Lions & Tiger & Oh my god this sucks!

So, how long has it been now? A long time it appears. Why do you ask? Well I only write when something really cool or exciting or different or whatever happens and I have been trying to wait and post a positive note as well as all the crap, so... whats been happening? Lets examine shall we?

First... CAR DEATH! First, Dawn's car overheats and we manage to drive it all the way across town (45 minutes or more one way) back from her meetings for work to the mechanic. "Your car is tip top," says the mechanic, "except for your thermostat, thermostat casing, thermostat housing, AND head cover gasket are all shot." Wonderful. $800 later, the car is running again. However, 3 days later, it overheats again. Lucky for us, this time it was only at her work and not across town. Back to the dealer. "Oh, its the flux capacitor and the ion reducer." Says the mechanic. Or something like that dealing with the thermostat again. "What? I thought that was fixed?!?" "Well, everything was working when we tested it, this is a new issue and that will be another $300. Thank you & come again." I swear to the gods above that if he hadn't explained it so well at the time, cause we all know I don't remember a thing he said now, I would have thrown a fit right there in the office. So, $1100 later, the car is running fine.

Phase two... AC DEATH! So, the begining of Sept, last week in Aug. the AC starts making a funny noise one night and by morning is dead. This is Floriduh for the love of all thing sacred. We need AC. So, we call the home shield folks who have the AC guys come out. The first guy says its a capacitor. And hour after he leaves, clang, clang, it dies again. Now, I have a window unit and have already borrowed two from my boss because it was 5 days before the first tech came out because he was bitten by a snake the day of the appt. and had to reschedule. So back out he comes again, except this time, it is another guy who realizes the motor is shot and needs replacing. However, they have to special order it because they don't carry that old of a model in stock anywhere and have to get it from the manufacturer. Day after day of calling and asking status turns into week after week and finally, after 4 weeks, they install it and it is up and running again. This is 4 weeks of Florida heat so we are running WINDOW units. The power bill just about gave Dawn and I heart attacks.

Phase Three... FLOOR DEATH! So, the AC is kicking right along and I come home one night to find water coming up through the cracks in our fake wood flooring. The AC pan had overflowed, had no auto shut off, and had flooded first Calliope's room (who had been gone nearly 2 weeks by this point so we never went in her room) and then seeped up through the floor as it had no where else to go. Come to find out that the last people to put in the piping for the AC had it come out of the house, turn 90 degree straight up, then slope back down to the fence, which is why it was overflowing. It couldn't drain up hill. So, I cut the pipe and flushed it with chlorine and whalla, it worked. However, the floor is now totally damaged and our $1000 deductible on the insurance means 90% of repairs out of pocket. Hello crappy floors until it can be ripped out and replaced, this time with carpet.

Phase Four... MOWER DEATH! So, two weeks ago, I go out to mow the lawn and snap, zing, the mower throws a few sparks and refuses to start. Try again several times with the same snap, zing and instead of starting, the cord breaks off in my hand, the mower belches at me as if to say that it was sick of working anyways and was going on a permanent vacation and then became totally inert. Needless to say, the lawn is starting to LOOK like Halloween out there and it will have to remain so until we can afford a new mower.

Tada!!! And you people wonder why I never write... sheesh.

On the lighter side of tragedy, we passed our first year of home schooling evaluation. This is a good thing and it appears that we have a few new ideas from the teacher that interviewed us. Things that we didn’t really think would count as we weren’t sure what type of person we would get. She is a very good ex-teacher that believes in life learning as much as school learning and that teaching via hands on and experience is always the best way. Because of this, we can now move ahead in ways we were hoping we could. Using field trips, vacation, games, and other such activities linked with reading and study from online and reference material to go ahead into the next year. It should be good.

Other than that, life in FL just sucks. The people are total morons for the most part and the longer I stay in this state, the more I realize just how stupid they really are. I can't believe that the rest of the world is as stupid as most of these people. People in Floriduh can’t drive either. I have been in a few states now and these people couldn't handle driving in even Nebraska where it is even more flat than here. It is no wonder that we are ranked 48th out of 50 for education and amongst the lowest levels for living standards. Then, there is weather. I thought this state was supposed to be the sunshine state, not the rain every damn day state so the the humidity rises to a point that walking out the door is like walking into the wall of water. Yes, the humidity is starting to annoy me, and life in this state as a whole is tearing me down. Needless to say, it is doing likewise to Dawn who has said more than once that she thought she was stupid until she moved to this state and now she feels almost genius like. I swear, once we can afford it and have decent jobs, the first chance we get, we are outta here.

So, there it is, my life, my rant, my pains and bitches. I will now step down from the pulpit of me and let you guys know that I love you all and I know this too shall pass. Consider this my major bitch and take it with a grain of salt. Or maybe a whole damn salt lick.

Now for the fun, good news that I sorta mentioned in the begining to this. Dawn, working her ass off at work, is like 90% likely to be accepted and invited to Presidents Club this year for her work. What does this mean you ask? It means, Maui! Yes, you heard me, the company takes the top tier from each district that makes goal, secret shoppers, conduct reports and all the other garbage that goes with corporate working, and sends them on a trip if all these things are above standard. So for two week, we will be waiting with baited breath for the little box to arrive at her store congratulating her on her win this year. Weeee... Something about silver linings and all that. And I think Isaiah said something about Nebraska while we are gone if she does indeed win... hmmmm... wonder what he meant by that dad? If she does indeed win, we will talk Mort.

So in conclusion, lets just say, and I am keep everything I can crossed, that we hope this is the last of things on the down side and that we are on the upswing. Hell, maybe I can win the lotto... (breathing normal here) then we will all have fun. Take care all... El'Poofta....

...to life.

"Please state your name for the record. Please remember, this is being recorded for prosperities sake, like it or not." And then there was 'P' and it was good.

I bet I am the only one in the world that takes a picture of the courtroom number where I was tried and convicted for not remembering that this episode was brought to you by the letter 'p'. I think there was something about a number too, but I can't remember.

So, I have this theory that states that everything in the uninverse is strange, bizzare, unique, sometimes bothersome and a pain, yet at the same time exciting and beautiful. What does this mean? I have no idea, but it sounds really philosophical doesn't it? Anyways, there was excitement recently. What is that you ask? Well, the reason I am updating this thing, duh? Oh, the event. Well, it was some guy marrying some girl somewhere. I mean, Cousin Dan marrying this wonderful girl Kristina. Yeah, that was it. Too much alcohol in the insuing days after brings about bouts of forgetfulness. So anyways, these two crazy kids finally, as we say down here in the south, gots themselves hitched. It was a beautiful thing really. All the family gathered around dressed in thier finest, the sun shining down at all the right moment, flowers in bloom all around, and the bride and groom wearing too much lipstick. :)

Arrival was the day of my birthday. And amazed as I was, my family, with the myriad of things going on around us from organizing this shin-dig and hosting it and... and... and... remembered it to the point of cake and icecream. I can't express what kind of feeling that gives to know that even though thier own son was getting married the next day, they still made time for me. That was sooooo cool you guys. (Hugs and kisses). Oh, right, the arrival... airport, family meet and greet, the usual. Then I get to see the house that McCallums built and where. OMG!!! It is amazing. And of course, the bride and groom to be with their puppy Tauny. Aren't they all so cute.

Seriously, look at this view, wow.... to wake up to this every morning. And not to mention, it was georgious. The weather was warm and I didn't sweat once even in the light of direct sun. It was amazing. How the heck do I pull that off in FL??? Hmmmmm. Must research this no sweat thing. So anyways, it was a quiet dinner and b-day thing, then the day of the event. We walked to the court house after a quick photo session in the lobby of the hotel were we learned that Keith just can't do Blue Steel. It really was a nice ceremony and the judge made me want to have my own in CO just so we can have him do the ceremony. Heck, in FL it reminds me of the scene from spaceballs. "Do you?" "Yes." "Do you?" "Yes." "Good. Your married. Kiss her." This judge was great. Hmmm... maybe I will have mine in CO. Who knows? Then it was pictures outside the courthouse with both families and then off to dinner.

So, there was this ceremony that was cool, then the dinner that started off making me wonder if we were gonna swim back to the hotel or not. Just as it looked doomed, just when we were all about to order dinner, the heavens above parted the clouds and it was perfect the rest of the night. Drinking, wonderful food, then off to watch movies at the lodge. Weeeee... it was all fun and how could one forget the rocking games of Guitar Hero with my one and only, bestest and most wonderful Bro Keith, (Or the rounds of drunken fun at the bar after each nights closing of family events) that just made it all complete.

Then, there was the last days horseback riding through some of the most beautiful country sides in the US. I have thise beast of a horse. Lordy it was taller than me at the slope of his back, he weighed in at 1900+ lbs and his name was turbo. Oh great, the fast one right. NOT! This was the epitome of gentle giant. Well, save the once or twice he tried to run me into the tree, but that was nothing compared to my Aunt Pam getting thrown from hers. Overall, it was fun had by all. Dan even fed one an apple. Keith the big pansy had some lame excuse about his back hurting or something to go, but his loss. All in all, I had a wonderful time and wish the bride and groom all the very best. (Ever notice how the man always gets second billing in that. Sorta makes me understand even moreso what the judge was saying.) Great bash kidding and we all have to get together again very soon. Laters... enjoy the salmon and potatoes on the way out.

Castle Dinner

Ahhhh, such a wonder is the dreams which inspire the world. Or as it says on our picture that we got, "A dream is a wish that your heart makes..."

It was a great time had by all. Dawn was so excited, it was cute. Isaiah wasn't the least bit annoying and also seemed a bit excited to be there. Okay, so let me lay it all out for you.

We all know what the castle looks like right? But what does it look like with no people? I'll show you, but that skipping ahead in our little tale. So, first off, we get there and have to wait just a bit as they were setting up for the next set of dinner guests. Namely us and the other 20 or so people. As we wait, whom do we run into but none other than, THE ROPE NAZI! Why do we call her that do you ask? Well, as we were waiting outside, another couple came out, done and smiling. Since the park was gearing up for the fireworks, they had the area around the castle roped off to make people go around instead of through the castle area. Not realizing this was except for castle dinner guest, a nice couple was going to step over the rope and go around the castle like everyone else.

Enter the rope Nazi. She comes barrelling around the desk yelling at these people, "Wait! Stop! You can't step over the rope! Stop!" Enters another cast member that is watching the area to make sure people don't try and slip through the castle over the rope. "I don't think they can cross the rope, can they cross the rope, wait here, I don't think they can cross the rope can they?" She is muzzling out like a repeating rifle to the new cast member. To which the new cast member calmly says, "As long as they don't run through, trip and break their necks, sure, why not." To the guest, "Just make sure to follow the others around the castle and not back into the park area..." where he proceeds to explain that the firework drop debris in this area which is why it gets blocked off. Wow, talk about not a promising start. So, anyways, the rope Nazi lets us into the main floor of the castle where we wait for our picture with Cinderella.

I am rope Nazi! And I call your names too.

So, we get inside and look around a bit. Its pretty cool, all set up castle like, DUH! Everyone is calling us Lord, Lady & Prince which was kinda neat too and what do I notice, but Cinderella's little mouse friends hanging out on one of the cross bars above the fireplace. Cool. So, we wait a little bit and in comes the princess herself. By this time Dawn is giddy and having a great time already. So, we have our picture taken, wait about 5 minutes, rope Nazi calls out our name and its off to dinner.

Meeces to pieces ----------------Princesses

Now we walk up the castle stairs to the main dining room. We had a great table. Right above the main floor looking out the windows towards the carosel. This, which Dawn found out later, was perfect in more than one way because the fireworks actually go off at 10pm RIGHT behind the carosel. So we got to watch while we ate. They even dimmed the lights inside and played to music as well. It was even nicer because the ones that actually go off next to the castle, only made a slight popping noise inside, even the big ones. Very nice.

So, we eat, (Which was absolutely wonderful food. Pork Tenderloin for Dawn, Prime Rib for the boy, and Seared Salmon for me. Yummy.) we have fun watching the fireworks, and we are about to get desert, when what to my wandering eyes should appear? No, not that one... this one!

Man, that Fairy Godmother can move. She was all over the place. It was hard to get her picture. But I did, sorta. And they danced, Dawn got mouse bashed when one accidentally smacked her with its nose. Dawn thought this was funny and came back to the table giggling. So, desert was served, we were like one of the last ones there because we took our time and enjoyed it all, so we wandered around for a few more pictures and then went home happy and full. Oh, remember that first question at the begining to this? Well, with a few more pictures of the inside, let me show you.

Oh look, there is a blog here...

Well, let me see here. Has it been six months yet? No? Then I am doing better. Weeeee... I just love having a life. Anyways... let me see... I think I left off with Jan. Yes, Yes I did. So, let the updates begin. And remember kiddies, there were no animal hurt in this invasion of the blog.

Jan.: January was different from most months around here as Dawn, Isaiah, and I all went to visit dad (Kerm to you numbskulls who don't know what I am talking about) and we got to freeze. Weeeee. I haven't seen cold like that in YEARS. It was great. We started off lunching at Speghetti Works and turning in early, then the fun began. Cold, weee, it was fun. Well, I and Isaiah thought it was anyways. Dawn didn't so much. We had a great time, saw some of the old family, namely Chris, Makenzi (I probably butchered the hell out of that, get over it. :) Sorry.) and Andy when we all went bowling. Keith made a surprise appearance. The Brian family built a snowman and had a snowball fight, we played games and just had a great time. Keith and I did our great Scottish rendition of craziness during a card game and even Kevin's girlfriend got in on the scattergories party one night we were there. Good times, good times.


The arrival-----------------------Sketti Works


Freezing Dawn-------------Snowman Hitler




Bowling if fun for the whole family!!!

Now the trip home. The first picture, Dawn made me take cause it was funny and she had never seen one before. The rest of the trip was not as much fun. The first plane; BROKEN. So, I call and get us switched to another flight which will arrive later, but still okay. Second plane lands; BROKEN. DAMN... So, I hurry up and call back and get us back on the original flight which will now be totally late and get us into Memphis after our layover. We catch the next flight to Orlando and don't make it home until 4 hours after it was supposed to arrive. Weeee... so we had real BBQ on our layover and wandered around the airport. What do we find... the worlds smallest escalator. I am not kidding. It is as long as the picture, the bottom is at the bottom the of pic and you can see the top. Talk about lazy incarnate. Sheesh. And then all is well. Weeee...


Kum & Go Gas Station----------TEEENy Escalator

Feb-Present: Well, lets see... ummm... well... Get up, go to work, pay the bills, pay more bills, oh and did I mention bills. ~LOL~ Dawn had her b-day the 21st of last month and the gang had a cake for her and sung for her, AFTER she got off work of course. Sheesh, can't even get her own b-day off, so we have a special surprise for her exactly one month off. (Best I could get.) Other than that, besides finding our mortgage going up over $200/month, the rest has been pretty uneventful. Came to find out that when they did the taxes on our house it was at the old owners house value and not the new really freakin high value, so hence our increase when they did the first year end recalculation. "it might go up a little" my ass. Ouch, that pains. As you with home know. Anyways, the rest of this is pretty usual. Gaming with friends, hanging with the family, and basically being here. Will update more after the end of he month when we have dinner in Cinderella's castle as a late b-day present for Dawn.

Toodles....

Million month stretch...

So wow, it has been like six months sinceI posted anything. Does that tell you how boring my life is? Well, to cap the last months real fast. BORING! With a few notable exceptions. Well, excet for this last weekend when we all went to see dad in Nebraska, but we will get to that in a bit. Let us take a tour of the last few month shall we?

The last time I posted anything was July 22nd shortly after Mom came to visit and Calliope came for a few months. So, let us do a month to month thing. It should be fun. And if not, then everyone can watch me stick my tongue out at them.

Aug. : Pretty boring all around. My b-day came and went and not much else happened this month. So, lets move on to Sept.

Sept. : Well, Sept came and Dawn and Calliope went to the beach. It was Calliope's first time to the ocean. They had a great time. I am sure mom was a bundle of nerves after the last experience where all of us almost got swept into the sea because it was right after a hurricane, but that was fun too. Looky here. :)

Yo Homey, buried Alive : Look at all that water

They had fun and were there all day. Sadly, Calliope had to leave us just shortly after this to go back to Las Vegas to start her first year in school. It was sad, but we will see her again soon. Other than that, it there wasn't much going on.

Oct. : Now we start getting into the fun parts of the missing months. Why do you ask? Well duh, do we even need to say that its time for Halloween? We did the special Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and it was great. I think Isaiah loved the candy alley more than anything. The whole walk behind the race track that is normally just a walking scenery thing, was lined with folks giving out candy. Yes, I think we all OD'ed just a bit on sugar.

Yes, that gang is all here. Disney really does go all out.

Disney Boo to you.... Duh, just read the picture.


We had a great time with the ghost and Ghoulies and even got a new one of our own.

Meet Gilda the death angel. Weeee....

Nov. : This was probably the most boring month. Nothing happened here at all. Well, Thanksgiving, but that is a very tame holiday. I mad ham and other stuff. So, nothing too major... What Isaiah? Birthday? What about... OH!!!! How could I possibly forget your 13th b-day was in there. Yeah, that too.

Dawn overcomes balloon issues : Duh! Video arcade. What else on your 13th?

Presents and cake for the dork boy. Yes, it's on the cake too.

Dec. : Hmmm.... I think there was a card about this too, but what the hell, there are always more pictures to go along with the Christmas season. Not to mention that we did the Disney Christmas party too. Special events are cool and Dawn has become the epitome of a Disney freak and all that goes with it. Even got annual passes this year with her bonus money and such. Wow. We are like there all the time now.

The parade was awesome as always. So were the fireworks that everyone saw in the christmas card. We did a few more show and lots of cocoa and cookies all over the park. Like I said, they go all out. Then of course there was the presents and the decorating. It was a good year. And a wonderful 2nd year for Dawn. Weeeeeee.... Just keeps gettin' better.

Mom and son prepare for presents and Santa...

Dawn opening Isaiah's gift and me delving right in too.

Mom keeps from freezing with her electric blankie. (Nevadians, sheesh) and the tradition lives on in the next generation.

Jan. : Well, you will just have to wait for the next blog entrance for Jan. That will be a whole one by itself since all the fun times we had in Omaha, NE of all places. Stay tuned....