Instant Happiness

I have Zucchini, where’s Astin when I need him?

My mom came in for a sneak visit today. Sneak in, get done what she wanted to accomplish and get out.

She’s commando like that!

So I picked her up from the airport before 9 and she dropped me off at the station so I could go on the air and continue to make a living.  Her goal was to look at the tile samples I had gotten for her and compare them to the bathroom and kitchen to make “The Perfect Selection”*.

To my surprise my phone rang after an hour.  I had to go on the air, do my job, take a long lunch to spend time with her so she knew I had until 1 before she was supposed to pick me up.

Why was she calling?

“You are a bachelor,” my mom said.

“What was your first hint? The toilet seat being up?”

She laughed, “What do you need from the store?”

“Well, since I go shopping on the 15th and the last day of the month usually, probably everything.”

“I’m already at the store picking you up odds and ends.”

Big Guy upstairs I Love my mom. Because she doesn’t ask, she just does.

So when she is ready to pick me up I have cases of water in the backseat of my car (that I had let her use) and she had already put the rest of the stuff up.

We headed off to the tile store and met Jeff Krueger of Carpet Solutions.  One of my good friends and the man whenever I decide to get some more money put aside, is going to fix the shell of a 67 Mustang in my garage.

Mom finds the “Perfect Selection*” and I nod my head as if to say ‘It doesn’t suck’ but to be sure we bring it and a grout color selector back to the house.  Jeff invited us to lunch and Mom couldn’t say no. We stopped by Garcia’s and had a nice lunch. I had never been to Garcia’s before and I was pleasantly surprised. I had the flour enchladas with cheese and they were incredible.  The chips and hot sauce was very good.  I stuck with water and trying my best not to get off that kick.

We headed to the house and examined the “Perfect Selection*” versus the two bordered tile. PERFECT!

So we headed back to the tile store, and I bought enough tile for the living room and the hall, 300 sq ft. Then I felt like I needed to check in. I had gotten permission to take a longer lunch, but I felt like I needed to get some work done and some face time in. So while mom read her book in my office, I got some paperwork and needed phone calls done.  I felt like I had gotten alot accomplished so we headed back to the house to box up some stuff.  Mom was great cause she had reorganized and cleaned the kitchen surprising me with a fridge full of water and fruit and veggies. Maybe she is trying to tell me something…

But the thing that made me laugh was that she had gotten me four zucchini. On the way to the airport tonight she told me about all the ways I could cook them.

But all I was thinking was a good recipe for Zucchini bread.

Is that wrong?

* (Mom is guaranteed to always make the Perfect Selection. Just ask your mom!)

Random Thoughts

I have to be blessed with the coolest, sweetest friends.

They just live way far away from me.

But I’m about ready to meet two of them for lunch here in the Hub. I can almost always count on Dalby for anything.

***Pagerank Smagerank***

My PageRank according to my friends have gone down on Google, but I’ve pretty well have written off
Google as well as Internet Explorer. My browser of choice is now and probably forever will be Firefox. I listened to my SEO advisor and see what that got me. I’m probably going to take down soem of the superflorous ads and just never look at IE again.

Life blog down from a 5 to a 3. Poker Blog from a 4 to a 3. Hmm. Fuck em and feed em fishsticks.

***Continuing of life changes***

Mom is coming in to inspect the damage that I have done and approve tile selection. I tried to get Dad up here so we can do some painting, but he is “busy working on projects”. His loss. Mom and I will go out to eat on him!

We’re going to meet my friend Jeff Krueger from Carpet Solutions and he going to help us get tile at a reasonable rate. I really don’t care about what it looks like except no burnt orange or maroon. Those are automatic vetos.

***Writing ***
I’ve been writing offline just jotting down ideas and concepts for new books and short stories. I’ve found my best stories come from sitting and just watching the world around me. Damon and I saw a fight of a boyfriend and girlfriend out in the parking lot of the Cotton Patch Cafe and without a beat I just started to tell Damon what they were saying even though we were across the street inside Chick-Fil-A. It’s just something I do. Sometimes it works, sometimes in the words of Surflexus… I’ve got nothing. BUt Pushmonkey72 has sent me some books to help my character development process along.

***McG better watch out***
Last night I worked with some software to put some of the photos and movies I took from Okie-Vegas and The 2008 Ferlin Husky Memorial Drinking Festival together. Still working on just making it look good. Nothing to note as of yet, but it is good to try and develop skills and talents I’ve never tried before.

*** A special note to Bam-Bam ***
1. Because you live in Canada.
2. Your heart is always in the right place.
3. Because you’ve found the true love in your life and you spoil her.
4. You never give up.
5. Just Because.

Thanks

***On the movie kick***
I’ve seen Hancock, Hellboy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Batman in the last two weeks. I go through these kicks where I just want to sit and watch movies and be told a story. Then I’m off to not watch a movie for 10 months. Weird huh?

***Kids***
I’ve come to the conclusion that it is too late to move to Indiana to be “Daddoo” in the sense that the kids have grown past certain things. However I’ve come to the conclusion that I will be changing the things that we do when I go and see them or when they see me. Thus more science museums for Shelby (who can’t get enough science) and more parks and baseball games for Ryan. Also I am going to work and find ways to get Shelby to come see me and give her some one on one time with Daddy with Ryan starting when he can fly by himself.

***Misc***
Finances Have been tight lately as I finally paid off another bill and I am investing into paying off the house.
I’ve been reading an Andrew Tobias book before I goto sleep at night and I see the mistakes I have made in the past.

I’m trying to improve myself and my surroundings. Thus I am going on a kick of pruning my possessions. If I haven’t used it in six months or have no desire to give it to the kids will be either sold, donated or thrown away.

***Final Thoughts***

I’m changing, and it is slow. But I see the mistakes I have made and I see that some of the five things that my friend told me are true. I just have to make the changes to fix what I can. I’m opening up in some areas while shutting others down.

Before I took care of others before me because I thought that in the end I would be taken care of by others. That was a mistake on my part. Now I take care of myself first in the pursuit of helping others. That way we are BOTH covered.

Lunch with friends, working out tonight trying to bike another 10 miles on my way to biking a marathon.

sd

Its the experiences stupid!

It starts out dark, nay, with a twinkle as you look. Then the rich purple, red and gold encompass the canvas radiating like it has never done before though it had the day before. It is a picture that is painted, taken and sometimes captured in a memory. The gloriousness of the Big Guy’s work that is done over and over again morning and evening twenty four hours a day, around a blue marble that rotates around a yellow sun. It is one of the simplest things that man can see.

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The Okie-Vegas Six…

Yup, I was doing so well and then boom, lake fun, boom, pizza, boom, Hmmmmm barbecue, boom, I know I am eating WAYYY to much. But you need these issues. You need to spoil yourself, I kept telling myself. Discipline is what is important. Oh so important. But then I thought of the great time that I had in Okie and the pain I feel that I know that it looks like Brian (Skidoo) tore or hurt his ACL. I still wouldn't change it at all. (If you'd like to read more you have to come to the website. I'm still working on fixing things on Wordpress including on fixing RSS feeds among other little issues.)

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Fabulous Okie-Vegas…

I think the key to having a good time is sometimes to sit back and let things happen.  In the best moments of my life I have let things just happen and not force things.

I have found out who my friends are, my good friends are and who I can reach up from a cliff and I know they will either pull me up or fall off with me.

And though I have missed Emily visiting Lubbock and the drunk Corey and Kym Possible…

I have found yet another version of happiness!