THIS is my new toy

Yes I rented it but it is a wonderful thing. If you have ever tried to hang drywall on a ceiling you will know how much of a pain it is. This machine will change your life.

What a good neighbor I am....

A few weeks ago one of my neighbors approached me with an idea of how I could help her with the upcoming birthday party for here 8 year old son. She said her son wanted to have a Star Wars themed birthday party. She thought that it would be a great idea to have Darth Vader show up at the party. I happily agreed because I was more than willing to dress up as a character to make the party special for her son.


The few weeks leading up to the party I did not think much about the event. I imagined that there would be a a handful of boys that would be awe-struck at seeing Darth Vader at the party. I would have a few playful sword fights with the boys and then they would get their pictures taken with me.

The day of the party I started to put the costume together. I had a black cape with a hood. I put on my black dress pants and a black long sleeved turtle neck shirt. I found my black leather winter gloves and with the darth vader mask I borrowed, the ensemble was complete. See picture below.

Before I left for the party I did a little goofing around in it to see how well I was going to do in it. I noticed that the tinted grey plastic eyes that I was using to see through were getting fogged up pretty easily. But I figured with the air outside it wouldn't be so bad.

I arrived at the party about 10 minutes early so that I could coordinate my entrance. Everyone was out in the back yard so I went through the garage into the kitchen. I waited for a minute and the mom came in from the outside. She said "you can go out whenever you are ready." I was imagining some loud music, maybe some smoke and perhaps a strobe light. Nope, it was just me walking out the back sliding glass door and walking down the steps into the back yard.

Just before I went outside I was able to see what was going on outside in the backyard. There were no less than 15 boys all running around pummeling each other with make shift light sabers. The light sabers were a three foot piece of the foam water noodles you can get at Wal-Mart for $0.99. The handle was some duct tape wrapped around one end.

So there I was standing at the bottom of the stairs in my full Darth Vader outfit. Thinking to myself "These kids are going to be in total awe when they see who came to their party" Yea, it was nothing like that. As soon as enough of them noticed that Darth Vader was standing in the back yard, they formed a makeshift posse and all yelled "Get Darth Vader" as they all ran at me with their play light sabers.

The fight was on! I stepped onto the grass and 7 of them were on me lionesses going after their afternoon meal. I managed to hold off the first wave of the terrorist with a combination of sword play and a technique I like to call "grab their sword and throw it across the yard".

At that point several of the more bold kids had dropped their swords and were just trying to wrestle me to the ground. Much like Jim Brown used to do, I resorted to stiff arming and throwing them to the ground in order to keep them from tearing the mask off my head. After a few of them realized I was big and strong and tougher than they imagined, they abandoned that effort.

I began to realize that not only were the afore mentioned glassy eye holes fogged up, they were covered in sweat. When I say sweat I don't mean a little sweat on your brow. I am talking, its 70 degrees outside, I have a plastic mask on my head with little circulation, I am wearing a black turtle neck long sleeved shirt, and I am having to fend off attackers like a scene from the Matrix when Neo is fighting hundreds of Agent Smith's.

I take my first break to go inside and dry off the eye holes so I can see to defend myself. When I take off the mask and start drying my face I realize that the towel gets so wet I have to wring it out. I was sweating THAT MUCH.

When I went out this time, I thought of a new strategy. I told the boys that everyone with the same color light saber I had, was on my team. This worked beautifully. I took about a third of the boys out of the enemy pool and turned them against the other kids.

All in all it was a big success. The boys liked that I was in there swinging with them. The mom was grateful and said that I probably saved her $500.00 from having to have someone come to the party dressed like I did.

Things to teach young adults...according to me!

So, one of the things I am trying to teach my niece is to act her age and to be more mature. She is an intelligent modern woman. The message today for all young adults is watch what you say and how you say it.

It is so easy to pick out a young person by the way they talk. For instance, their speech is littered with many instances of the word "like". (I am not saying that RP speaks with many "likes" in her speech)

"So I was like, NO WAY"

"I went to the store and the guy that worked there was like, "Can I help you?" and I was like "No thanks I am just looking around"

Employers want someone that will speak clearly and concisely to their customers. You are representing yourself and the company you are working for. The impression you give during your interview will speak very loudly as to how you will be received by the public. Having been on the hiring side of the table many times I can tell you that what you put on your resume is what will get you in the door. It will be your personality and how you handle yourself that will make the next biggest impression.

So like make sure you totally like talk like a grown up.

Third anniversary

Well....

Yesterday was the third anniversary of my Mom's passing. One of my sisters called me to find out how I was doing. My niece, who is staying with us, also made mention of it. Honestly I hadn't thought about it until they brought it up. Mom's passing has hit the stage with me personally to where I just remember the good times and not the last few months of her life.

Do I wish she was still around? Of course I do. Do I feel cheated that my kids will never know her? Yes. Is there anything I can do about it? No.

I love you mom.

I can't wait to see you in 60 years!

Children's nicknames

No matter what you put on the birth certificate, inevitably a nickname will emerge. It is like death and taxes, the ebb and flow of the tide, the rising of the sun every morning.

For JHGIII my preferred nickname is "buddy".

It was a very natural thing to call him. It just fit. he is my little buddy. For JCG the name that has seem to stick is "angel". I spent far more time trying to pick out a nickname for her than for her little brother. I tried noodle, buttercup and a wide variety of others. Angel is the one that stuck. She is my Angel! She is my gift from God.

What was my nickname growing up?

Let's see...Jonny Ponny

You see my two youngest sisters were the unwitting victims of my "creative" nick name creativity. Cathi needs and bathy and Kimmy Bimmy were the ones that I seemed to call them most often. Naturally, Jonny Ponny arose.

Dingleberry

My best friend of all time came up with this one. I don't remember the exact genesis of the name but I recall him saying that I needed a nickname and dingleberry came out of it. Gee thanks Kevin.

JJ

Stands for Jon Jr. Also another contribution from Kevin.

Kiva means kava turkey bird

This one I will leave to one of my sisters to explain.

Update on finishing the basement...

Well...

I have approximately half the basement covered in Sheetrock. I have several major items (pipes and breaker box) all boxed out and covered in Sheetrock. I am very pleased with the progress so far. I hope to get a few more sheets hung tonight as well as making some progress on the built-in entertainment center.

The next major challenge will be building the wall and installing the door way for the water heater and air conditioner. After that it will be to tackle the ceiling.

More updates to follow as well as pictures.

JCG Joke #1

From the mouth of my beautiful daughter....

How do you make an elephant float?

Just add ice cream!

My prayer...

Dear Lord,

Having the ability to pray to you is a most wonderful blessing. I know that through you anything is possible. I am so thankful that you have laid yourself upon my heart. I know that everything good in my life comes from you.

I praise you for all the many blessings you have given me in my life.
I praise you for my happy, healthy and beautiful children.
I praise you for a wife that is way more than I could have ever hoped for.
I praise you for a job that I love.
I praise you for my health.
I praise you for all of my family.

I pray that you help me to stay focused on you above all other things.
I pray that you would help me to make good decisions in my life
I pray that you would help us sell our house to be closer to our families
I pray that you help RP find the motivation to move forward in her life
I pray that you would help guide the hearts and minds of the people running our country
I pray that your will be done in our lives
I pray that your word and your spirit would touch those that have not heard the good news

You are the beginning and the end. You are the one and only King. I submit myself to you in all ways. Please use me in whatever way you need.

I praise you for everything

I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ

Amen!

Update from Girl's Night Out

So B returned around 2:30 pm today from her night of sin and debauchery. Apparently there was a lot of alcohol involved, closing down a bar at 2:00 am in the morning and something about throwing up on the way home. B says the throwing up wasn't her.

B says that she is over all the "partying" but I think she still has a hidden wild streak left in her.

That's okay, she can party all she wants. I know she loves me and our kids. She won't do anything too crazy.

Have fun my darling!

Basement project .... part two

I went to Home Depot this evening and purchased a bunch of wood in order to hang Sheetrock (a.k.a. wall board) over the cinder block walls in the basement. We are hopeful that this will allow us to get more for the house when we sell it.

I will keep you posted on my progress!

Old mother hubbard....B is not in the cupboard

B is going to stay in hotel room with her friends as they are getting together for girl's night out. They are celebrating the life of a friend who is having a double mastectomy this month. Her friend wanted to cut loose and they are going here.

This will be the second time she has attempted to spend the night away from her kids since JCG was born more than 4 years ago.

The first time was a complete disaster. JHGIII was not two years old yet, he was still breast feeding and had never been without his mommy. As soon as B left he was waiting by the front door waiting for her to come home. He cried and cried. I was devastated. I couldn't do anything to get him to stop crying.

You see to make this situation worse, B was staying in a hotel just outside of Cleveland and was not driving her own car. Thus she was stuck.

This did not cross my mind at the time. All I could think was trying to come up with something to get him to forget about mommy. So I broke down and called B. This only made the situation worse. Mainly because it just made her feel terrible. I probably didn't help the situation by some of the things I said out of desperation and frustration.

I vow to make this time better. The kids are older. JHGIII is done breast feeding. My 21 year old niece is here. I will not call B unless one of the kids gets hurt.

I am always aware of how lucky I am to have B in my life. She is very good to me and is a great mother for my children. But I especially think about her when she is not around for an extended amount of time. Her eyes, her smile, her soul and her heart all warm this house like a constant burning flame. Her absence makes a noticeable difference in the over all mood of the house. We are not a whole unit without her.

Hurry home B. We love and miss you!

My softball bat

The Mizuno Orange Crush G3 is the newest weapon in my softball arsenal. I hadn't purchased a softball bat since 1994. So I thought it was time to upgrade my bat. I have to say I am happy with my purchase. The bat is like a new golf club. It adds more power and distance to my swing.

Plus....it looks REALLY cool in my bat bag!

My new "cool thing"

So I was scanning the radio while in my car headed towards softball on Monday night. When I came across a radio station that I hadn't noticed before.

http://www.thepath.fm/

This is a christian radio station that originates on a college campus. What a great idea! I am hooked! I love the sermons! I love the music! I love the message!

Charades....a proper form of daily communication with your spouse?

What do you think?

Do you think that you could accurately convey the day to day messages to your spouse by using charades? Charades is used fairly infrequently at our house to communicate between B and I. This morning for instance I was swishing the Listerine teeth whitening solution around in my mouth for one minute (as described on the label). During this minute I had a conversation with my wife through the use of charades.

While the speed and immediate accuracy of my message were skewed I discovered that we laughed as hard as we have in quite sometime. So while I don't recommend regular communication channels to be funnel through this one media, try it sometimes. You may find some hidden laughter to emerge when you least expect it.