Seven things I approve of

Time Traveller tagged me on her blog. I'm suppose to write down seven things I approve of. I think it's the first time I've been tagged. Thanks for that Time Traveller.

Here they are...


1. Family

For me family is the foundation, base and goal in my life. I think anyone who knows me knows I'm a family man.

2. Compassion

I'm for as much compassion as we can give. I believe only through compassion can we begin to understand each other and accept our differences. Try to understand me before you judge me.

3. Laughter

I think laughing is the absolute best human response. Give me a few laughs and all my problems seem miles away.

4. Sugar

If it has sugar in it I pretty much approve of it.

5. Common Sense & Logic

I approve of thinking for yourself. Just because you read it, hear it or see it doesn't make it so. Apply some common sense and logic before you swallow it. Be open to new ideas but always, always, think things through.

6. Women

I approve of the female form. There is nothing more beautiful, sensual, sexual and pleasing to my eyes than a woman's body. Short, tall, skinny, curvy I am rarely disappointed and almost always fascinated and captivated.

7. Pushing Yourself


There is nothing like the focus I get before and during a big lift or other test of my abilities. When it goes right I get to a place deep inside myself where my senses cease to function separately and all my energy is focused to one point. I imagine it's a lot like deep meditation. It's a wonderful feeling.

I'm suppose to tag more people. If you read it and want to be tagged, you are.

Fun, Fun

I got this from Jen. I thought it was cool. Odd but cool.

~Take each answer and type it into Photobucket

~Take any picture from the first page of results and post. (click on the picture and copy the HTML code

~You can't copy the persons answers who posted this before you!

Here we go!

How old will you be on your next birthday



A Place I'd like to visit



Favorite Place



Favorite Object



Favorite Food



Favorite Animal



Favorite Color



City you were born in



Town you live in now



A Past Pet's Name


Your Current Love

Nickname/Screen name



Middle Name



Last Name



A Bad Habit you have



First Job

Of the Week

Just some random thoughts and such that I think of or stumble upon every week.

Word of the week

Reality (1): a real event, entity, or state of affairs (2): the totality of real things and events b: something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

Inspirational quote of the week

"Worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due." - William R. Inge

Gripe of the week

Excuses

Song Lyric of the week

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,

Down the foggy ruins of time,

far past the frozen leaves,

The haunted, frightened trees,

out to the windy beach,

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,

Silhouetted by the sea,

circled by the circus sands,

With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,

Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

- Mr. Tambourine Man -Bob Dylan

Optional blog title of the week

A Canvas For My Thoughts


Artist of the week

Bette Midler

Floored

I decided to convert our garage into the kids playroom. I knew from the start this would be a big job. I also knew before I finished I would have wished I had never started. I just never thought that moment would come so soon.

After I cleared out all the tools and junk the garage floor looked a little rough. Now, I don't put the H in handyman (the A N D Y either to tell the truth) but I can usually get by. I thought I could handle a little concrete work. The plan was to float a thin layer of concrete over the floor to fill in the chips and cracks. As luck would have it they sell a kit to do this very thing.

After a few hours I managed to spread 60 lbs over the floor. It looked pretty good too but it became obvious that the finish would be a lot rougher than what was there before. The wife was waiting on me to go to the The Home Depot so I went to get cleaned up. While in the shower I couldn't shake the feeling I had just made a big mistake.

I quickly ran to the garage, got my hose and started removing the concrete from the floor. Two hours later I was exactly were I started that morning. I had just wasted four hours or more. Oh well, screw it. I laid my broom down and went to tell the wife I was ready to go to The Home Depot.


As I walked into the house I remembered that the floor was still wet so I pushed the automatic garage door button to let the door down to keep the dogs out. As I stepped into the house door I heard a horrendous sound. I turned to see the garage door was halfway down and one side was stuck on the handle of the broom I had laid in the door track.


I turned to the switches next to me and frantically started flipping them up and down. This did nothing to stop the door from trying to close. It didn't stop it because I was flipping the garage lights on and off. The door switch was located in the garage, I was in the house. So with me doing no more than providing a disco atmosphere for the event that was unfolding before me, I watched as my 16' garage door wrinkled, crinkled and crushed under the power of the electric motor. Rollers and screws started falling off and the side with the broom stuck in it fell off the tracks at the top. Finally the middle was pulled into a v-shape before the bolts that held it were ripped from their mount with a tremendous bang. I never did find them.


It took a second to realize what had just happened. When I did I stopped turning the lights on and off and walked to look at the mangled accordion looking thing that seconds before was my garage door. As I reached the door the wife showed up.


What happened?


I left a broom in the track.


*silence*


What a fucking idiot I am. I just ruined the door.


Honey, it's not your fault.


Remember I was still in shock


Not my fault? NOT MY FAULT?! HOLY SHIT! WHO'S FAULT IS IT?


As I ranted on she did the smart thing and walked back inside. I grabbed a stool near by and climbed under the hanging part of the door. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do but I had to do something, I swear, all I did was give the top panel a touch but it was enough to knock the rollers on the other side out. Then the top two panels came crashing down on my head. Those doors are a lot heavier than you might think. Even heavier when you're standing on a stool with a seat that swivels.


As I held the top part of the door up, I screamed for the wife to come back (believe me I get how fitting that was) but she never did. So I tried a 'slide off the stool, duck and let the door swing down over me' kind of move. You guessed it.. didn't work. As I went to jump off the stool the weight of the door swiveled the stool top, with me on it, and pushed me off the stool and slammed me into lower part of the door. I was sandwiched between the panels, in the air, just long enough to start kicking my feet, then it dropped me on my ass onto the floor. I looked up to see the wife had just come to ask if we were still going to The Home Depot.

I got off my ass, brushed my hands off and said, "sure lets go." We both were silent all the way there. When we got there we looked around a bit but went home without purchasing a thing. See, the reason we were going to The Home Depot was to purchase some insulation for the garage door so we could seal it up and never use it again. Damn!

The last laugh

Before the cruise the wife talked me into getting a spray on tan. I didn't think much of the idea but she assured me that it was safe and unnoticeable. I agreed because... actually, I'm not sure why I agreed.

We went the day before the cruise to get the maximum effect. I sat in the car with the kids while she went first. The five minute session took her over twenty. By the time she returned the kids where tired of the car so I set off to get my tan as fast as I could.

I watched a two minute video that instructed me on all the procedures. As I watched I wondered if I could remember them all. A young lady led me to a booth. I did everything the video said and stepped inside. The wife had warned me that the first blast of spray was cold and would take my breath away.

I stood there naked and steadied myself then pressed the green button. The spray did startle me but even worse it blinded me. Then my eyes started stinging. Just before the second blast I realized I had forgotten to move the goggles from my forehead to my eyes. I turned around and positioned myself for another blast. By this time I was so worried about my eyes I forgot to breath through my nose filter and inhaled large amounts of tan spray into my lungs.

I jumped out of the booth blind and wheezing. I rubbed my eyes long enough to see a little. I looked in the mirror to see if my eyes had been painted brown. They were still blue thank God but there was a white stripe on my forehead where the goggles had been resting. I tried to push the already dried dye over the spot but all I manged to do was make it red.

Of course the wife got a big laugh out of all this when I told her what happened but I had the last laugh. My fake tan turned out perfect, almost. Her tan turned her orange.

Of the Week

Just some random thoughts and such that I think of or stumble upon every week.


Word of the week

Help - 1: to give assistance or support to 2: to make more pleasant or bearable 3: to be of use to 4: to change for the better

Not

Supervise - 1: watch and direct (they are not the same word)

Inspirational quote of the week

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.

- Louisa May Alcott


Gripe of the week

TARDINESS!!!!!

Song Lyric of the week

Everytime that I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face gettin clearer

The past is gone
It went by like dust to dawn

Isn't that the way
Everybodys got their dues in life to pay

- Dream On - Aerosmith

Optional blog title of the week

From the Inside looking In

Artist of the week

Nirvana

Adrift on the ocean

On our recent cruise I spent a lot of time with my sister. My sister who has now been divorced for about six months.

Some of you may remember that she divorced her husband because he was such a wonderful man and he deserved a woman that would treat him the way a wife should treat a husband. Realizing that she never would, my sister divorced him. Despite the fact he was willing to stay and work it out.

During the days we spent together she, more than once, assured me that she was the happiest she had ever been in her life. She loved her job, her children and her new found freedom. This was what she was saying anyway.

It's pretty obvious to me that she is lost and just drifting in the wind like a boat in the ocean with no oars, no direction, no plan. As most people know, the more information you are given the better chance you have of putting together a clearer picture of a situation. Lets just say by the end of the cruise the picture was crystal clear.

My sister is a very strong willed, private person. She does not give personal information out freely. You have to listen and catch the little pieces. Three days was enough for me to know I wasn't buying what she was selling.

The evidence:

• She was reading not one but three self help books. Now there is nothing wrong with that but they were all books about finding direction in life. Not exactly a topic you would think someone, who just got everything she ever wanted, would be reading.
  

• She casually mentioned, out of the blue, that she found it odd after ten years of marriage her ex husband was willing to change his behavior that was causing the marriage to end. He begged but she told him it was too late. WTF? I thought to myself when I heard this. I thought he was suppose to be this great guy and she was the problem? Seems we are starting to revise that part of history now.
  

• Still being a friend of her ex husband, the father of my nieces, I asked if he had started dating anyone? She snapped back "don't know, don't care, not my problem." Sheesh, if she doesn't care why is she getting so damn mad about it. That was the first time in three days I had even mentioned him.
  

So at the end of the cruise, after we passed through customs and were ready to go our separate ways home, I hugged her and told her if she needed anything to give me a call. She won't of course because in her mind that would be admitting weakness. I was happy with the time we got to spend together. The bond we share as brother and sister was a little stronger than it was before. As she walked away, carrying her heavy baggage, I noticed a lack of stability in her step. I wanted to run over and take some of the baggage in my hand to ease her burden but I knew she wouldn't let me.

Hopefully, one day soon, she'll put some of that baggage down and be able to take hold of her oars again.

Happy Birthday ABBY!!!!

You are such a sweet and special child.

You love to sing

You love to dance

You love people

You are smart

You are head strong

You are compassionate

You are beautiful

You are unique

I love you

I look forward to seeing your face everyday. The happy one, the sad one, the flirty one, the mad one, the pouty one and even that little evil one that makes me wonder if you're hiding a butchers knife in your diaper.

I hope you enjoy your special day!

Update, She Went

After it was all said and done the wife went to her sister's birthday party. When the wife told her sister she wouldn't be going for sure, her sister called her back and said, "please".

The wife called me and asked what to do. Knowing her sister, it must have been important to have the wife be there for her to make such an effort. I told the wife it was up to her, of course, but maybe she should consider it. I mean she could always leave if she felt uncomfortable.

So she went. She said it was stuffy. Her sister was pretty much drunk the whole time. In the end, she and her friend ended up sitting alone at a table talking to each other. I was so happy I wasn't there to get blamed for that situation. It wasn't me being anti-social it was just a boring party.

The pictures are of her sister and her sister with her husband, the doctor.

Of The Week

Just some random thoughts and such that I think of or stumble upon every week.

Word of the week

imbalance - A lack of balance, as in distribution or functioning.

Inspirational quote of the week

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gripe of the week

people at 4 way stops

Song Lyric of the week

And freedom, oh freedom, well that's just some people talkin.Your prison is walking through this world all alone. - Desperado - The Eagles

Optional blog title of the week

Confessions of a blogger

Artist of the week

Elton John

Outflanked, almost

The continuing drama of simply and nicely turning down an invitation to a party.

After my post yesterday the wife's sister continued to apply pressure to get her to come to the party. This ended with a phone call to me at work from the wife that started "I hope this doesn't up set you."

The wife went on to explain that her sister told her she could bring a friend with her and come without me. The wife asked a friend of ours, she was excited to go and agreed. I didn't understand what about THAT was suppose to upset me. I told her I was happy she had worked it out and I had no problem with it. When I hung up the phone I felt a sense of relief. At least now I wouldn't end up being the bastard that kept her from going.

On my way home I received another call. It was the wife asking me how she could get out of going. Apparently after talking with her sister more, she realized all the women invited to the party would be wearing floor dresses. Anything else would be deemed unacceptable. Even if the wife went out and bought a new dress her friend would not. Her friend told her she didn't know these people and she didn't care what they thought of her. My kind of thinking.

So faced with going and taking the chance of ruining the image her sister had for the party or just not going, she chose the latter. Tough spot for the wife if you ask me but as usual, nobody did. So we're not going, again... for now.

I'm Nobody's Fool

Ok, ok, I can be a fool a plenty but not this time.

My wife's sister, my sister-in-law, is turning 40 this month. She is throwing herself a party. Not just any party but a black tie affair. The wife and I have been asked to go. I declined and yes I have a foot in the dog house again.

I get along fine with my sister-in-law, mostly because we understand each other. I know what she is and she knows who I am. Ninety nine percent of the time we coexist wonderfully. So why not got to the party? A few reasons quickly come to mind.

We are the only people she invited from the wife's side of the family. She didn't deem any of the others worthy enough, not even her parents. All of her husband's family are invited. That in itself would be enough for me not to go. The next problem I have is the whole black tie thing. It's just not me or the wife if her sister thought about it for even a second.

The reason for the black tie is yet another no go for me. I'm pretty sure that everyone invited except me owns their own tuxedo. Maybe that's normal in other parts of the country or parts of the world but it's not normal down south y'all. Down here there are only a few people who own their own tux and these people aren't waiters. No her husband, his father and all their friends are doctors. Which I think is cool and I have a lot of respect for their accomplishment.

If that's the kind of party she wants I say "go for it". But she had to know the wife and I would decline. Especially when she sets the tone by excluding people she deems unworthy. Not to mention the people excluded would be ALL the people we would know. The funny thing is, her sister is upset with us. Amazingly she doesn't see the irony in the situation. Well I do.

Of The Week

Just some random thoughts and such that I think of or stumble upon every week.

Word of the week

Implode - To cause to collapse inward violently

Inspirational quote of the week

What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself
- Hecato, Greek philosopher

Gripe of the week

Biscuits

Song Lyric of the week

They put coffee in the coffee in Brazil - Sinatra - The Coffee song

Optional blog title of the week

Waiting for death

Artist of the week

Barry White

Back up

If you haven't done a backup on your computer in the last hour

DO IT!!!!!!!!

grrrrrrrrr!

Getting too comfortable

My first post of the new year might also be my most serious. Time will tell.

After the wife realized I had a secret blog I got more comfortable talking about things written on it and commented on it. She seemed interested in the topics but not the actual blog. I actually started checking my blog in the kitchen while she was around.

As I have said before, if the wife wanted to see my blog I would show it to her. I don't think she would try to read it behind my back. We do have a family blog I keep that she does read. It's mostly for our out of town friends to keep up with us. I usually make all the post. Well the day I posted "Merry fn' Christmas" I was in the kitchen while she was cooking. I clicked to close my browser and left the kitchen.

Apparently the browser didn't close and it left my blog up. The wife saw it and thought it was a new post for our family blog and sat down and read it. She only read the one post. I was in the next room and saw her walk by crying on the way to our bedroom. When I arrived in our room she was on the bed crying asking, "is that what you think of me?" She claims what I wrote was horrible and mean and made her look like a terrible person.

I reminded her that everything I wrote I had told her to her face. That I was upset but realized it was my problem not hers. I also told her that was how I saw the situation and felt about it at the time. She didn't get it. She asked me not to write about her anymore. I explained that wasn't very realistic.

So here is my question. Did I show my wife disrespect in that post? Let's go further, have I disrespected my wife on any post. Does anyone feel that my blog paints my wife in a bad way? I need some real honesty here because I want to know.