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!