Where The Dragons Play

Saturday

2008-05-12T13:16:00.002-05:00

CE had her first choir competiton and EP was at the State competition for Science Fair. I dropped EP off and zoomed away to see CE perform. Her choir did fantastic and received a 1 (this is the highest rating incase you are not familiar with the scoring system). Zoomed back to get EP and see how she had done. She received an EXCELLENT rating and was 1 point away from a SUPERIOR rating. The projects on either side of her were essentially the same thing and she blew them both away so there is a small side victory for her as well.
Now that those two things are over we can re-focus on ball and 4H again. If I survive through June it will be a miracle :)

Add To The Insanity

2008-04-03T08:22:00.003-05:00

Look at me making sacrifices! I am NOT playing hockey this session because simply we don't have the time. CE is on a 12U travel softball team and they are currently into two-a-week practices. What this means is every Tuesday and Thursday we are running to softball practice. The last weekend in April will start the first weekend long tournaments. May will bring 3 more tournaments as well as practice days as before. Then it all breaks loose! June starts the "season" with games on Tuesdays and Thursdays AND tournaments every weekend. So we are going to have softball 5 out of the 7 days of the week. All of this will culminate in July with the trip to Georgia for the Fastpitch World Series. So what? Let's not forget that every other Tuesday are 4H meetings. There are also Girl Scout meetings on Tuesdays. To add to this, our local fair, the wrap up for 4H (essentially) is mid-June!

Can there be more you ask?
OH YES THERE CAN!

Two days ago I received a phone call from a coach. He needs another player for his 14U softball team. He was told to call me to see if EP wanted to play!
She does. I think the real clincher to her wanting to play was the idea of her playing against her OLD team. I don't know if she's looking to meet up with old friends or hopes to drive them into the dirt with a crushing defeat! Either way, she really wants to play. I can't very well tell her "no, because CE makes life too crazy for you to do anything". That wouldn't be very good parenting ... although, it would prevent my brains from leaking out my ears. Hmmmm. Anywhoooo. She is gonna play and their games are in ... well ... JUNE! Tuesdays and Fridays. YES ... TUESDAYS!!!
What I really need is ONE more thing to do on Tuesday. So I called the coach and told him. Yes she wants to play ... BUT ... and I explained the schedule conflicts and that she may need a constant ride to games and practices. He seemed happy to have her and said we'd work something out. So here we go! Hang on tight! It would have been better to have had games on Monday and Wednesday though as that would have put softball seven days a week! Rock on!

Oh There You Are!

2008-03-26T09:24:00.002-05:00

I've been really bad about posting something here. Some of it is time, some of it is because I wanted to say something earlier but wasn't sure how to put it in words.
The past few months have been absolutely crazy and sad. At the end of December my father-in-law died. I'm lost without him! He was such an amazing man that not having him around has really crushed me.
As if that wasn't enough the young woman that we rent our OTHER house to was killed in a car accident in February. She was a wonderful, friendly person who will also be missed, especially by her 4 children.
Our two sheep had lambs and of the four lambs that were born, only 1 survived and we nearly lost the one mother. We're done with the tragedy. Let's move on to the GOOD stuff shall we???
So in recent news ...
EP did well at the the school science fair and ended up with a spot at the District science fair. We sat through the awards ceremony and as it was nearing the end still had not heard her name called for anything. Then she was awarded a microscope as a prize. There were only 3 of these given out so that was very cool. Shortly after that they announced that she was going to go to the STATE science fair. She had won a spot! She was ranked 27th of the 50 people that get to go to the State competition!
CE continues to play softball. She had to write a paper for her coach explaining the intricacies of the positions that she plays and then name 3 players who play(ed) that position(s). She did such a fantastic job the coach said she had the best paper and wondered how much of it I had done. Admittedly I helped find players, however, beyond that she did all the other research and wrote it herself. He also complimented her last night at practice too. He said, "I just love her! She always listens and does what she's told - without complaint - she works hard always and puts it all out there EVERYTIME!" She's a great ball player he says. We knew that! Just goes to show you don't have to be a fantastic pitcher in fastpitch softball to be a "great" player!
Hopefully all her hard work pays off. Come May it is gonna be one busy softball season!
Okay I know ... that's enough for now ... first nothing then this overload of stuff.
Hopefully I can get back to you soon and let you know what's going on more often.

Current Netflix movies: High Spirits, Bad Girls, CSI Season 4
Current Hobby / Fixation: Learning Japanese

Awesome job girl!!!!

2007-10-08T08:36:00.000-05:00

We are almost done the XC season. Next weekend is the final meet. However, so far, the ultimate XC meet was this one!!!! To give you a frame of reference. Last year, at this very same meet, EP ran a time of 17:04.61. Now considering this was a solid 4 minutes off of her time at the beginning of the season, this was good. The fact
that she had run her best time and had taken 4 minutes off was fantastic. This year she has improved quite a bit ... oh yeah, hang on. The time last year allowed her to place 58th out of 82 runners. Okay, now where was I? Oh yes! This year EP has been trying to really push herself and improve on her running as well as her times and she has set herself the goal of keeping up with and beating the one girl on her team who gets first place. So how did it all turn out??? Well, hang on a sec, I'll tell you ... her time? 14:52.35 (which in itself is AWESOME, especially since her time goal this year was to break 15 minutes. Where did that put her? Well it was good enough to beat the girl on her team that usually comes first. Yeah it was only by 3 seconds ... but she DID it! So that placed her first on her team. So how does that compare to everyone else you ask? There were 83 runners, almost the same exact number as last year ... and she ended up 16!!!!! Freaking 16 out of 83!!!!! How awesome is THAT!!!!!! Way to go Mongoose !!!!!

Never A Dull Moment

2007-09-25T07:43:00.000-05:00

AE and LE are moving out of their rented house into their newly purchased house. However, since they have to be out of the rental about 15 days prior to moving into the new one they are moving all their stuff into BL and JK's garage and then coming to stay with us. What we need are a few more people living in my house. With my brother living there even two bathrooms is not going to be sufficient, although if I can get ONE more male living in the house I'd be allowed to leave the seat up :)

BL was rear-ended by some woman last night, sufficiently smashing up the backend of their brand new truck. They have only had it for about a month or so.

While taking the trash out this past weekend I happened to look out in the pasture and see a bunch of little brown fuzzy things running around. No, they weren't Tribbles! They were, however, 10 little chicks. Apparently one of the hens has been stashing and sitting on her eggs. Apparently we didn't have enough to do!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention too that EP ran a 15:42 two XC meets ago. This was good enough to make her FIRST on her team AND placed her high enough in the ranks of ALL the girls that she got a medal (20th)! That rocks. This past weekend she ran a 16:27 on a very TOUGH course and got a ribbon for being 53rd overall. I know that sounds like it's real bad but when you consider there were 139 girls running, that's awesome. Even though she has not run this course before and about 1/4 mile of it was uphill, 16:27 is still her second best time this season too. She got 3rd on her team which means so far she has scored for her team every meet, and she wasn't that far behind the first and second girl. She has a meet tonight. It's a smaller meet and i'm hoping she does real well. Good luck EP!!!! Go get 'em!

Cool Running!

2007-09-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

I was super proud of my daughter, EP, this past weekend. Her XC meet was late afternoon this time and gave us lots of time to talk about the course (she'd run it before) and talk about things she could do to help her time. Her personal goal was to reach the 16 minute mark. Last year on the same course she ran 19:26. Her best time this year so far was 17:19. It cooled down a little bit in the afternoon as a storm began closing in and the sloppy, muddy course was overcome by the large spikes her coach had put in her shoes prior to the bus leaving the school. Finally I had done all the coaching/pep-talking I could do. It was up to her. She got a really good start and had a decent time at the one mile mark. I went up into the stands to watch. I watched as the one girl who is always first on the team finished. I looked at the clock thinking she's not going to make her 16 minutes. There are usually 2 or 3 other girls that finish ahead of her. Then ... it happened ... she rounded the corner and headed for the finish! She was going to be second on her team! I watched her cross the line and hit the stop button on the stopwatch. I looked down at the stopwatch and immediately fumbled for my phone to call her mother. The stopwatch stared back.
16:38
Unbelievable!
Her coach saw her after she finished and went on and on about how she never expected to see her next and what an amazing run she had. One of the girls who usually comes in 2nd or 3rd asked her what place she got. EP told her 81 (there were 120 runners). The girl hesitated and asked again. She was just as shocked. She had placed 97th. EP had beaten her by almost a full minute.
Even the girl that comes in first on the team only beat EP by 50 seconds.
I know she will NEVER be in the top 10, okay i probably shouldn't say never, but the likelihood is well ...you know. But I have high hopes that at that rate she'll come in first for the team OR at least fractions of a second behind the girl who comes in first for the team.
I am one proud papa!

Survived?

2007-09-06T11:44:00.000-05:00

The sheep went on a date. They are off to another farm to be bred. This means that EP no longer has any chores to do.

EP ran in her CC meet on Saturday and scored for her team. You have to be top 5 of the team to count. Her time this weekend was 17:19. If you remember her last time was 19:08 so she's running better already. I think she could have done better but I'm picky and very competitive.

CE seems to be doing okay at school so far. I haven't heard much but then the workload has been kind of light.

AE seems to have decided that they want a house and are putting in a bid on the house right next to her sister. If they get that house I sure hope they can get along being that close to each other. I'm not sure how BL feels about it.

The stupid water softener decided to act up so I have to get parts for it. The system it was using as drainage apparently isn't good enough any more and it has a tendency to shoot water all over the basement. I'll fix that sucker so it won't have any excuses.

I saw this on tv last night and I thought I'd share it with everyone. My brother's comment after the clip was over: "Nice house, nobody home."

This version has been subtitled. It won't help you understand anything but it's nice if you have the sound off.

Holiday Already?

2007-08-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

CE and EP started back to school this week. They started Wednesday. What this means is that they get 3 days of school and right into a 3 day weekend. Seems to me that was almost pointless. In fact, CE said just yesterday, "I go to school to learn something, I haven't learned anything yet! Except the rules!" At least she has the right attitude! PS. This is a big year for CE as it is her first year at middle school.

EP had her second cross country meet on Saturday. It is a much flatter course and closer to home. Hopefully she can improve on last weeks time. It will be exciting to see how she does.

And one of the best things about this weekend? Guess what starts this weekend? Come on ... guess ....

I know all of you out there just yelled at your computer screens! I know you all said, "Come on, that's too easy!" I know you all said, "Buckeye football!"

In the words of Captain Tenneal from Spike TV's Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, "Well, you're wrong!"
Okay, so you aren't totally wrong but, (and I say this with the knowledge I may get pelted with digital rotten tomatoes), Buckeye football just isn't that important (especially this early in the season).

So, you say, what could possibly be BETTER than that AND starting this weekend? I'll tell you if you clicky the linky!

>HERE'S YOUR ANSWER<

Weekend Update

2007-08-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

EP had her first cross country meet this weekend. It was at the same place her first meet last year took place. It is a fairly hard course as there are a couple of ugly hills in it. Last year she ran 21:38 for two miles. At the end of the year last year she had taken 4 minutes off her time finishing up at 17 something minutes. This year she ran that course in 19:08 so she is off to a good start. That time put her #46 out of 98 runners and just compared to the 8 girls on her team she came in 3rd, behind #2 only by 17 seconds. I think she'll do real well this year.

CE had a tryout for a local travel softball team on Sunday. From the way the coach talked she made the team. What this means is more running around and more money out of my bank account. But I think it will be lots of fun for her. Hopefully going into middle school this year she will be able to do softball and keep up her studies.

Today is obviously Monday. Everything that could go wrong today has! I hope your day has gone better than mine.

Weekend Plans

2007-08-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

This weekend is going to be packed full of fun! Well, maybe FUN isn't the right word.

Saturday:
We start off bright and early with a cross country meet for EP. She's excited about how well she's doing in practice so hopefully she will do well in the actual meet. I believe there may be a wedding in there somewhere too but if it isn't me or one of my kids I'm apparently not that interested. Sometime Saturday we have to take the sheep down the road to another farm so that they can, well, party with the boys! We need to get them bred so that we have lambs for next years' fair.

Sunday:
Tryouts for travel team (softball) for EP and tryouts for the travel team for CE as well. Then there is always my hockey game after that.

I'm sure there are other things that can and will be done, but these are the things I remember. It is a known fact that if my wife were to ever leave or for whatever reason no longer be accessible I would NEVER make it to any event. She is after all the keeper of the family calendar!

Have a great weekend everyone!

edit: Okay so it's not a wedding, it's a wedding shower early afternoon and the people where we were supposed to take the sheep called and said they can't do it this weekend. So my weekend just went from crazy to, well, nothing...all except the XC meet. How about that?

All Things Considered

2007-08-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

The wedding went off without a hitch, er, well there was at least ONE hitch ... the bride and groom got hitched. Other than that though, it went well. The reception was a little off and kind of scattery but as long as the newlyweds were happy then who cares.

Here we are, two down, two to go! At least there's a little bit of a breather before the next one.

Had a nice visit with my parents who were also in town for the wedding and managed to beat my father in golf on Sunday (for the first time). I am not much of a golfer and this was the first (and probably only time) I'll get to play this year. Thanks to BL and JK who bought me this golf game as a Father's Day gift. Maybe if I want to get golf as a gift again next year I should have let JK win...oh well ... too late now!

Ding. Dong.

2007-08-17T13:12:00.000-05:00

It's upon us. The wedding bells are ringing this Saturday for my second oldest daughter.
She may not be the brightest child but she certainly is loveable. Now before you go crazy on me for saying such a thing about her, you have to understand that I say such a thing in love. She has certainly provided us with more than a few laughs as well as our share of heartaches. She is no different than the rest of us. She's learning. It's just that sometimes her learning curve takes a funny path.

Best wishes AE and LE! I hope and pray that you have many wonderful years together!

Congrats!

My apologies for the "Daddy blog" blast!

2007-08-15T08:08:00.000-05:00

So the ball tournaments are over. CE's team lost the first two tournaments, but that last tournament at home was spectacular. They came home with a 3rd place trophy but they deserved more than that.
Each of the games was supposed to be an hour and 40 minutes long to allow for the schedule. (The first game was at 12 the next game if they won at 2pm and the next game if they won at 4pm). However, the first game which started at noon finally ended at 3:35. That's right, those girls played for 3 and 1/2 hours solid. The game continued past the scheduled time limit because of tie score at the end of each inning. They finally won the game 26-23. The next game they lost which put them in the playoff for 3rd place. The opposing teams pitcher began to wear out and started throwing a lot of balls about the 3rd inning, but CE who had pitched most of the day already began throwing harder and faster. She pretty much shut down the opposing teams hitting game. So, softball may be over for now but wait ....

EP (13) tried out for a travel team this past Saturday but unfortunately didn't make it. She and her sister are going to try out for another travel team either on the 25th or 26th (whichever works best in our schedule). If they don't make that team ... there is always .... well .... next year!

EP on the other hand has started cross country practice with the school team. She is two days in and says she feels good. I know she isn't the fastest runner but my hope is that she can improve on last years time. So beginning Sept. 1 we'll be spending our Saturday's travelling to XC meets !!! That means I'm going to have to erase the softball paint on my truck windows and change it to XC paint! Sweet!

I'm not dead yet!

2007-07-18T14:58:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened since I haven't been updating this since forever. I don't really have the time to tell all the things that have happened, but the short version is this.

My youngest daughter, CE (10) had a fantastic softball season and was chosen to be on the All-Star team. She is the "starting" pitcher. She also makes a fantastic shortstop and catcher. (I know I'm bragging but dang it I'm the dad AND have you seen her play????)

The next two weekends will be spent at softball tournaments. Go CE!

My oldest daughter, BL (23) (and her husband) just had their first little one born on Monday, July 16 at 9:51pm. BN weighed in at 6lbs 13ozs and 19.25" long.

So, yup, I'm a grandpa again.

I guess that explains why Long John Silver gave me the 20% Senior discount last Sunday. Talk about making you feel old. Not that I was complaining about the $4 off the dinner!

Excuses, excuses ...

2007-02-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

It's been crazy busy here at work lately and so haven't had much time to write something. Well I guess I've had a few minutes here and there but not enough time to write something useful. Even my blog of useless stuff has gone untouched for a while.

I know I kind of jumped ahead and skipped a bunch of details on the last post. I did this because it didn't seem too interesting to anyone and I was a little bored with it. I'm really torn how to go about putting stuff on this blog as I don't want this to become a "Daddy" blog but I want a little more substance than the other blog. Something more personal in some regard anyway. More about me and less about the goofy crap I can find on the internet.

I am certainly willing to take ideas if there is anything you are wanting to hear in particular. Feel free to dump questions / comments into my email if you don't want them in the comments here.

I have to admit, I've been kind of occupied with my new found interest. It's extremely addictive. Feel free to ask for help if you decide to try it out.

Where We Are Now

2007-01-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

I know I'm skipping over a lot of stuff. Here is the brief rundown.

Lived with my aunt and uncle for a while.
I had met the lady two doors down a few times before and thought she was cute.
We eventually started hanging out a lot together.
Her kids were 3 and 5 when I officially started "seeing" her.
We eventually got married.
We had two more children.
We moved to a new town very recently.
The two oldest (who had grown up and moved out some time earlier) moved back closer to us.
The kids are all girls.
The oldest is now 22, married and is expecting a little one of her own this summer.
The second oldest is 20, engaged and HAS a little one already.
The third is 12, loves animals, is very artistic and is what I would consider very grown up for her age.
The fourth is 10. Although both my younger girls are involved in sports, the youngest is the more athletic of the two. She is much more laid back and outgoing, a trait her father doesn't have.

I love them all. People have asked if I would have liked to have had a boy. The answer is simple. Heck no! I wouldn't trade my girls for the world! Sometimes I dream though what it might have been like to be able to leave the toilet seat up.

Help Wanted.

2006-12-21T16:52:00.000-05:00

I moved in with my aunt and uncle in Ohio so that I could start my new job. (I'm leaving out all the green card issues just because I don't have the time or the energy to describe that whole process.) I worked at the that job for seven years. I started there when there were only 6 people working there (including me) when the company grew and was near the size of approx. 200 people I was fired so that one of the managers' friends could have my job. It was crap but probably (hindsight being what it is) a good thing.

I got a job shortly after that working with a small company again. They seemed thrilled to have me. That company got bought out by a much larger company and they also fired me with some lousy excuse. This happened after being employed there for seven years. Do you see a pattern forming here? There is some sort of 7 year curse!

The company I am currently working for makes all of that crap I went through bearable. It is awesome working here. I don't wake up in the morning with the heavy dread of having to go to work again. The people are great and the job is exciting.

When I had applied here I had just applied for "general laborer". I needed SOMETHING just to get some money and get by. During the interview, the boss said, I can pay you $10 an hour if you want BUT after looking at your resume I think we have another plan for you! Sweet he was going to give me what I was making at the job before AND no hard labor ... an office, of my very own...with a DOOR (that locks!)

So that's the job situation since I've been here in Ohio. The family situation is another story.
Maybe I'll save that for the next post ... yeah ... maybe that's what I'll do!

Love to all!
Merry Christmas!!!
Happy Holidays!!!
Be Safe!

Decisions, decisions ...

2006-12-11T15:19:00.000-05:00

and most of them not good ones. For a few years I spent a lot of my time goofing off. Mooching money from my younger brother and basically being a lazy slacker. I spent way too much time doing crappy jobs (if I could keep one) and hanging out with folks I shouldn't have than I did being productive. It's not exactly what I would call the highlight of my life story although there are certainly a lot of life experiences that will hopefully help me steer my children in the right direction. I'm not gonna go into detail regarding all of it because it's not really very exciting or uplifting.

So I had attempted to go to college but my other activities kept me from applying myself. The result ... crap ... complete and utter crap.

My uncle worked at an electronics company and sort of half joking I had told him that if anything comes up, let me know.

That was some years ago.

The day I got a phone call from him asking if I was still interested ... I stood there, receiver in hand, lower jaw dangling WAY too close to the floor. Say what?

"Are you still interested in a job"

"Heck yeah I am"

"Be here tomorrow"

"GREAT, THANKS!"

(Just for the record, the trip was 7 hours long). I packed. I drove. I met with them the next morning and the rest as they say is history. The story doesn't all end there but it's at that point I started to get my act together and behave like a responsible adult ... yeah, I know ... YUCK! that's no fun! Maybe not, the relief on my parents was totally worth it!

Thanks mom and dad for being understanding and putting up with my crap!
I love you!

What to do with old bananas.

2006-12-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

When I was very young, my dad would whip up some drinks for us. I preferred rum and coke, while he ... NO, NO, NO!

One of my favorites is kind of a cross between "soup" and a milkshake. It's all in how you make it and it's all a matter of taste. It's a great way to use up those bananas that are turning brown.

Peel them and put them in a blender.
Add a LITTLE milk.
Add a bunch (to taste) of sugar.
Blend the crap out of it.
Pour it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon (my personal favorite).
(The more milk the thinner it will be ... you can make it more milk-shaky if you wanna).

Dad had a special name for it ... Banana Goop.

I think I'll make some for my kids! Long live the goop!

Going out on a limb.

2006-11-20T16:02:00.000-05:00

I debated even bringing this up because this REALLY narrows down WHO I am if anyone really has that much energy! But I decided to go out on a limb here (yes that is funny, you'll see why in a minute.) This IS my family tree (again, funny, i know...i know... you'll see in a second.)!

ok ... you've waited long enough ... HERE IT IS!

This is not mine personally, but it is named after my relatives. I don't mean a million cousins half a dozen times removed either. I could prove it but that would REALLY give me away!
I know it's just a tree ... but still ... it is cool in it's own way :)

Next: What to do with old bananas

Wow, look at all the cops!

2006-11-10T09:12:00.000-05:00

So after being engaged and living with my one and only girlfriend to date, (yeah we already know I sucked in that department), she decided that she wanted to be with someone else. This totally helped my self-esteem as you can imagine. So being a stupid teenager, (pushing 20's), and not wanting to give up on the situation, I decided I had to go and talk to her. I drove out to where she lived. She was not home. I parked in the street and waited. I waited a long time. A VERY long time! I don't remember what time it was but I do know it was around 2am. (Don't roll your eyes at me! It seemed like a good idea at the time!)

I got bored. I started playing with stuff in my truck. Fidget with this, fidget with that. This apparently was the second or third big mistake (if you're counting). One of the things in my cluttery truck was a cap gun that I had gotten a very long time ago (from a day when a couple teenage boys decided to go buy silly toys at the store).

Let's just say that at 2am, through the glass of a vehicle, a cap gun looks like a real gun ... apparently ... !

Much time has gone by and I've given up playing with that and am just sitting doing nothing. A police car rolls down the street and stops in the middle of the road some distance down the road in front of where I am parked. I see cops get out and at this point I'm thinking, COOL! something wild is going on. I got something to watch to pass the time!

I watch them put on bulletproof vests ...

Wow! This is serious! I wonder what is going on!

I watch them for a while. I look in the mirror and I see more cops behind walking up the road and the sidewalk. Wow! What are the odds?

It was shortly after this point that the very loud voice said ... put your hands where we can see them ... it was also at this point that it was ME they were talking to! I was the major point of interest! Front row seats! What the heck!

The cops close in ... and tell me to put my hands out the rolled down window of the truck.
As soon as I did. One cop grabs my arms and the other cop opens the door to the truck. OH! Did I mention that I was also looking down the barrel of at least TWO very large, black service pistols? Let me just say, NOT the end of the gun you wanna be on!

So after they search me and my truck, they find out that the "gun" is a toy, I think they were disappointed. During the search they found the pocket knife that I always carried (I live on a farm remember) and decided they needed to make this worth while. Now, don't jump to conclusions...the blade length was fine. According to police, it could be opened with one hand with centrifigal force (I didn't think this was the time to tell them that there is no such thing).
As a public announcement: it doesn't matter whether YOU can open a knife one-handed with said fictional force, it only matters that a 6'5" 250lb cop can.

To make the rest of this long story short. I spent the rest of the morning in a jail cell. Oh, and you do get one phone call, it just isn't allowed to be long distance. Here's a clue ... I live long distance from EVERYWHERE! Thanks for nothing! I had to appear in court. I received 1 year probation and 50 hours community service (which was cake ... it was working on a farm on Saturdays, where the farmer liked to not work too hard and take breaks if needed... also, his wife cooked fantastic lunches)

The "gun" charge got dropped, just for the record. I wonder why.
Oh, I forgot to mention. On the way to the police station, handcuffed in the back of the cop car, the officer told me WHY they had been called. Some passerby had claimed I was trying to shoot myself. I may not have been at the smartest stage in my life, (i certainly wouldn't ever consider killing myself), but I don't think I would have considered a cap gun to do the job. It just doesn't seem very effective!

Next: How low can you go?

Anybody out there?

2006-11-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

It sure is hard to tell if anyone is really interested in this story. I got my sitemeter report today and I had 3 visits this past week. I know that the blog doesn't update very often so if you get notified when it updates then you wouldn't have stopped by. Of the handful of people that said they would be interested in reading this stuff, I've only seen a couple of them show up here. I know it might not be the most entertaining reading and certainly not the most interesting, so, if you have any suggestions ... I would certainly LOVE to hear them. Okay, so I'm just a little bummed and thought I would vent it. If this little poopy paragraph hasn't scared you away ... I'll continue with the story shortly. For those of you that come here on a regular basis ... thanks!

The High School Years

2006-11-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

I have always been extremely shy. Being this way was a big factor in my choice of high school. Yup, I had a choice. I could either go to the public high school or go to the private high school. This was a no-brainer for me. There were only 120 people registered for school. I know you are asking yourself, 120 in the 9th grade? or the whole school? Let me clear that up right now. I'm talking about the WHOLE school. Very small. Everyone knows everyone else. Of course knowing who everyone was didn't make me any more popular. I would remain the geek for my entire 5 years of high school. Oh, yeah I said 5. There is not a failure in there anywhere ... this is Ontario don't forget and they HAD grade 13. (Grade 13 has changed at least once since I graduated, when my brother graduated it was OAC). So, yes I graduated from the same high school twice, once for grade 12 and once for grade 13.

Since I was not every outgoing (this hasn't changed) I only had two CLOSE friends. The only two people that actually came up to ME and said "hi" on the first day.

We did all sorts of geeky nerdy unpopular stuff together ... like ... SCIENCE CLUB!
Which, okay, really was kinda fun cuz ... we played with stuff that you would never get to play with in class ... if it burned or blew up ... that was what we did in Science Club. Yeah ok shut-up, I know I suck ... I'm just telling you how it was.

The first couple of years went by and were pretty uneventful. Oh yeah, the 9th grade was also the end of my acting career. In the 6th or 7th grade I had one of the LEAD roles in the school play. Very important. Each year was a lesser part, culminating with the part I got in the 9th grade play. We were doing Arsenic and Old Lace. I was the body in the window seat. Yup. That's the point where I decided Hollywood was probably NOT for me.

So, where was I? Oh yeah ... the year my brother started high school. He was always outgoing AND didn't care what anyone thought. He butted heads with the principal all the time over school rules. ie: no long hair on guys (collar length) and no earrings.
Just for spite he grew his hair long and got his ear pierced.
I don't know if it was just in support of my brother or I saw an opportunity to be "different" and be a "rebel". Whatever it was ... I also grew my hair long, and got my ear pierced too.

I actually ended up with a girlfriend that year ... (my first) ... again, don't look at me like that, I told you I was unpopular! She, however is a whole other story for another day! Probably a couple of stories.

I ended up with a few more friends although only a handful were close friends. Life really was pretty good. I never really got into too much trouble. I made it through school albeit uneventful. It is after I graduated that I turned into a moocher, a lazy @$$ and a criminal...

Next: Did He Just Say What I Thought He Said?

The Games People Play...

2006-10-27T13:37:00.000-05:00

...or more specifically, my brother and/or dad and I played.

We played all sorts of things just like any normal children would, but there are a few games that were maybe "different" than what others played and bring back some memories for me.

1) I remember playing hockey in the basement with my Dad and brother. There wasn't a lot of room and we played with a wiffle ball and it was always 2 on 1 and there was never any need for heavy padding. High sticking was never an issue since (a) we were very young and (b) a raised stick would almost certainly be rewarded with a shower of glass from 1 of the 3 bare lightbulbs illuminating our "rink".

2) Hall hockey, for lack of a better term, was a game that my dad and I played while my brother was still too young. We had a long hallway that ran almost the entire length of our house. The playing equipment was minimal. All that was required were two wooden rulers and a checker (wooden). Dad would lay in the living room or kitchen at one end and I would lay down in the bedroom at the other end of the hall. The only thing sticking out into the hallway was your head and arm. It was necessary to have all the doors shut down the hallway. The object, slap the "puck" with your ruler (stick) toward the opposing end in an attempt to get the puck by your opponent and hit the closet door at the end of the hallway. Any contact with the closet door by the puck was considered a goal. I don't know if it was the thrill of the game or the fact that it was just dad and me time or the fact that dad always made grape slush (essentially a homemade icee) after the game but playing this game is one of my earliest memories.

3) From the world of stange and weird make-believe...there was always the hurricane game. This wasn't as much a game as it was "play acting". Shut-up, I was young and at least I didn't have an imaginary friend to play it with. Being out on the farm, it was pretty open space and windy days were REALLY windy! On a beautiful windy fall day, my brother and I would pretend that we were caught up in a hurricane and one of us would get trapped in some horrible predicament and the other one would have to come to the rescue! Luckily we always made it back to some safe haven, just in the nick of time! We had some great made up story lines. I'm sure had Paramount known about them we'd be rich...okay...maybe not but we had fun anyway.

Next: The high school years...

(I may have to break the next post down into parts ... depending on what bits I decide to burden you with. I do however promise that I won't take 7 days to update it again! Thanks for being patient. I'm gonna try to at least get a post in every other day <weekends excluded>.)

The Elementary School Years

2006-10-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

I cried. I cried a lot. I'm sure I totally frustrated my mother with my crying. My mother would walk me to the end of the driveway and everyday I would not want to go to school. It wasn't horrible. I made it home each afternoon just fine. School was fine, but as a 5 year old going to kindergarten each day, I couldn't be convinced that it would be okay. I don't remember at what point I stopped crying and "not feeling good" to get out of going to school (not feeling good never worked, just for the record, I had to go anyway ... unless I was really sick ... and apparently my mother could tell which was which).

There really isn't much to tell about school. I was never a cool kid or
sought after by the girls. I was a good kid. Boring I know. There are a few interesting tidbits regarding elementary school. I know you are dying to know, so, here they are.

1) When your mother tells you not to wear your glasses out at recess because they will get broken. She might know what she's talking about. Of course, I didn't think so at the time. As I sat staring at the broken arm of my glasses right after recess, I began to wonder how feasible it would be to tell her I tripped in the classroom walking up to the chalkboard and smacked the side of my head on a desk. Do you think she'll buy it? Not likely? Dang I'm so screwed when I get home!

2) My brother and I have a great relationship. We would kick the crap out of each other on occasion (okay so I was the one who got the worst of those confrontations) but for the most part we got along great. On occasion he would zip into a phonebooth and change into superbrother.
I don't even remember how it happened. I got along with EVERYONE at school. I was not big enough to get into confrontations, nor did I want to. For whatever reason the big smelly bully (yes, I said smelly, he apparently, even at his age, was unaware that bathing at least once a
week would be a good idea.) got into some sort of altercation with me and pushed me down on the pavement in the school yard at recess. What happened next is literally a blur. I was on the ground looking at the sky. I couldn't fight back. I wouldn't have wanted to fight back even if I could. This kid was built. He was big. He was muscular (at least compared to everyone else).
There was a crowd around. What I saw next left the entire crowd, me and Smelly in a complete stupor. A younger kid, who had apparently seen the crowd gathering, noticed who it was that was laying on the ground. Probably without thinking, jumped into action. What I saw from my vantage point was a blur that looked kind of like my brother, moving full speed, ripped through the crowd and with his forward momentum AND a swinging right arm, drove his fist into the mouth of the bully. My brother did NOT stop to see what happened after that. He was not stupid. I will never forget the look on Smelly's face. He honestly had NO idea what hit him. He walked away and didn't bother me again.

3) This next little tidbit didn't happen at school but it was during my elementary school years so I'm relaying it here. Again, as I said before my brother and I had a great relationship. We were playing at our house. My brother, me and one of my best friends who lived not too far down the road. At some point in the games my friend began teasing and picking on my brother. Mostly this wouldn't matter, but at some point, enough is enough. I wonder if me chasing him down the street with a baseball bat and yelling for him to go home while he pedaled his bike as fast as he could was any indication that I was now pissed off and he should leave my brother alone?

4) Elementary school ended with a LARGE accumulation of hockey cards. Kids would play topsies, knocksies, closies, and dropsies. My brother and I never played for keepsies, but we always ended up getting cards somehow from kids that no longer wanted them or had doubles. If #4 left you scratching your head, maybe someday I'll explain it.

To My Brother: We had some great times together and some fond memories. Not a day goes by that I hate living so far away from you! Take care brother, I hope to see you again real soon!

Next: Games We Played...

The Parents and other stuff

2006-10-17T15:57:00.000-05:00

We lived in a rural community and by "rural" I mean in the middle of nowhere and by "community" I mean if you could see a house from our house you could technically call them a neighbor.

Our closest neighbor was only a hop, skip and jump away. It's a good thing we liked them and got along just fine. The house nextdoor belonged to my grandparents. The two of them lived there with my grandmothers' sister. If they hadn't been really old people it might have been the cause of some interesting rumors. Their house and our house was built on the same chunk of property, a 113 acre farm. Just for the record, that's one heck of a backyard!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...we lived in Southern Ontario. (Just for the record, my parents still live in the same place and although my grandparents have both passed on, my great aunt still lives in their house).

So, what did they do? Well, I'm glad you asked. My dad was a school teacher for many years and long since retired. He taught at the same school that I went to for 13 years and then went to two other schools after that. He changed schools the same time that I would have been in his class. He claims he didn't want to take the chance of having me in his class(es) because he felt he would be harder on me. I think he was ready for a change anyway. It kind of bummed me out because I thought it would be cool to have my dad also be my teacher, but maybe he was right in leaving. I did have him for ONE class though before he left. When I was in the sixth grade art was handled by rotating the class you were in every so many weeks. What that meant was that part of the year you were in the pottery class, then maybe the string art class and the decoupage class etc. Each of these classes was taught by a different teacher. My dad taught the string art class. It also happens to be the ONLY detention I ever got!

Apparently I had forgotten that the class was that day and had left my materials for the class at home. When I got to the class dad asked me where my stuff was and I said I had forgotten it. He obviously didn't see this situation the same as I did. It was my opinion that HE knew the class was that day and should have reminded me to take my stuff. His opinion was that I was old enough to keep track of my own crap and sorry about my luck. Here's a dictionary and a piece of paper and a pen. Start copying! Maybe it IS a good thing he left before I got to the 7th grade :)

My mother was mostly stay at home mom. She had her hands in numerous projects but wasn't OFFICIALLY employed. I think what sticks with me the most was her volunteer work. She ran a 4H club for quite a while and also coached cheerleading at the school. Now, don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that I was excited about the fact that she volunteered, I was excited about WHAT she was doing. The 4H group was all about cooking. There was only a certain type of person that kind of group attracted ... WOMEN!
Okay, I know they were KIDS, but I was enough younger than they were that they might as well have been adults ... after all they were mostly developed!! And, in my opinion, they were ALL hot! It was perfect. They came to MY house for the club meeting. I could sit around and just WATCH them AND I was young enough they oooo'd and ahhhh'd over me! Sweet !!!!
And, like I said if that wasn't enough ... I also got to watch all the good looking girls at cheerleading practice bounce around in their skimpy skirts ... wow, what memories ... for that, mother, I thank you!!!!

To my parents: You have been wonderful, loving and caring people my entire life. For all you have done for me ... I thank you! Words can not say enough how much I care for you and love you!

Next: The Elementary School Years

In The Beginning...

2006-10-10T09:24:00.000-05:00

Since this is a blog about me I decided to start at the beginning. It seemed like as good a place as any. I dropped out of my mothers womb, well, more aptly I was pried out, April 20, 1968. I'd like to be able to tell you all about that day but unfortunately I really don't remember.

To make a long story short, almost exactly 2 years and 8 months later my big brother came into the world. Yeah, you read that right, technically I am the oldest and for a long time I was the bigger brother but that wouldn't last forever. For the most part we got along great, we've always been very close, but there were those occasions when things didn't always go well between us that it didn't matter if I was the oldest ... trust me on this ... size DOES matter!

I learned later in life that my best defense was running! You can't beat the stuffin' out of someone if you can't catch 'em! Unfortunately I was always stupid enough to get into these situations in a confined space!

Moving on...

It was explained to my mother at some point in her life that her having any more children was not likely to happen. My parents wanted a daughter. We went to the store and picked one out. It wasn't all shiny and new. The little girl they had decided on was pre-owned. I think the payments were lower and since they didn't get the extended warranty they had to keep her. She was 2 years old when she came into our family. Do you have any idea what it is like driving for 3 hours with a screaming kid in the car? Dairy Queen couldn't even fix the hurt. Eventually though things got better and life went on.

Surprise...

Years later, to the surprise of everyone, my youngest brother was born. Ok, well the surprise was about 9 months prior to his actual birth. It's not like my mother had no idea why she was getting fat and then dropped a kid on the sidewalk or anything. My youngest brother grew up for all intents and purposes, an only child. The rest of the kids had pretty much finished growin' up and movin' out during his impressionable years. Even though we don't see each other much, we are still pretty close. It probably has to do with the fact that personality-wise, he's a lot like me. Plus we are both big contributors to the world of nerdy geekdom.

So there you have it....my siblings in a nutshell.

Next: The Parents