Sorry!

Couple things.

1. Sorry I left the last post up as long as I did. Nobody needs to read about an ear hair, let alone see it if you look at my blog multiple times. I know you don't need to know about all of my "getting older" things, but trust me, I filter out most things and just left you with one disturbing image. I will try to keep most of those things to myself from now on.

2. Driving in today, I passed a small Chevy truck. They were called a Chevy Luv when I was a kid, but I'm pretty sure that name disappeared with the dinosaurs. Now, it's probably a Chevy F25, but I have no idea. Anyway, this little mint green, rusted out truck was packing a set of the fake testicles hanging from the back bumper, apparently explaining to us just how tuff this guy and his baby truck is. He also has the phrase "Cowboy Up" in the back window in large letters. OK, couple problems with this. First is, plastic balls hanging from your little mint green truck, do not intimidate even the wimpiest person. This guy is so far off I can't even put it into words. Plus, the balls were blue, which makes it even worse. Second, cowboy up? Seriously? In Des Moines, Iowa? In a mint green truck with blue plastic balls hanging from your rusty bumper? Talk about delusional.

3. I mentioned that I listen to the 80's station in my car. This morning I was treated to REO Speedwagon and You Can't Fight This Feeling. My car has a readout that tells you the artist and song, but some titles don't fit. Here is this mornings song:

I think this is the motto for the satellite radio company, it most certainly is the motto for our local cable company that I luckily got away from.

4. You probably saw my post on Facebook, but if not, I figured out that I actually know Rebecca from The Biggest Loser. I'm addicted to this show. I love watching people succeed and to see how they overcome their obstacles to achieve their goals. I wanted Rebecca to win from the beginning, because she was from Des Moines and because she seemed like a cool person. I was disappointed when she was booted out and then shocked when she walked into the house that was right across the street from my Southside home. I didn't know her very well, she was 15 and not really interested in hanging with me and her dad as we worked around our houses. Her dad helped me with several projects at my house, along with my other neighbor Gene. They were great neighbors and when I saw who Rebecca's parents were, I wasn't surprised at all. She represented Des Moines well and I hope she wins the at home portion of the show.

Oh crap!

How do you know you are getting old, and falling into the old guy stereotypes? I just pulled an exceptionally long hair OUT OF MY EAR!!!!! What the hell? I've never had hair in my ear. Not on my head anymore either, but I can live with that, but this ear hair is not working for me. It was only one, but it was long enough to put in a ponytail. Can you put one hair in a ponytail? How have I not noticed it until it was caught in my pants zipper? I'd like to start my mid-life crisis now, there is a Camaro that is screaming my name.

CHEATER!!!!!!

Found out a little trick that Makiah likes to do. Makiah, Max and I were building puzzles last night. When we got down near the end, I noticed that we were going to be several pieces short, which isn't surprising, it's a puzzle after all. My experience has been that you only have all of the pieces the first time you build it, then they start to disintegrate in the box, so each time you build it after that, more and more pieces are missing. As we are fitting the last few pieces we have, I notice a piece under Makiah's leg, so I tell him to get it. He moves his leg and behind it, is several more pieces. I realized that he was holding pieces so he could put the last ones in, not me or Max. Clever, but I wanted to put the last piece in so I trashed the puzzle and stormed out of the room. I wanted to be sure my kids know how to finish a puzzle, the same way you leave a board game if you are loosing, angry and defiant.

I found a new fun thing, once you hear it, you will realize just how pathetic my life is. I have found the 80's music station on my satellite radio. I now spend my mornings with Duran, Duran, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis AND the News and even a ditty or two by Wham! The radio station that I'm on the board of directors for, had a commercial for awhile that said that by the time a kid reaches the age of 18, they have memorized the lyrics to 1,000 songs. I thought that number was a bit inflated, until I started hearing songs by Howard Jones and I knew the words. I can safely say that I have never owned a Howard Jones album, so it's all from memory. Our commercial basically states that you should have your kids listen to our station, so the lyrics they memorize are positive, not the crap I have swimming around in my head. Who needs to know the words to She Bop? Is Hungry Like the Wolf necessary to have taking up valuable, and lets be honest, limited brain space? I think not, but man it's fun to sing along with some of the stuff I hear now. Makes me want to grow my hair long, both of them, and get my ear re-pierced, both of them, and maybe find an old Volkswagen Rabbit to cruise around in, to make the flash back complete. Of course, I'd have to dis-connect the horn (Brian and Lisa will remember that), remove the drivers side door handle, knock a hole if the muffler and shred the entire interior, but man that car could get the hell beat out of it and keep on going. And who would have thought that you could cram 9 people into that car? Not I, but I promise you, it can be done.

God's beautiful world.

I've mentioned how I think Iowa is a beautiful part of the country. Here is a picture I snapped on my phone Sunday, proving it.

We spent the afternoon at a state park near our house, hiking in the woods with no trail, hiking along the river with a trail, jumping in leaves and tossing walnuts in the water. A stop at the boat ramp produced the above picture. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, so this was a great day to get out. The leaves have all turned and most have dropped, but the temps were in the 70's, so you could so anything you wanted outside without bundling up. Not bad for November. At the boat dock, I noticed an old pair of shoes and set one a drift down the river. I thought it would sink, but it floated until it was out of site. I should have put one of Mason's action figures in it, but that would not have gone over well with him. It was after it was 50 feet down the river that the thought popped into my head that that shoe MIGHT belong to someone coming back to get it. Time to pack up a get out of dodge before the owner shows up and kicks my ass with the one remaining shoe.

A bit about nothing.

I watched 2 guys chain a car to a big pole today. I'm not sure what they were planning to do or if this was their anti-theft protection. I wanted to stop and take a picture, but they were big guys and I thought they might not appreciate the humor I got from it.

Here is a picture of Max who feel asleep watching one of his movies last night.

If that isn't relaxed, I don't know what is.

Here is a difference between Marcy and I. I brought Max home early from trick or treating, because he was freezing. I was letting him hand out candy to kids when they came to the door, so I told him, "Give them each a handful." My thought was, his hands aren't that big and I don't want all this candy in the house, PLUS what the boys would be bringing home. I don't eat much candy, so no big deal to me. Marcy came home and went with Max to the door and was quite upset that he was giving out that much candy. She changed the rule to 3 pieces and pulled all of her favorite candy from the bowl. That is something the boys and Marcy have in common, the appreciation of candy. My thought is, if I want a particular candy, I will just go buy it and keep it at work so the kids don't eat it all.

I didn't have any inappropriate jokes this year, like I had a few years back when a little boy told me a joke I KNOW he got from his dad. A friend of mine got this one form a small child that had no idea of the double meaning.

What is 6 inches long and women want it? Money.

I had to get a ruler out and measure a dollar and sure enough, about 6 inches. The kid said his dad taught him the joke, big surprise. What ever happened to the good old days when there were no tricks, no jokes, only candy and a sprint to the next house to get more. We stayed out for hours when I was a kid on the east coast. Now, you get 2 hours. I actually saw teenage kids running down our street ringing door bells and then kept on running. Nobody got hurt, they had fun and I got to relive a bit of my childhood just by watching. They didn't smash any kids pumpkins and they didn't break anything. I applaud them.

I DID IT!

I finished my 30 day challenge, just a few days later than expected. Here is a picture of the screen with my proof.

I took a few extra days when I wasn't feeling well. All in all, I liked it. I still can't get my elbow to stop hurting, but the price you pay to get 1% healthier than you were. I'm not sure how much good you can do in a month, but I do feel that I can get through most of the exercises without dieing, which I couldn't do at the beginning. I think I'm going to try another 30 day challenge, but wait until next week to start it. I can give my elbow a bit of time to recover and the guy who works for me is out this week, so I need to get in early.