money. Of course, I needed a hint book to beat it, but it was a lot of fun too. I remember using Grandma's photocopier to make a full map of the kingdom so I could navigate it a lot easier. Ahh, to be young again...

So Mom gave us her king-size bed as a mega-Christmas present just because she didn't have the room to keep it. So Tony and I picked it up about 2 months ago but it sat in our garage for the last month. So on Feb 12 I (with some help from Zach) took the old one down, vacuumed all the dust and crap that built up over the last NINE years
and put the new one up. Darn comfy! Now my favourite time of the day is getting into bed and just chilling. Of course, now the kids think OUR bed is now THEIR bed and each night is a challenge to get 'em out.

Since Zach's Valentine's Day lunch was actually ON Valentine's Day I didn't go to work until 3pm. Isn't that sad how that is a half day for me and a whole day for everyone else? Anyways...since I had a couple of hours to kill after lunch I went and got some flowers from Kroger's and brought them up to Cari! She was very surprised. She even Facebooked a picture of them. I'll try and get it on here.

Going to San Antonio this weekend! I don't normally take vacations in March, but I'll make an exception after this year. I can only take so many work thru lunches and no lunch breaks at all before I get real bitter about things. And no one likes a bitter Mikey, right?

"One Fun Birthday party!"

2011-03-04T07:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, now that young Zachary has some classmates, he also gets to go to some pretty neat birthday parties! So the four of us went out to "Country Critters" in Mansfield last Saturday. Literally in the middle of nowhere. But they had lots of animals and lots of manure to accompany them. A few pix:

Me: "Hey sheep...you want some hay...or grass or something?"
Sheep: "Actually...a Big Mac sure would hit the spot."
Me: "Um, yeah, I don't really carry those around with me..."
Sheep: "Ohh..."
Me: "Just kidding. I have some in the car."

Zach: "Hey Dad, what's that smell?"
Me: "Well, it's basically every animal's crap being stepped on over and over..."
Emmy: "Ewww...why anyone thinks pony rides are fun is beyond me."

Nothin' creepy about a giant haybale that looks like a rabbit at all!

My uncle sent me an e-mail of a snake eating a lizard:

Good Lord! Hopefully that will keep him full for a while.

Zach has his rodeo today! Will have some pix next week. It got postponed from last month due to all the ice we got. He sure does like his school. It's almost a shame he'll only get to go there for just this year. But, we have to choose between paying $400.00 a month for this school, or Little Elementary for free. Not that tough a decision if you ask me. Sure will be nice to have some extra money around though.

Emmy finished her TAKS test this week too! If she's anything like me she'll nail this one and then all her teachers will call us and ask why she gets these tests perfectly but gets C's in school. For me, if it's not about something remotely interesting, I tend to lose interest very quickly. I hate that about myself but the harder I try to change it the worse I do. Yet I can recite lines from my favourite TV shows and movies at the drop of a hat. What can ya do, right?

"It's Raining Sunshine!!..."

2011-02-25T08:58:00.000-06:00

Well, not really. I mean, if it rained sunshine, wouldn't we all just burn up or have really bad scars from it? Yes, I've given this a lot of thought. What I was referring to was Cari and Emmy went to the Miranda Cosgrove concert last Saturday night!! A few pix:

Emmy: "Oh man we're gonna see Miranda Cosgrove!"
Cari: "Oops...this is actually the Daniel Cosgrove concert!"
Emmy: "Who?"
Cari: "Um...Matt from 'Beverly Hills 90210'??"
Emmy: "What? What is that?"
Cari: "Nevermind...we'll have to rent Seasons 9 and 10"

Miranda: "So...anyone from out of town?"
Emily: "Yes! We're from Arlington!"
Miranda: "Um...isn't that just the next town over?"
Emily: "Hey it's a different town isn't it? So technically I'm from OUT OF TOWN...(sigh)..."
Miranda: "Um, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I know they had a great time. Glad to see some estrogen-based bonding happening.

So what did Zach and I do? Well...we drove down to the Japanese Gardens but they had closed, so we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was a little cloudy and dark, and I showed Zach where the hiking trail was. But I didn't call it that; I called it the "Super-Scary Forest". Well, he didn't want to go at first, but I assured him there was nothing to be afraid of. So we walked the trails, and he held my hand tightly, and in the end everyone was okay. THEN we went to McDonald's, got some dinner and brought it home. THEN we watched "America's Funniest Videos" and wrestled around for a while until he fell asleep around 9:30pm. All in all, it was nice to have a guys' night.

Have I mentioned how much work sucks lately? Apparently I've been brainwashed and don't think my lunch hour should be mine anymore. We've gotten to take an hour lunch 2 times in the last 3 weeks. I think it's time for a change...which is sad cuz I defended this place to others who hated it, only to become one of them. Then I look at my cousin Sarah who is having a heck of a time finding something she likes despite being college-educated. Remember when having a college degree was your ticket into anywhere you wanted to work? Yeah, I think those days are over...

"Valentine's Day...is Here..."

2011-02-18T05:54:00.000-06:00

...and Zach's school was having a dads-only lunch! Fortunately I was able to get the morning off and was able to go have lunch with him! You never saw so many McDonald's lunch sacks ever! Needless to say, they're never going out of business. A few pix:

Here is the table where we sat! A close up of what that piece of paper is:

The kids told their teacher this information about their dad. Thirteen? Me? Really? Well, maybe at heart ha ha.

Aww, Zach made a Valentine just for me...and maybe Cari. here is what it says inside:

He's such a talent sometimes.

So, now it was time for lunch. And Zach wasted no time:

Never met a cheeseburger he didn't like eh?

Could not have had a better lunch than with my best boy.

Emmy also made her Valentine's box for her class:

A little more pink than I would have used, but it's probably best that she got to decorate it since it was for her class.

Our Spring Break vacation is coming so closer...March 12 we leave for our exotic neighbor to the south...San Antonio. Can't go there enough, right? As long as we do lots of fun things it's all good. And I know Emmy and Zach like going down there.

I wanna go back to Winstar...maybe on March 25th...Harry Connick Jr is performing on that night. I won $130.00 last time I was there. Penny slots...America's great untapped resource!

"Let It Snow!!"

2011-02-12T08:08:00.003-06:00

Yes, after the ice storm that caused every school to be closed for a whole week, and get me out of 3 days of work, then we got some actual snow!! A few pix:

This picture I really like. It's almost as if the snow melted its way onto my car and froze at the same time!

Emmy: "Hey Dad, do you like my snow angel?"
Me: "Um, yeah, it's great. Just don't break my number one rule."
Emmy: "Which is...?"
Me: "Never get any dirt on you...ever."
Emmy: "Yeah I'll get right on that...(sigh)..."

Yes, the sky and the snow were the same colour! You can't even tell if we have a roof anymore!

Just some sinister-looking icicles!! And yes, the Christmas lights are still up. Coming down today though!

Saturday most of the snow melted and the sun came out! So, while Cari and Emmy were out selling cookies, Zach and I went to...the park!:

This is his favourite thing to play on. He runs at the big wheel and tries to spin completely around and get back to the platform. He can usually do it but his shoes were a little wet from the snow.

Me: "So how does that snow taste boy?"
Zach: "Oh this isn't snow. It's cotton candy!"
Me: "They sell that around here?"
Zach: "Yeah! They're next to the churro cart!"
Me: "Wow...this is some park!"

And, finally, Emmy and I had our annual Daddy/Daughter dance last night!:

Me: "Emmy! Did you take my quesadilla??"
Emmy: "Hey, if it's on the floor it's fair game!"
Me: "Aww...ya got me on a technicality...(sigh)"

I think my belt was a little too tight. My gut was a little more pronounced that I care for. But don't we look adorable!

Afterwards we went to Braum's for our traditional ice cream treat.

I think it's good for a parent to give a little more attention to their first born every now and then. When there's a younger sibling, especially one who needs a lot of attention, the older one feels a little left out sometimes. Even if they don't feel that way. Nipping things in the bud isn't a bad thing.

"Let It Snow!!"

2011-02-03T19:00:00.003-06:00

And sleet...and ice over the whole county!! I do not remember it getting this cold ever! Canada...yes...but not here! Cari ended up getting the whole week off and I thought I might too but then they said we had to come in Thursday...grrr...about 25% of the office showed up. I should have stayed home. But we had a nice couple of days so far. I went to Kroger about 5 times party to get out of the house but we also needed hot chocolate! Here are a few pix:

Man that is come crazy ice storm we had! It's still out there too! With more snow and showers to come tonight and tomorrow morning. They've GOT to close work tomorrow...they just have too lol.

So, being cooped up indoors, we had to entertain ourselves. First was a gingerbreak Christmas tree we put together:

And it tastes even better, said Frog.

I went through my junior high yearbooks. Here's 6th grade:

Oh GAW was that embarassing. I'm fairly certain no one in my house knew it was picture day. Do miss the hair though.

Here's 7th grade:

Things are looking up appearance wise. Why did I wear nothing but sweaters for three years? And that collar? Could it BE any bigger, as Chandler would say?

OMG I'm cold all the time when I'm at home. Ten degrees the other day. 23 is the high tomorrow. And the Super Bowl is in 3 days! And it's in my backyard! I thought about trying to get down to Sundance Square and see what ESPN is doing but it's ice all over the roads, everywhere. Ah well. I'll catch it next time yes?

"How Patriotic!"

2011-01-29T22:24:00.002-06:00

Yes, it is that time of year when Emmy and her 4th grade pals sing about the good ol' US of A!! There were slow jams...fast jams...and a slide show! A few pix:

Emily: "Oh GAW how long is this song anyways?"
Girl on right: "Oh hush! There's only 75 more verses to sing!"
Emily: "How many were there to begin with?"
Girl on right: "76!"

Hey, how many people can have silly expressions at the same time? The answer...seven, apparently.

Young Zachary got a new bed!!

Aww...he's all tuckered out...from what? Going to pre-k I guess...?

Just kidding! Have you ever seen a more adorable young man? Besides moi of course...

Emmy has been selling Girl Scout cookies like some kind of...tornado! She's almost at 700! Her goal is 1,000. Of course, 1,200 would get her two paid weeks at Girl Scout camp. Plus, she can get a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge too. Lots of fun things. She is a natural salesman I must say. She doesn't even have to try and the cookies sell themselves. I wonder how much credit she should get ha ha.

Cousin Tony helped me move our new bed this morning! Well, not new, but new to us. Mom gave us her king size bed since she doesn't need two. It was our Christmas present! And there is nothing more that we need! Ours makes so much noise that it's almost impossible for one of us to get up and not wake the other. We should have just returned the box spring when we heard its loud screech when we bought it, but being the consummate procrastinators, we didn't. Ah well. Makes this one seem that much nicer by comparison.

We now have Netflix for our Wii! Any movie (almost) at any time! Pretty sweet.

"Our Camera...Is..."

2011-01-22T09:09:00.004-06:00

...lost! We believe it fell out of my pocket at Pancho's Mexican Buffet. When I went ack up there to see if anyone had found it of course everyone claimed ignorance. Fortunately I had gotten all the pictures off of it except for some really great ones I took of Zach at the park while Emmy and Cari were selling Girl Scout cookies. I guess I will take him back up there and try to recreate them as best I can. Something tells me he won't mind one bit going back there lol.

Good thing Emmy got a camera for Christmas!! She said we could borrow it until we get one. Isn't she nice? Her grandparents took them on a trip to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago and she took some great pix! Here are a few:

A loose cannon on a bolted-down cannon ha ha.

This one is pretty cool in that it gets the state flag just right against the capital building.

Koi! Lots of koi!

Cari and I went and saw Black Swan last Sunday. Here is a trailer!:

Darn creepy. What people will do to achieve their goals...is it worth it? My goal has always been to live comfortably and not stress over anything. Took till I was 33 but I managed to swing it for now. Of course, things change, sometimes overnight, and we're expected to keep up or get buried. I guess that's one good thing about having God in your corner. He tends to keep you focused on what's really important and not get caught up in earthly matters that have to impact on our ultimate goal: Heaven. I'd like to think I'm on the right path. Then I think maybe I'm not so much. Hopefully if not I'll see a sign somewhere.

"Six Years? Already?"

2011-01-15T08:50:00.002-06:00

Well, not for another 5 days, but who's counting, right? Besides me I mean.

In a way this little site of mine has become a sort of time machine into the past. Life just rushes past us so fast but never seeming that fast and maybe I'm not willing to let the great things that happen get lost in a sea of fuzzy memories. So I kept a detailed log of things we did and experiences we shared. Here are a few:

Would a good father dress his daughter like this? (April 2nd 2005)

The answer is a resounding "Heck no!!" If you ever wondered what a 3-year old girl would wear if she was given the freedom to pick out her own clothes, here it is! From the turquoise hat to the purple striped pants to the red shirt, Emily has given us a glimpse into the future of what she'll want to wear in public.

Emmy and I still laugh about this one.

"Gone Baptizin' " May 12 2006

I think I first mentioned baptizing these kids like 3 months ago? Finally we got it done on April 30 which also happens to be my grandma's birthday. She turned...78 I think? Yeah, that's it. Isn't that terrible?

Afterwards we all went to this place called Birra Poretti's which has a super breakfast buffet complete with eggs benedict, fruit, waffles, and even pizza...yes, pizza. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat any of it due to a wicked stomach virus that had me literally walking on air so as not to upset the tum-tum. Felt great the next day! Cari promised me she would take me there again one of these days though.

So nice to be able to have a boy to keep our wonderful name going. To be the MAN...a good role for me. Plus, I had my own reasons for wanting a boy. Teach him some sensitivity, to express his feelings, to cry when he wants to or needs to...and to always take care of his family, should he have one someday.

"They Say It's Your Birthday!..." Oct 27 2006

Detroit is down 3-1 in the World Series. Can they win it? Probably not. No one on that team other then Pudge Rodriguez has much postseason experience. But hey, they gave it a shot right? I remember the Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns brought in major leaguers to win his softball game vs. Shelbyville, one of them being Darryl Strawberry. Later, Homer complains that Darryl is "bigger then me, faster then me, and already has more friends around the plant then I do." to which Bart says "You're the one who told me I could do anything if I just put my mind to it!" to which Homer replies "No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you." Bart then says "Gotcha, can't win, don't try". That's not a good thing to teach your kids...if it was then nothing would have been accomplished.

This was always one of my favourite Simpsons episodes. Had it taped for years. At various points in my life I did stop trying. Didn't really know what I was supposed to be doing, ya know? I know other people feel the same way sometimes. I never had a strong desire to be rich or anything, but just to live comfortably. Who know where I'd be right now if Cari hadn't come along. I always tell her she saved me. She says, "I know..." and laughs. As long as she knows.

"Labour Day 2008!" Sept 2 2008

Zach: "This can's been empty for about an hour. I'd sure love another one. But, what are ya gonna do?"

OH MY GOSH this kid takes some cute pictures. Ever since I came across Snarkyville I have really enjoyed putting funny captions to pictures. Zach makes it easy.

I'd love to keep going, but I've really got to go to the bathroom. Kids are in San Antonio with Cari's parents this weekend! Working out this morning then cleaning up the house while Cari is at my grandma's 83rd birthday party / tea party THEN tonight we're going to Winstar Casino!! My first time going here. Wish me luck!

"Brrrrrrr!!!!!"

2011-01-07T09:40:00.002-06:00

And by that, I mean on January 1st of 2011 Emmy went down to the YMCA outdoor pool to do the annual "Polar Bear Plunge". Channel 5 was even there reporting it! We never saw ourselves on TV but we were on their website. A few pix:

Oh man it was like 30 degrees that morning! She sure doesn't look like she's having a good time...but she probably did.

Here she is getting out FAST. So fast that she was the first one out but the last one in ha ha.

Me: "So Emmy, what was it like to jump in freezing water like that?"
Emmy: "Well, if I were a guy I probably would be sterile!"
Me: "Um...well, let's just be glad it was you and not me!"

Moivng on...

Zach got a bathtub shaving set for Christmas! Here he is testing it out:

He hurt his eye on Christmas Eve bumping into Emmy while he was playing with something and she was playing Boppit Bounce! So despite what you heard, he was not in a boxing match.

Going to the zoo this weekend to get Emmy's Girl Scout cookies! Yes, it is that time of year where our free time is spent selling cookies to anyone and everyone. Hopefully we won't have any incidents like we had a couple of years ago. Zach, Emmy and I were walking around the neighborhood and we came to this older man's house. Well, Zach proceeds to take every box out of our wagon and put it on his porch. Then he asked the question he always asks after he eats a Thin Mint:

"You wanna smell my breath?"

Well, it didn't help that Emmy is cracking up laughing while I'm trying to get Zach to stop taking cookies out of the wagon. Meanwhile, the man is dumbfounded at what he happened to open his door to. Ahhh, good times...

So school started Monday, but not for Zach! I forgot to check his schedule and make plans for him, but eventually Cari came home and worked from home. Zach asked, "I wish I could come to work with you Daddy" and it about melted my heart. I told him, "Well, there wouldn't be any place for you to sit" and he says, "Well, i could just sit on your lap!" Gaw I love him so much.

Zach read his first book last night! It was a "Winnie The Pooh" and Friends ABCs. Of course, each word was accompanied by its own picture so it wasn't that tough, but I sure am proud of him for getting as far as he did at age five. So glad he gets his advanced reading from his big sister. We even recorded it on his Winnie The Pooh and Friends tape recorder he got for his birthday! Apparently we're forcing Winnie on him lately ha ha. He never fails to amaze me with what he says and does. I try to enjoy and remember these days as they appear to be fleeting as he grows up. One time Emmy and I were at Gameworks. She was about 6 and kept asking me to take her to game after game and just looked at me like I hung the moon. Can't believe she's going to be 10 next year, She still wants me to do fun things with her but she has so many more interests now and there's never enough time. Ever. Whenever you hear someone say that don't think they're exaggerating.

"Christmas Time Is..."

2010-12-30T09:47:00.004-06:00

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!"

2010-12-23T08:39:00.003-06:00

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..."

2010-12-20T15:35:00.002-06:00

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...!"

2010-12-14T08:58:00.002-06:00

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!"

2010-12-10T09:27:00.003-06:00

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!"

2010-12-01T15:35:00.005-06:00

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..."

2010-11-19T15:40:00.003-06:00

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..."

2010-11-12T08:55:00.001-06:00

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!"

2010-11-05T15:23:00.001-05:00

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..."

2010-10-29T09:32:00.003-05:00

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...

"The End Of An Era..."

2010-10-22T16:12:00.000-05:00

And by that, I mean with the bumping off of the New York Yankees in the ALCS, the Texas Rangers are now the ultimate power in the universe!! We were watching Game Six Friday night and man we were shouting and hollering so loud I think the whole town of Arlington heard us ha ha. Man, this team is built for a dynasty, mark my words. We're young, we have dismantled the highest payroll team ever, and we're about to go to San Francisco and show the Giants how it's done.

Zach had his last T-ball game Saturday :(

At least he got a trophy:

Here's a personal fave of mine:

This one...I may have to print and display proudly...somewhere...

Our camera has been found...again. I swear, this thing disappears faster then...well, something that vanishes a lot. I did not find it until about 2 hours before his T-Ball party. I wish our camera took better long-distance pictures.

Zach actually wants to play real baseball with pitchers and more action. Unfortunately he's not quite old enough yet, but something tells me he'll get there all too soon. When I see pictures of Emmy at age 2 or 3 I always get a little nostalgic. I'm so glad we spent a lot of time together on Saturday mornings. We always think they'll be that age and it seems for a long time, they are. Then...they're 9 going on 10 and then they're very unconcerned with you. Guess that's the way life is.

"ALCS Babee!!"

2010-10-15T00:41:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it...after watching my Rangers lose two home games in the ALDS they go back to tampa Bay and finish it off Cliffy-style! Now...on to New York, where we are in serious need of some spirit-purging of Yankees past if you know what I mean. Can we do it? I think so. Will we? Remains to be seen.

Here is the video of the Ranger Red Round-up I went to a couple of weeks ago. Still one of my all-time favorite memories.

When I was about 17 The Topps Baseball Card company released their ToppsGold line where they gold-foil stamped their 1992 set. They had these scratch-off cards where you could win a pack of 10 gold cards. So I sent in a few of them expecting like 2 or 3 packs. Well, I get this big box in the mail and it had like 17 packs in it! Still have all of them to this day! But one of them is my prize:

I have got to get him to autograph it one of these days. Hopefully I didn't miss the train at the round-up

"Love Me A Four-Day Weekend!"

2010-10-12T04:10:00.000-05:00

I think the title says it all yes? I had to use two vacation days because the kids were out of school for the fair and for Columbus Day. And, since I have to...have to...use all my vacation time before 12-31-2010 no better time! And what a weekend we had!:

Friday: Took Zach to his school, then me and Emmy went to Chick Fil A for breakfast, then to my mom's work, then to my work for our picnic which wasn't ready when we got there so we missed out (ugh!), then to McDonald's for lunch, THEN to Zach's school to take him a Happy Meal, then home. I asked Emmy what she wanted to to nxt and she said "Can we just go home and chill?" which I am always okay with.

Saturday: Went to Zach's T-ball game, then to Sam's, then to Emmy's soccer game, then back home where I...I...cooked dinner for us! My famous chicken-fried chicken with some mashed potatoes and steamed zucchini. We didn't eat untl about 8pm but I think it was worth it.

Sunday: Watched the Rangers lose ANOTHER game to Tampa Bay to force a Game 5 in the ALDS. Man, what is it with these Texas teams? The Cowboys embarrased themselves 34-27 to the Titans thanks to lots of Dallas-famous penalties. Did the laundry though.

Monday: The three of us went and took Greendad (my dad) to lunch at Chili's. Well, that's not quite correct. He paid for his lunch. At least this time I paid for the rest of us. Went home and after a couple rounds of Just Dance we went to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. MMMMM!!

Sometimes people send me e-mails of cool pictures. I always say I'm going to feature them on here but I never do. Well not this time. Check these pix out:

This is a waterfall reflecting the sunlight at just the right time of the day and it looks like fire is pouring down. Too cool right?

These are some actual pictures taken back in the 1880's and 1890's in North Dakota and Minnesota. When Uncle Dean sent this to me I responsed, "Thanks for sharing with us what it was like when you and Dad were kids." Oh how I slay me.

Lately I've been interested in our world's history. Although much of it was never recorded or written down, a lot of it managed to make its way into our current lives. Every time I watch "Back To The Future" I always wish it were really possible to travel back and be a part of everything. I know if you change even the slightest thing it would change history dramatically. But, of course, I wouldn't be able to resist and do it anyway. Take a bullet meant for Abraham Lincoln? John F Kennedy? John Lennon? What would be different today if I did? Something tells me I don't think we'll ever know. But it sure is food for thought.

"Ranger Red Round-up!"

2010-10-06T09:05:00.001-05:00

When the city of Arlington said they were going to have a celebration of the Rangers winning the A.L. West crown for 2010, I only had a day's notice to ask for the time off. So you can imagine my surprise when I got the afternoon off approved! So I stopped by Chick Fil A for my weekly Friday morning breakfast of a chicken burrito, hash browns, sweet tea and a little gravy on the side, then made my way over to the Ballpark In Arlington to see a few ballplayers, a couple of owners, and whoever else might show up. And show up they did! Some pix please:

105.3 The Fan was there to broadcast the festivities. Since they air most Ranger games, I guess it's okay that they were there.

Uncle Sam on stilts? Apparently so. No questions asked.

Helicopter coverage! I thought it was going to land and someone special come out, but no such luck.

And now, the guests of honor:

From left to right:

Mitch Moreland (relief pitcher)
Jim Sundberg (former catcher/broadcaster now front office guy)
Ron Washington (our beloved manager)
Thad Levine (asst. GM)
Jon Daniels (GM)
Chuck Greenberg (our new owner)
Nolan Ryan (um...no explanation necessary)
Mayor Robert Cluck

Another picture? Sure...

Nolan Ryan: "Before the year I predicted whoever won more games would win the division...I'm so smart..."
JD: "Man Nolan's a genius..."
Ron: "Wish I had predicted that..."

I also videotaped the whole thing so I can watch it whenever I want. There was this nutjob who actually stood on a bench in front of everyone so HE could see better...you can actually hear me shouting "SIT DOWN!!!" over and over to him. Why are people so dense sometimes?

What a great day. Outside of a long-range view of a few players when I go to a ballgame, I never got to hang out with the team like that. One great day. And now I just found out that the Rangers have won Game One of the ALDS vs. The Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon 5-1!! Man it is a great time to be alive in Arlington right now. Only one way it can get better...starts with a W and ends with an S.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video/?vid=05728242-4d59-47a8-b61d-879957af9d13&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral_player" target="_new" title="Rangers, Rays ready for Game 1">Video: Rangers, Rays ready for Game 1</a>

"More Flags...More Fun!"

2010-09-30T09:38:00.001-05:00

Yes, to celebrate Mom turning the big 5-6, we took her to Six Flags Over Texas for Passholder's Appreciation Day! Not sure what was going on to show us how much they appreciate us, but oh well. A few pix:

Here we are coming down the big hill on the Log Flume ride. If you think it was difficult taking a picture as you're careening down a big hill, you'd be correct.

We're actually on the mini-mine train but it runs perpendicular to the Flashback so it looks like we're going to run right into it. But, we don't of course.

Mom: "Are the tea cups supposed to be full of hot tea while we're riding it?"
Me: "Um, you haven't been here in a while, have ya?"
Emmy: "Anyone have any ointment for 2nd degree burns?"
Me: "Yes, it comes free if you're a passholder."

Me: "So how long have you guys been working at Six Flags?"
Joker: "What do you mean...work here?"
Riddler: "He doesn't know anything Joker...just play it cool...soon we will rule the world!"
Me: "Please tell me you're...joking...ha ha ha..."
Joker: "Ugh...worst joke ever."

What a great shot!! I need to find some cool Warner Bros. picture frames for this one.

We have cool weather!! Sunday was in the 80's and it has been gorgeous every day this week. Finally a reason to get excited about Texas weather. Now we need it just a little chillier and we'll be "good to go".

Tomorrow I'm going to a celebration at ye olde Ballpark In Arlingon to congratulate he AL WEST CHAMPION TEXAS RANGERS!! There's going to be some players (I hope) plus our new owner Nolan Ryan is supposed to be there. Plus...hot dogs! How cool is that? I posted a while back about how much I love this team, and now it's going to pay off. Of course I'll have my camcorder and camera in hand to capture the festivities...with about a thousand other people I'm sure. Ah well. The more the merrier, right? Pics next week!

"Cari is How Old? Pt II"

2010-09-24T09:26:00.002-05:00

Yes, she is still 34. We had another celebration a week later where I was able to give her my gift(s). Among them:

A coffee cup that says, "I'll rise but I refuse to shine!" I think that says it all...

Cari: "Ooh, what a lovely watch!"
Me: "Just wait until Christmas when I get a battery for it."
Cari: "Oh...goodie...?"
Jack: "Do I have enough phones? I think I need more."

Only one of the kids is actually saying "Cheese" when I asked them to. Any idea who it is? No hints.

Getting real tired of it not feeling like fall around here. As I recall, fall begins on Sept 21st. here we are, on the 24th, and it is still in the 90's every day with no wind. Plus, large clouds form overhead making it humid. However, as my Facebook friend Rebecca Miller of CW33's weather team stated yesterday, a cold front is about to come our way. I sure hope so. As you may know from reading this thing lo these many years, cold weather is when I come alive. metaphorically speaking of course. I've always been alive. But I really get in a reminiscent mood when I have my Christmas-scneted candles lit and you have to wear a coat to go outside. Seven months ago we got 14 inches of snow dumped on us and part of me hopes we get it again. Of course, when we have a winter like that, our summer becomes that much hotter which we all complain about. There's just no making anyone happy sometimes, but I know God does the best He can.

"Cari Is How Old?"

2010-09-17T03:50:00.000-05:00

34 man...and she thinks she's old...? Try being (almost) 36 and wondering if you'll ever really grow up. Was referring to me there in case you didn't know. We went out Saturday night and went to Joe T Garcia's and the Pourhouse for some drinks afterwards. Was a lot of fun. A few pix:

Jerramy: "Do a little dance...make a little love...get down tonight!"
Me: "Um, yeah, that's great...do you know any songs after 1976?"

Cari: "HA HA HA HA HA HA...that was the funniest thing you've ever said Mike!"
Me: "Um, I didn't say anything...? Did I?"
Cari: "HA HA HA HA...you didn't? Then what am I laughing at...?"
Me: "Um, Jerramy dancing?"

This one...was...this guy had a fishing pole in the back of his truck and well...me being the jokester I am...you get the idea.

I continued my annual tradition of bring Cari flowers on her birthday to her workspace on Wednesday. I started in 2006 and 2007 at Pharmacare, then 2008 and 2009 at LifeSynch in Fort Worth...THEN 2010 at LifeSynch in Los Colinas. Just a little way I can show her what she means to me and our family for around $10 or $15 ha ha. So many things in our lives we are unable to control sometimes...this one is all me.

"Let's Play Ball!"

2010-09-13T20:48:00.002-05:00

Yes, my son Zach has finally been inducted into one of the great experiences of a boy's youth: Little League!! Actually, it's a T-Ball league, but he's on his way! Here are a few pix:

Me: "Okay Zach, when a batter hits the ball to you, pick it up off the ground and throw it. Got it?"
Zach: "Look, Dad, it's 109 degrees out here...why are we torturing ourselves playing this silly game? Sonic's got 1/2 drinks!"
Me: "I'll start the car...tell the coach we'll be back in 15."

Great action shot! Thanks to my lovely daughter Emmy for this one.

Zach: "Hey Dad, does this hat make my head look big?"
Me: "Nah...wait a minute...yes."

I remember when I was about 17 and some of the younger kids in our church were playing little league. All I could do was lament the fact that I was too old to play. I think the cut off was 14 or so. I really wish I had enjoyed those days more instead of pouting because I had to participate in some kind of physical activity. Looking back it was one of my most favourite times in my childhood. I guess the real motiviation to have kids is to kind of re-live those days. I'd love to coach his team at some point. Of course, what can you do when you don't get off until 7pm every night? At least I get to be at all of his games which is on my list of importance. Maybe I should get that list printed and distributed so everyone will know. On second thought they'd probably just throw it away and replace it with their own.

"Isn't Zach A Little Young?"

2010-09-09T09:45:00.004-05:00

Well, if you mean shaving, then yes, since he's only 5 (almost). But that didn't stop him from at least wanting to see if he could do it. As it turns out, he's a natural! A few pix:

And yes, before you ask if it's a pretend blade, it is!

Had our annual Labour Day party at Aunt Becky's house! I brought my camera but not too much happened until we tried to take our group picture. A few pix:

Zach: "Hey Dad, do I look like The Last Airbender?"
Me: "Who?"
Zach: "(sigh) nevermind..."
Me: "If you said The Last Windbreaker, then I know a few people who can do that!"

Dean: "Okay everyone! Becky's house is slightly crooked so everyone lean to the left."
Becky: "My house is NOT crooked! Maybe your precious $10,000 camera is 'crooked'!"
Dean: "Not a chance...it's perfect in every way...just like me..."

(GROAN)

We got like a mile of rain dumped on us yesterday! I tried to take some shortcuts but they were all flooded out! Finally made it to work though. So far I'm not on the care line so hopefully my bonus checks will stay the way they have been. I have already put my skills to good use though. Feels good to know that something you were apprehensive about turns out to be not so bad.

Zach has his first t-ball game this Saturday! As a dad who used to play Little League I couldn't be prouder that a kid of mine wants to play something besides soccer. Not that soccer's bad, mind you. Just...baseball will always be a big deal to me. I took Zach and Emmy to the park a couple weeks ago to work on his skills. He's got some talent! Good reflexes, good swing...now we just need to learn the basics and he'll be "good to go".

"What Would You Do For Free Burgers"?

2010-09-03T21:31:00.002-05:00

For me...this:

Now honestly, we don't have a strong desire to go to Whataburger every chance we get. Frankly, they cost an arm and a leg for the 4 of us to eat there. But I got an e-mail from a co-worker about this contest so I entered. Now I used to LOVE Whataburger in my semi-unemployed days. I would go there at 7 in the morning and eat a hamburger at Lakeside Park in Duncanville. Geez, what a waste of my early 20's. Or was it?

Got some awesome rain this week. Then we got some sun. Put the 2 together and we get:

A rainbow! Seems like we've been seeing more and more lately. To be honest, I don't remember seeing many of them when I was a kid.

Cari had a wreck this week! Some guy plowed into her rear and we had to have our beloved Saturn Ion towed. Now Caliber Collision says it's going to take 2 weeks to fix it.

Looks awful doesn't it? Fortunately no one was hurt. But Cari's neck is in pain. She saw a doctor. Of all things to happen right before Labour Day weekend...(sigh).

Work finally stated me on customer care training. Hopefully they won't put me on the phone line that those calls come in cuz if they do then my bonus checks all but evaporate. I think the time has come to maybe pursue another workplace. This one has sucked any fun we ever used to have ever out of it and left us with just a job and not much else. Now I'm grateful as anyone to not really feel the economic crunch that so many others have felt, and praise God for that. For 2 1/2 years I really enjoyed coming to work and now...not so much. But I'm really good at what I do and maybe another company will show that to me more then this one. We shall see.

Did I waste my 20's? I don't think it matters if I did or not. We can't go back and fix anything. If we could, would I do anything differently? Like what? Have less fun? More fun? I've come to the conclusion that no matter what we change it just won't matter later on. I'm not upset about it, mind you. I've enjoyed my life ever since I had Emmy. Seems like it has more of a meaning then just wake up, work, go to bed. I'm always trying to come up with fun things for us to do, some successful, others not so much. Hopefully Zach and Emmy will get more fulfillment out of their childhoods then others. I think they will. I also think they will know I was part of it.

"Schooltime is Here!"

2010-08-27T09:23:00.002-05:00

Yes, Emily and now young Zachary have both started their respective schools this week!! Old hat for Emmy since she's been coming here for 5 years. She seems to be enjoying 4th grade pretty good. I met her teacher Ms. Bigam briefly and she seemed nice. Kind of unassuming. Maybe that's a good thing sometimes. But for Zach, this is brand new territory! Cari got him into a pre-k program through a nearby church and so far he's really enjoying it. Ever since he could talk (and subsequently talk non-stop) I always wondered how he would do in an environment where he has to be quiet some of the time. But so far, so good. I really wish I had taken some pictures but Cari took some with her phone. Soon...soon...

Took my external hard drive up to work and organized all of my pictures. Yes, I back them up religiously since Flickr may have some kind of meltdown at any given moment and WHAM! I lose them all. So far they've been the epitome of stability. But you can't predict what will happen. Anyways...this is something that would have taken me forever at home on our dinosaur computer but since work isn't as busy as it has been I have the time to do it. Now every single picture has a name and they're all in their own folder organized by year. Plus, all my collectables have their own folder. That one was the most fun to work one obviously ha ha.

Turns out I was missing some so I had to go to Flickr and get them off of that. I found a program called Downloadr that will download all the pictures in a set at once which saved me even more time! I'm all about economizing time these days. I wonder why. Anyways...I found a few pictures I had forgotten about over the years. If you know me at all, I hate forgetting about anything. Here are a few pictures that amuse me so:

Zach Sleeping

He still has a diaper on! I can't rememebr the last diaper I had to change on him.

Ethan Eating Cake

Look how short his hair was! Now he has this moptop and all I can think about is grabbing a pair of clippers and cutting it Marine-style lol.

Emily eating ice cream

My goodness I can't believe she was ever this small. Where does the time go?

Cari with Zach on his first day

If Zach weren't so small already I'd wonder if he was ever this small. I can still pick him up though.

I've deduced that life is like being on a train going three miles an hour. It never slows down, it never speeds up, it just goes. Be sure to pay attention to everything you see because pretty soon it will pass you by and you don't get it back.

I wish I had figured this out before I turned 30. Most of my 20's was just one wasted day after another. But I'm not regretting it. I know that the meaning of life is to make each day count. Do something for yourself, even if it's just enjoying an ice cream cone or sitting outside and watching the stars. Every day. One thing. You'll be glad you did.