Helpful review

Take a look at the following review. The first sentence leads you to believe this will be a serious review, and maybe it is, but the next sentence throw the seriousness into question.

A year or so suppliers must have changed--they are tighter in the crotch and the brass zipper was replaced by an inferior Japanese type. Good tailors usually as their customer which side they want their balls on--some men even like to have the cut low enough to let them swing! These pants don't seem to allow hardly any room at all. Otherwise they are great and I really like the selection of sizes! So if the brass zipper costs more do it--its worth it a year or two down the road when the cheap zippers stop working.

Just so you don't think I made this up, here is the link to the actual page on the Target website. Read the review of Mr. Jim Mercury.

http://www.target.com/Cherokee-Ultimate-Comfort-Flat-Front-Khakis/dp/B000B7QZE2/qid=1232637490/ref=br_1_14/191-9046433-3078610?ie=UTF8&node=1162322&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

Enjoy!

take two

So I wrote about our dinner conversation, now let me share what it's like to live with 3 boys, although only 2 were involved in this. We were getting ready for bath time, when Mason decided to screw around a little and came down stairs with a sleeping bag over his head, so he was scooting around and bumping into things. Makiah was hiding from him, since Mason was making ghost sounds trying to scare him. I told Mason he needed to get the bag off him before he banged into something and got hurt. As I said that, Makiah tackled him and Mason banged his head on the floor, seeing as how his arms were pinned to his side by the sleeping bag, he had nothing to break his fall, other than his head. He was crying and I bent down to try and comfort him, when Marcy walked in. She asked what happened and I told her I punched him in the head because he was pissing me off, but she didn't buy it. We finally got Mason calmed down enough to get him on the couch. I went upstairs to finish bath time for the other boys, when I heard Marcy screaming my name. I ran down stairs to find Mason puking, that didn't appear to be a good thing. We called the doctor to see if we needed to bring him in to check if he had a concussion, but they said to wait and see if he throws up again. If not, let him sleep for about an hour, then wake him up and ask him simple questions, who he is, where he is, and see if he can answer. I'm sure he was completely confused when his mom woke him up at 10pm and asked him who he was, mom is nuts. All seemed to be fine, we'll see how he feels this morning.

Education at dinner

Funny thing happened at dinner. We were all eating and Makiah proclaimed that his ding dong hurt, then, after Marcy spit her dinner out on the table, he told us he didn't know what his ding dong was. We finally caught our breath and explained where his ding dong was located, Mason and Makiah had a good laugh. Then, we had to explain how much trouble they would get into at school if they continued this conversation there. Ahhhh, the joys of parenting.

Day one of the next 4 years

The celebration is done, the party hats and dresses should all be back in the closet and now it's time to get to work. As I sat in my car dealerships waiting room, waiting for my oil change and watching Obama's inauguration, I couldn't help in feeling proud of our country. We have come a long way. I heard several people say what Obama said, that not so many years ago, a man like President Obama wouldn't even be able to eat in the same restaurant as me, but now, leads me into hopefully a brighter tomorrow. WOW, that is a big change in a fairly short amount of time, in the grand scheme of things. As I listened to his speech, I have hope. It seems every time I hear him speak, I have hope. Hope for a brighter financial future for America. Hope to help in the world and be thought of as a country of compassion and world solidarity, not bombs and interference. I'm sure there are thousands of black kids that look into the future and now know, they CAN be anything they want to be. I never thought I would see a black president in my life time. I've written this in my blog before, and I would have said the same thing if McCain had been elected, lets hope that Obama does such a good job that the Republicans don't even field a candidate in 2012 because they know he/she would get slaughtered. God bless the USA!

Now, that being said, why in the hell would the TV stations show an hour of the presidents car going down the street at 2 miles per hour? Man that was boring. I was waiting for the parade to begin to see the pride of Iowa, the Isiserettes, march for the president. I know I have mentioned them before on my blog, because I love them, but in case you haven't read about them, they are a drum a dance corp. that play a beat that you can't help but move around to (Even a rhythmless white guy like me). The parade was supposed to start at 1:30pm, but at 3:00pm, the president still wasn't to the viewing stand. By the time he got there and the parade started, the channel we were watching (NBC) switched to regular programming and didn't show the parade. We quickly changed over to CBS, which was at commercial. We knew the Isiserettes were at the beginning of the parade, so we switched over to ABC, which on the non-cable TV we were watching, was the crappiest picture of them all. Of course, they showed the parade and there the Isiserettes were, in all their blurry dis-colored glory. The only problem was, ABC said they were some marching band from some other state, damn it. We did get to see them briefly and they were ROCKING it!!! They switched back to show Michelle Obama dancing to the drum beat, YES! Later, we were able to see better shots of them on the local news, which was great. I've always had a thing for drums. I wanted to play them when I was a kid, but for some reason, my mom didn't think that would be a good idea. Now Makiah wants to play the drums and I'm all for getting him a set. I told him I know a guy in the Isiserettes and now he really wants to meet him. I'll take him to a show they do this summer, I know that will only step up the "I want to play the drums" non-stop badgering, but at least he can hear what it's supposed to sound like. He got a guitar for Christmas and plays it all the time, so if he could learn both instruments, he could be his own band.

The count down to El Paso is under way. My next mission trip to that area is Feb. 7th thru the 14th and this year will be completely different than previous years. We've talked about some of the projects we might/will be doing and they sound great. As long as we get to serve, the projects are immaterial. One thing we always say on this trip, the project may change, but the mission stays the same. Spread the love of Jesus Christ to all of his children, whether they live in the USA or Mexico, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm really excited to go, I look forward to it every year. When I return, I will turn my focus to South Africa in July. My fund raising is going well. I'm half way there and have not only received donations, but have rekindled relationships that were dormant for years. God works in mysterious ways.

Couple of things

Couple of things:

1. We are home.
2. It's colder than sh!t here.
3. I apparently forgot how to drive in the snow, being away from it for 9 days driving a convertible. I got stuck in a snow bank bright and early this morning and froze my ass of, -15, trying to get it unstuck.
4. Flying overnight to get home sucked. I couldn't sleep on the plane and was exhausted when I got home. Plus, thought I was going to have to use a vomit bag on the way into Denver, which has never happened to me before.
5. I mentioned on my last post that our doors were to the left of the bamboo, well it isn't bamboo, but can't remember what it is. I hope Rachel is still reading my blog and can remind me what it is. It was some kind of palm, and if I remember right, this is the biggest group in one spot, on the whole island.
6. My brain is still on vacation, so I'm working at half speed right now.
7. I miss Kauai and the new friends we met:(
8. Seven is more than a couple. So is eight.

Last day

So with great sadness, we will spend our last night in Kauai tonight. We are heading to the west side of the island to catch the sunset, we'll have a little dinner and it will be back to the house to start getting ready to come home. After spending seven full days on the island, I'll say it is in the top two for beautiful places I have been. Jamaica would fall into the other spot, but not sure in which order. The beaches are beautiful, but the mountains are incredible. The sheer green cliffs are what what I think of when I think of paradise, followed by big coconut trees, banana trees and all of the colors. If you ever get the chance, don't hesitate to see one of God's greatest creations. Here are a few shots from the property we are staying at.
Those are our french doors to the left of the bamboo.See you when we get home, unless I get some sunset shots I want to share tonight.

Today was the slowest day we have had so far. We tried to go for a hike, but when we got to the trail head, the mud was as deep as a Chicago style pizza. (I think I need to eat some pizza soon) Marcy asked a lady who just got back how the trail was and she said the mud was pretty bad. We decided to take her word for it, seeing as how she had mud up to her knees, so we skipped the hike. Instead, we headed to Lydgate State Park, walked on a path and across what they called a play bridge, which was a huge structure that took you from the top of a ridge and you wound around this wooden structure that deposited you on the beach. My boys would have loved it. There were a bunch of different ways you could go and there were slides as well, although they were closed when we were there, which disappointed us because we were going to slide down. We walked on the beach and I saw way more of a couple of fellows than I needed to. The Speedo is here, even when it shouldn't be. I saw one pasty white guy with a bright blue thong on and my first thought was that he had better have lots of sun block on those cheeks, cause he is going to burn. I can call him pasty white because I fall under that category. Even after a week in Hawaii, I will probably only be pink because I use so much sun block. To much cancer in my family, no need to invite it in. After the hike, it was off to another waterfall, this one was close and huge. Also, our second rainbow of the day, yesterday.

We had bought some sweet potatoes at the market the other day and when I peeled them last night they were bright purple. I took this picture, but the brightness just didn't come through, but you get the idea.

Lastly, here is Marcy's artwork on the beach.