Long time no post

To say this summer has been busy would be an understatement. There have been so many things going on, sometimes I can't tell which way is up. I guess I will begin with vacation. We took our annual trip to the Frio river. The river was down this year because of lack of rain, but we still had a great time. We spent hours playing in the water, and the kids weren't ready to leave. That is always a good sign.


You can see that Owen is really happy to be there.





Speaking of swimming, we have certainly gotten our money's worth out of the passes to the neighborhood water park. Between meeting friends and birthday parties we have been there at least once practically every week. Of course I have started traveling again, so I have missed out on a few of those, but I know the kids are having a blast. On a side note, Jackson won't let me trim the mohawk. It is beginning to drive me crazy, but if he wants it I won't stop him (for now).

We finally came to the decision to sell our house. We have enjoyed it, but I think everyone is ready for more room. In order to prepare it for the market we are have the one of the showers tiled. To save money, we tore out the existing wall and hung the Backer Board. If you were wondering, I am not a drywall professional. In any case junk was moved to storage, shower is ready for tile, and the backyard is ready for renovation. I don't know when I will have time for that, but it has to be done sooner rather than later.

P.S. If you know of anyone looking for a nice first home point them in our direction.

More later!

The State of Television

I feel like I have been in front of the computer for about 90% of my waking hours the last two days, but I wanted to get this in before vacation.

I am not a big television fan anymore. There are very few shows that I make a point to see, and two of the season finales (My Name is Earl and The Office) remain unwatched on the DVR. That being said, I think TV is in a sad state of affairs. Here are my arguments:

1 Cartoon Network should've never been invented. I remember when I was young one of the special things about the holidays was the cartoons that were shown in the evening. I think the rarity of seeing a cartoon at night was one of the things that made the holidays feel special. It is still my favorite time of year. I try to share that with my kids, but instead seeing The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, they want to see Sponge Bob. Forget there is a daily Sponge Bob marathon on one of the cartoon channels.

2 Much like the movie industry, television has run out of new ideas. See Reality TV, movie reruns, and 13 different Law and Order series. I am not a total TV snob, I enjoy the Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, and CSI fill in the blank. I couldn't tell you what night the shows air, but I will stop down if I come across one.

3 They need to outlaw the advertisements that run across the bottom of the screen. I can't begin to tell you how annoying that is. TNT (and the cartoon stations) is a serious offender. Once they have a new show or new mini series, they run that animation that will literally take up half the screen. If people care about watching The Closer they will make a note of when it airs when they see one of the promos that run during every commercial break.

4 Soap Operas! I don't understand them at all! If you enjoy them, more power to you, but you will never convince me that they are quality entertainment. They pass each other around, their kids go from 2 year old to teenagers overnight, and if someone leaves they don't get rid of the character they replace them with someone who looks nothing like the previous person.

I guess they can't show the UFC, Cowboys and Rangers all of the time. It sure would be a better world if they could.

I have been tagged

The Sinister Minister has tagged me. This is my life from A to Z.

A. Attached or Single? Attached

B. Best Friend? Jennifer Jane Skelton 16 years (although we’ve only been married 12)

C. Cake or Pie? Yes please! If I have to choose I would say cherry pie.

D. Day of Choice? Sunday, it is usually the only day that the family has time to spend together.

E. Essential Item? Toilet paper

F. Flavor of Ice-Cream? Vanilla concrete with Strawberries

G. Gummy Bears or Worms? Bears

H. Hometown? Midland, Texas (I’ve always been confused, is hometown where you live now or where you were born)

I. Indulgences? Dr. Pepper

J. January or July? July

K. Kids? Jackson 8, Mia 3, Owen 1

L. Last Movie I Saw In A Theater? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

M. Middle Name? Adams

N. Number of Siblings? (2) Brother Brien and Sister Lori

O. Oranges or Apples? Oranges

P. Phobia or Fear? Bears (not gummy)

Q. Quote? We're gonna need a bigger boat! -Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) I need to work on my quotes.

R. Reason to Smile? Please see the letter ‘K’

S. Season? Fall

T. Tag Four More? Here are 4 that won't participate: Mi Mundo Loco, Parks Unlimited, Man Among Many Women, World O'Wolfe

U. Unknown Fact About Me? I pulled a bicep muscle playing the Wii last night. I get a little excited about bowling.

V. Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? Meat is murder....delicious murder.

W. Worst Habit? Procrastination

X. X-Rays or Ultra-Sounds? Never had an Ultra-Sound so I will say X-Ray

Y. Your Favorite Food? Chipotle

Z. Zodiac? Capricorn

Focus

My friend d4dad spoke to us the other night about focus. I have to say that his message really came through to me. I have already seen improvement in my ability...WHOA!!! DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF THAT CHICKEN!!!

Like I was saying, we had a very pleasant Memorial Day. The kids and I made a quick trip to the park to chase the ducks and play on the playground in the morning. Later in the evening we went to the community water park by the house. It is a really great place for the kids to play. They have a blast. Especially Owen who is a little more of a risk taker than the other two. Of course our fun came to a end when some other kid threw up in the pool. Luckily we were no where near the event and not even in the same pool.

Here is too a summer full of water parks and throw up!

Self Help with Skelty

A reader of mine, Mike Honcho, is going through a rough stretch right now. Mike, just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, "Give me your best shot. I can take it."

God Bless!!

Bathroom Humor

I will probably lose all of my 12 readers with this topic, but this is something I can't tolerate anymore! People need to learn the rules of bathroom etiquette. I am working on the rule book, but I have included the cliff notes for those parties that are interested. They are as follows:

1 Do not talk to me while I am in a stall
2 Do not talk to me while I am standing at the urinal
3 You may talk to me while you are at the urinal and I am at the sink, but not the other way around
4 Do not talk to me if you are in a stall and I am at the sink
5 You may talk to me while we are both at the sink
6 Wash your hands
7 Flush
8 Do not talk on the phone while you are in a stall
9 Do not call me while you are in a stall (If I find out, I will drive to where you are and kick you in the nads)
10 Do not take a drink into the bathroom (allowed if there is a table in the bathroom that is a reasonable distances from where you do your business)
11 Flush!!!!! (Seriously, did you forget why you were there? I do not understand why people don't flush)

While on the topic of bathroom humor, I thought I would include this video. I hope Jesus is safe!

Ten Things Tuesday

I thought about this yesterday, does that count? I was going to do this last night, but I had a date with the PSP last night.

1 I am thankful for my PSP. Portable video games, can you get any lazier?
2 I am thankful that Mia has an endless supply of the word Daddy. I know at some point I won't hear it as often.
3 I am thankful to hear the kids running around the house. There is a line in an Alan Jackson song "The sound of little feet, was the music we danced to week to week." I am ready for a new house, but I am going to miss that sound.
4 I am thankful that Owen likes me to retrieve his ball from under the entertainment center and then throw it right back under.
5 I am thankful for Jackson's sense of humor. I love watching laugh at something on TV to the point he is almost out of breath.
6 I am thankful that Jackson is an outgoing person, I just hope he gets a better understanding of personal space.
7 I love to hear Mia sing.
8 I am thankful that I am the only one in the office today. (I may sneek home a little early).
9 I am thankful that I had a chance to mow the yard last night before the rain. It would've been a jungle by the time I could get to again.
10 I am thankful that my boss is letting me fly to Portland next week so I can be at the platinum level on American Airlines. I am also sad because that is important to me.

Run over to XBOX Wife to join in.