This count clothing

One, two, three strikes.

This weekend Wendy, Joy, and I visited Wendy's parents. It was one of the few weekends in a long time that her parents did not have abut four functions to attend while we were there.

Saturday Wendy wanted to get a haircut. So we left Joy with Granma and Papa. Wendy was also aware of a sale at a discount children's store. It was a promotion that you could pay 10 dollars for a plastic bag filled with clearance items. Sounds good right? Wendy envisioned lots of great deals. We got to the store around 11 am. It was pretty crowded. A few people were walking around with their bags full. The clerk enthusiastically asks us were we here for the deal. She says that the clearance item are the ones with a red line on the price tag We look through the racks. However, we do not find any items with the red line. Wendy asks a fellow shopper where the items are. The person responds there are sections in the store specifically and a few items mixed in the rest of the inventory. Wendy was looking for sleepers for Joy. Unfortunately, the selection of sleepers is not on clearance. So the good deal is not a deal for us. Wendy had the right point that this store did not have the sufficient amount of items marked clearance to carry out a sale like that. It was supposed to last from 10 am to the end of the day. We, like I said, arrived at 11 and there appeared to be nothing left.

The we go to another store where Wendy had a deal where she could spend 10 dollars and get 20 dollars worth of merchandise. Here we faced another strike out. The selection of baby clothes was not worth it. The only sleeper in the store, not a holiday theme, was over priced.

So we venture to one more store. Wendy wanted to see if this store had any dresses for her she could get for cheap. She did not find anything that peaked her interest. We went over to the baby section, just to look. Buried in other items were a two pack of sleepers. Sure they are the color blue, but that is fine.

Wendy is pretty persistent in looking for deals. It is hard to find a good deal when the selection is not what you want. She will even look through dust bunnies one by one, if there is a chance for a deal. I will fly through them and say that I looked.

Pleased as punch

I wonder where that saying originated. I need to Google it and find out. Just did. It refers back to the Punch and Judy puppets.

Last night Wendy and I watched Taken. It was an okay movie. One of those where the main character can do anything. Liam Neeson was the star. It was interesting to see him be the tough guy. He may have done some tough guy roles in the past, but I think of him in Love Actually.

I do not think I could ever take a punch or give one. However, that is not to say that I would not like to. Have you ever wanted just to start a random fight. I know it would hurt, but I would love to get thrown down a bar. I also think it would be cool to fight like the masters in those karate movies everyone does. You know, where one guy takes on seven. I could never do it though.

There are probably easier ways of hitting on people, ask a relationship expert, but they may hit back.

Hear ye, hear me?

I am not sure if I needed recovery from the weekend or it was just my usual ugh-ness, but I was off kilter yesterday. Even more than usual. Everything I touched did not work at all. It was one of those mornings where I could not even get out of bed right.

All day Wendy was giving me grief because I could not understand her. The words coming out of her mouth. If I said "What?" once, I said 50 times. I would ask her if she said something when she did not and then have no idea what she said when she actually said something.

It must take words longer to get through my thick skull. Sometimes I know someone is talking and I catch a few words, but not all of them. So my mouth might say, "What?" and then brain says (This is what was said.)

Hail to the king of miss information!

Bullet points

Saturday Wendy, Joy, and I were visiting family. One of my aunt's was in from Florida. So Wendy, Joy, and I went over to my mom's old homestead for a get together. While there I got to fire some guns. My uncle had a shotgun (of some kind) and a revolver (of some kind). I do not think I will ever be a gun aficionado. I cannot even play the games where the target is lit for you and hit it. In real life it is very difficult.

I admit I was a little jumpy. Every time for the first I would flinch. It is hard me for to aim. I just sort of pointed and pulled. I did hit one clay pigeon. Well out of 15. Tossing the clay pigeons is tough work too. It never went high for me and always pulled to the left. However, my uncle is a good shot and managed to still hit most of them.

Guns are extremely loud. I think you would definitely know if one was fired. Even with the ear plugs I could hear the pfff. There was a big difference between the noises. It was easy to forget how loud the noise was with the ear protection.

My cousin in law shot a cow pie. He was shooting and we saw some brown fly up. He turned around and asked, "Did I just hit a cow pie?" We looked and he did.

The shooting experience was interesting. I might would do it again. It does require a great deal of practice to be good at hitting a target. Unless of course you have a really big target or a really big bullet.

Cookie cutter

Well we made it to Friday. Unless you are reading this after Friday and then, well, we have another few days.

Most everyday this week Wendy and I have thought it should have been the next day.

It has been a week that has a lot going on, for others of course not me. My aunt from Florida is in NC visiting family. Wendy, Joy, and I are going to visit them tonight. Hopefully Joy will be able to sleep as well there as she does at home.

We also have a church function tonight. It is a covered dish meal and then a concert by a quartet. For the meal Wendy made a dessert. It is a dish she got from a friend. It is dipping cookies in milk and then covering with cool whip. Simple and delicious! Two of my favorite words. In the store we bought the packaged cookies. We went with quantity over thickness, that and price.

Enjoy what is left of your day, whatever is left of it. Remember dessert is best with some kind of topping.

It is one of those talking pictures

Last night Wendy and I watched The King's Speech. It was a decent movie. I know that it won a number of Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

It is about a member of the royalty family who is mistreated because of a speech impediment. He goes to see an unorthodox speech therapist, who becomes his friend. Then the Duke becomes King.

I wonder is the movie called King's Speech because of the character's impediment through the entire movie or because of the speech he gives in the last two minutes. I am not sure. I suppose it could work for both.

I think the lesson of the movie is be careful when you pick on someone because they have a loving spouse, a good friend who makes them better, and of course become king.

I wonder do great people become great because of the circumstance they are in or they are already great and make a bad situation tolerable.

I am now doing my air wave.

Dude, Where's my car...behind that one...ahead of that one

One of the many things that I cannot stand is being in traffic. In a car, I want to arrive at my destination as soon as possible. The roads are a mess in my opinion. It seems like there are so many vehicles out on the road. They are always in places and times you do not expect. Who is always out at 2 pm during the week? It seems like everyone the few times I get to be out on the road then.

I always seem to take the wrong way. I get stuck in a long line of cars and regret my decision for taking that route. Nevermind, it is always the way I go or perhaps the only way, I will still think I should have taken another way.

Other motorists probably see me on the road and realize my distaste of traffic. They probably wonder if I am going through some seizure. They wonder what is that guy's problem with the shaking and frothing at the mouth.

I suppose in the wheel of life, you are either at the top or at the bottom.

Sell outs

Wendy and I over the weekend tried to sell a few things over Craigslist. Months back we had listed some things and had no real offers, only spambots. Over the weekend, we listed some furniture, CDs, comics, and some cookware.

Wendy first thing gets an e-mail about the furniture, she responds, and never hears anything back. Then Wendy gets a few e-mails about the comics, same deal. Wendy does strike pay dirt with the cookware. A person likes it and comes by on Sunday to purchase. Our first sale. Still have not heard anything on the CDs.

It is all an effort to remove some clutter and make a few dollars. Wendy and I are not really sales type people. However, if items are sitting in our house not being used and something can use them, they can have them...for a price.

Chocolate is no laughing matter

People do strange things for chocolate. Most people eat it, but a few people use it for pranks. A 20 year old in Wisconsin got his hand stuck in his gas tank while trying to retrieve some chocolate. Someone had put an unwrapped Snickers bar (Ha Ha)in his gas tank. Did they think he drove a new sort of hybrid? He noticed the chocolate and tried to get it out. Of course it is easier to get your hand into something than out of it. The fire department was called to help him. They had to cut the tank to get his hand out. The man is doing fine now.

I thought people from Wisconsin did crazy things for cheese being the cheese heads. Now I guess they can claim having chocolate hands.

Here is a link to the story if you are interested.

http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20110628/FON0101/110628074/Firefighters-free-man-s-hand-from-car

Quit your needling

Yesterday was Joy's one year examination. We were anxious to see how much she weighed, since her last check up. She was almost 17 pounds. I have cousin whose 18 week son weighs that much. The doctor did not seem to concerned about the weight. Joy appears to be healthy.

Of course with the one year check up is shots. I am not sure of the shots Joy received. I know it was at least four. Fortunately, she seems to handle them okay. She cries, but is able to calm herself down. The doctor's office also did an anemia check involving a prick to the finger. The nurses talked about doing this first, but the kit was being used. So after Joy calmed down from the shots, she had to get her finger pricked. The nurse came in the room and pricked Joy's finger. At first I thought she might not cry. She had that surprised look on her face. Then the blood and tears fell. I think the nurse was surprised to see that much blood, I know I was. She scrambled to find some gauze. The nurse got a band aid around Joy's finger and we calmed Joy down.

Joy is also on whole milk. We were a little worried how she would respond. She is not known for drinking her formula well. She seemed to like it and not have a problem drinking it. We just have to work on getting her to drink more from a cup. She still likes the bottle.

I am sure Wendy will put up a post about more details and probably the correct details I missed.

Party pooped

Let the good times roll! I think that is because you eat so much and are so tired that people have to roll you out the door. Saturday of course was Joy's birthday party. Sunday Wendy's brother and sister-in-law hosted a party for the 4th. We debated on going because we had been on the go all weekend. After a Sunday afternoon nap, Wendy decided we could make it. It was a pretty good time and had pretty good food.

You know it is a party when there is a water balloon fight and someone's shoes end up on the roof. Wendy's brother was able to knock them off the roof with a finishing pole and a paint can opener.

Today some friends from church invited us over to their house.

I belief that going to parties is now part of the Constitution.

Cashing in my chips

Our counter in the kitchen is now filled with chips and other goodies. The best way to have plenty of the things you do not normally eat is to have a party. You will have enough food to last for days, depending on how much you eat of it at one time. Most of the time is snack food. We almost have enough snacks to throw another party.

Saturday was Joy's birthday party. Wendy and I spent most of that running around doing last minute things getting ready. Mainly searching for things and wondering what we got ourselves into. Wendy's parents were in town and were a big help in getting everything ready.

Fortunately, the party went well. I think everyone had a good time. Who can have a bad time eating cake and snacks? Joy enjoyed her birthday cake. Hopefully Wendy will do a post birthday wrap up.

Now if you will excuse me I have get my breakfast of chips, dip, and birthday cake.

It is a JOY to know you

Dear Joy,

Happy 1st birthday! I know that you will not remember this time in your life. Unless you happen to have a superior memory, like you Mama. You are really a great baby. Everyone always comments how happy and beautiful you are. Of course it is true. Thank you for sleeping through the night. I hear we are extremely fortunate with this.

If I happen to get mad and frustrated, just remind me that you are going to take care of me when I am older.

I hope that you have many more birthdays. Always remember that you are loved.

Love,

Dada

Pull the plug

The other I notice that Wendy is not online as much as she usually is. I think that maybe she is doing something else. I get a call from her saying that the internet is down and that is why she is not online. She did the usual troubleshooting of turning off the power to the modem and router. She even restarted the computer, but nothing. Our internet is bundled with our television and phone, but those services were working. So I sat at work for the next couple of hours wishing I could be at home and wondering what was going on.

Finally I get home and head to the modem and router. I notice the wireless router lights are not on. I am thinking, "Oh, no! That is why she is not seeing a connection." I unplug it and plug back in. Nothing. I try to see if I can reset it, but there was no power to it. I know that if you reset the router you have to set it up again. A task I was not looking forward to. Honestly, I got lucky once and did not know if I could do it again. I bring the router and power cord into the living room to try another outlet. Still no power. At this point I am getting upset. I do not want to spend money on another router and go through the hassle. At one point, in disgust, I drop or toss, dependent on your definition, the router on the floor. Wendy was getting upset with me, "Now it will not definitely work." I admit I have anger issues, perhaps volumes.

I plug the computer directly into the modem, the Internet is alive. However, we do not want the hassle of being restrained to Joy's room for internet. I know it is the router not communicating. I look in a storage place of various electronic devices. I happened to find another power cord. I plug it in and hooray! We have lights and action. I connect the router back to the modem. Then wait for the computer to respond. It does not. I am in agony, did it reset and I not realize it? I restart the computer and slowly we have success.

I am glad that is all it was. Around here power cords like to mess up. I am thankful that a lot of things are now interchangeable. Now if I could only find a new power cord for myself some days.

Clothing line...across the floor

Last night Wendy and I tackled one of our junk rooms. It was the former master bedroom. Right before Joy's birth we moved to another room to be closer to her room. So of course all the things that were in that room were transferred. Now it has become a stockpile and the cats' domain.

Wendy was in her cleaning mode last night. She separated all her clothes. Most she is getting rid of because it is the wrong size and others because it is the wrong style. Now we have plenty of closet space. That was then taken up by my clothes. I was finding clothes that I forget I had. I am guilty of just putting things that I do not use down and letting them pile.

The room still has a lot to go before looking habitable, but at least it is much better.

It is for the birds

On Monday Wendy and I, along with her parents took Joy to the beach. It was the first time in a few years Wendy has been to the beach, due to some scheduling conflicts. It was also Joy's first trip to the beach.

Joy seemed to like it. We put her feet in the water. I do not think she liked it when the water rushed over her, but she never cried. The water was a little rough, so we did not stay out long. We could see shells being carried with the water. It was almost like missiles in certain places.

We let Joy crawl around in the sand. I am happy that she did not try and eat any of it. One time she picked up a white shell and tried to put in her mouth. I am thinking she thought it was a cracker.

While Wendy, Joy, and I were in the water, a flock of seagulls swooped down on a little girl and tried to eat her sandwich. Before we left the beach, Wendy thought she would summon some of the feathered friends. She took a wafer and threw it into the air. The seagulls came to it and then hovered over Wendy. They thought she had more food. Once they realized that was it, they left. Wendy's dad fed the seagulls and let them snatch the wafer out of his hand.

It was a pretty good trip. The weather was nice. We thought it was going to rain on us, but we saw no rain. When we left the house in the morning to go to the beach there was rain and as we left the beach the clouds came, but nothing while we were out there.

Gymminey Cricket

My wife will not brag about her accomplishments, but she is quite the gym member. She has definitely kicked it up notches and brought down the notches on her absent belt. She is looking good. Wendy can put smoke out on those ellipticals. The other night she did 45 minutes on it and last night 50! I get exhausted after doing five.

I invited my brother to go with me to the gym. He put the pedal to the medal on it also. He did not even appear to be winded and I was breathing like Dork Vader. Then he hit the weights and lifted a lot me than me. He has also been more athletic though. He enjoys the outside, like biking, running, and basketball. He said he has gotten a little weak, but he is still one tough bro.

I wonder if Joy will like the gym? She will probably be able to soon lift more than her dad.

Page turner in the other direction

A lot of people say, "I should write a book..." Well I am one person who should not write a book. First of all I could not think of anything to put on the pages. However, I did come up some titles of books I wish I could write.

Shut Up! It could be a book about two things. One how people can get ahead in life by listening. Or could be about inspiration and bringing blessing into your life. Like the phrase in I Kings 17 where Elijah and the King of Israel had the drought. It mentions the heavens were shut up. So it would be how to release God's blessings on you.

I would also like to write a book called Don't Let Your Amens Become Oh Mans. I think this would be about how people are always looking for signs in making decisions. Sometimes we acknowledge some event just because we want it to happen and then what?

A book for the clueless would be Livin in Oblivion . It is for those out there who have no idea what is going on around them. Fingers pointed in this direction. But I am still lost.

I could make millions. Of course I would only be able to sell one or two. Thanks Mom. Well after I bought and gave her a copy.

Up and down

People will do most anything for money. Just flip around the channels. One of the newest shows is 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show. Contestants answer questions to stay in the game. If they answer incorrectly then they leave the show in various ways. Most involve high speed vehicles or great heights. I thought it was a little bizarre the way the final contestants have to choose their answers. Basically it is handed to them because it is the only choice left. At first I thought it was not fair. Now on thinking on it, it just adds to the competition because the contestant is hoping the other is wrong.

Game shows have gone to the point of testing limits. I guess they always have. It used to test intellectual knowledge with trivia. Now it is trivia with making people do extreme things with their bodies. I guess it is good that these "crazy" people are doing these stunts under supervision and not on their own.

It is a tough Jobs watching the Gates

Last night while Wendy was away at the gym, I was watching a movie. It was Pirates of Silicon Valley. After my disapproval of the movie based on Facebook Wendy said that I would probably not like this movie. PSV was about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs forming there powerhouse companies. I had the movie on in the background as I was watching Joy, so I missed a few parts.

I imagine it was meant to be tongue in cheek because of the narration of Woz and Ballmer. They were able to step out of the action and dialogue with the audience. The parts that stick out to me involve Gates running through the airport to catch a plane.

It is amazing to see where drive gets you. Both movies involve people, one can say geniuses, who determine to be successful. They all have different motives for success, but they all get there. Of course they alienate people in their lives who care about them.

I suppose being power hungry only gives you a bigger plate to fill.