Punday, November 30th

In England they do not have a liver bank, but they do have a Liverpool.

Happy 1st Blogosversary to Me!

One year ago, I set out on an epic journey. A journey with the goal of publishing the insane ramblings of my mind for the whole world to see. I can’t believe it’s been a year already. I’m humbled that those who follow this blog regularly take valuable time out their day to read my posts. Thank you. To those lurking out there, I also thank you for listening in and encourage you to post comments. I love hearing what people think.

My importantly (and least expectedly), I have made some great new friends along the way, and kept in better touch with some existing friends.

I can’t wait to see what year 2 brings. Let’s go!

If I Were President…

If I were president, I think that I would have fun the with the whole pardon-the-turkey “tradition”. We’d get up there for the photo-op, I’d look around and say “pardon denied”, then pull out my ax and…well, let’s just say I’d have my freshest Thanksgiving feast ever. Nevermind the screaming and crying children. What do you think?

The Next Big Step

15 and a half years ago, she had absolutely no freedom. She was completely confined to the womb–barely able to move at all. Birth was a huge step forward as she was able to flail her arms and legs about as she wished. After this, there was a steady stream of increased independence during the first year or so:

• She started turning over on her own
• She began crawling
• She took those first steps
• She learned how to run

The rate of new freedoms slowed down significantly after this and became more subtle: She was able to spend the night at a friend’s house for the first time, she learned how to ride a bike, she learned how to make a simple meal for herself, etc. All small, but important, steps to growing up.

However, one of the biggest rites of passage and strides forward in freedom and independence took place today. Yes, the Older Daughter is now Idaho’s newest licensed driver. I have feelings ranging from happiness to sadness to worry to excitement. In the end, I realize that I have to let this happen even if it means my little girl just keeps growing up. It’s my job to provide her with the knowledge and tools to have the best chance at success (and safety). Beyond that, it’s in God’s hands.

I’m so proud of her.

Punday, November 16th

On Friday, I was a little confused about my projects at work. It was one of those daze.

Reasons I’m Smiling Today

You know, there are lots of things going on in the world, the country, and even personally that I could fret about. However, I’m finding lots of things to smile about. I’d rather focus on those. Here they are, in no particular order.

• It’s Friday! That’s always a good reason to be happy.
• The Broncos are ranked #9 nationally and poised to be invited to a BCS bowl game. Tomorrow, they will kick some Vandal butt.
• We are entering my favorite time of the year with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. It’s always an opportunity to spend cherished time with family and friends, and enjoy good food and good times. More importantly, it’s a time to renew and reflect on the things that are truly important.
• In just 3 short days, the Older Daughter will be getting her driver’s license. While this generates lots of mixed feelings with me, I’m very proud and excited for her.
• I have a job that I love. Just 5 short months ago I was facing a layoff in a really tough job market. I was fortunate enough to find a new job and have no time out of work. The fact that I absolutely love the job is a big plus also.
• I have the best family and friends in the world. They are more loving and supportive of me than I feel that I deserve at times.
• Blogging rules! DITH is nearing its one year anniversary (just a few short shopping weeks left folks). I am having a great time and have made some great new friends along the way.
• Did I mention it’s Friday? Have a good weekend!

America’s Next Top Model?

Wow, I found a chick who is quite the catch. Check this out.

According to this story at ktvb.com, Lori Brutsche-Ely went to the Mint Bar in Hailey, Idaho to celebrate Halloween. No problem right? Well, as the evening progressed she became just a bit intoxicated and out of control. The security guard on duty decided to call the police. So what did she do? Well, what anyone would–she stripped off all her clothes. When the police showed up, she also did what any normal person would do–she punched the officer in the chest.

Off to jail and end of story right? Not so fast. Once she got to the jail, she bit a deputy and found a way to set off the sprinkler system and cause a flood. Nice lady. And hot too–check her out.

Hey, Abbott!

Abbott and Costello may very well be the best comedy duo of all time–at least in my opinion. I hadn’t seen their “Who’s On First” routine in years, so I went out and found it on YouTube. It’s still every bit as funny today as the first time I watched it. It’s amazing how timeless their comedy is.

If you’ve never seen the routine, you’re missing out. Otherwise, enjoy it again.

Punday, November 9th

Who’s the ho? Idaho

Hey, She’s Still Paying Attention

I really thought that as of 2 or 3 years ago, the Older Daughter no longer cared about my opinion nor was at all influenced by me. It really seemed that she was in her own teen world and had it all figured out–at least in her opinion. Well, I found out this week that I actually do still have some influence.

Her high school held a mock election on Tuesday. I asked her who she voted for and she told me. When I asked how she came to the decision, she said that she really didn’t know who to vote for. But she knew who I was voting for, so that’s who she chose. Now of course that’s not the right way to pick a president, but it made me smile that she thought enough of my judgement to make the same choice.

Then last night we were at Wal-Mart picking up a few things. Homemade dinner was not in the cards, so we we picked up some stuff at the deli. The Older Daughter and I both chose the turkey sandwich and threw them in the basket. Then I noticed her checking the shelf again. Pretty soon, she grabbed this huge turkey sandwich and put the smaller ones back. It seems that she noticed that the huge sandwich was roughly equivalent to 3 of the smaller sandwiches but was cheaper than the 2 we were going to buy. When I complimented her for noticing, she said “I learned it from you.” More smiling on my part.

Just when you think you have lost them, they go and show you they are still watching and learning from you after all.

Girl Germs

I knew it. According to an article on cnn.com, women have more germs than men. Finally, a reason to brag about being a man.

“The researchers aren’t sure why women harbored a greater variety of bacteria than men, but Fierer suggested it may have to so with the acidity of the skin. Knight said men generally have more acidic skin than women.

Other possibilities are differences in sweat and oil gland production between men and women, the frequency of moisturizer or cosmetics applications, skin thickness or hormone production, he said.”

See, it’s all that darn makeup and other crap you put on your skin. Try the natural look. I like it.

Now you might think that this would give me pause when considering kissing a woman. Nope. It is simply too much fun–I’ll take my chances. I guess I could just restrict myself to family members though. In fact, The Wife would probably prefer that.

Congratulations to Barack Obama

Those who know me personally probably realize that I am deeply disappointed with yesterday’s presidential election result. Those who only know me by following this blog may not know where I stand. This is somewhat intentional–I don’t want this to be a heavily political blog. Let me make one thing clear: I didn’t like either candidate. I thought that they would both take us in the wrong direction–just that John McCain wouldn’t take us there quite as fast. Having said all that, I trust and respect the collective will of the American people. They have spoken loud and clear.

So congratulations to president-elect Barack Obama. Just 40 years after the end of segregation, we have our first African-American president. This really is a proud, landmark day for the country. It shows how far we have come in defeating racism. There will always be a few ignorant folks that hate just based on skin color, but we are now a very diverse and predominately tolerant people.

The challenges we face over the next decade are huge. We have deep, deep economic, budgetary, and security problems that threaten our very existence. While almost half of us wanted someone else to lead us through these dark times, today we must join ranks, put partisan politics aside, and work together on these issues.

I take Obama at his word that he wants to be my president too and that we will work on compromised solutions that we can all live with. These words are uttered after nearly every election. However, this time, we cannot afford to not follow through with it.

It’s Election Day–Let’s Party!

For the first time in 69 years, Idaho residents can buy booze and vote on the same day. Liquor stores will be open today and you can buy drinks by the glass in restaurants and bars. Finally, depending upon your perspective of the outcome, you can drown your sorrows or celebrate victory and not be limited to beer and wine.

Cheers!

The End of the World

This is very random and very funny…just my brand of humor. Enjoy and thanks to Jodi for bringing this to my attention. Caution: R-rated language.

http://www.endofworld.net/

The Cat Ate My Homework

No teacher with a pulse would believe the excuse that “My dog ate my homework”, right? Well, would they believe it with a cat?

Enter Neeko the devil cat.

Now tell me, could this adorable creature…

 be capable of destoying the education of child?

“I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help you”

Halloween Night Wrap-Up

It seemed that the night had such promise. After all, it was Halloween on a Friday night. No need to watch the clock and worry about getting to bed at a certain time. Just party and watch scary movies as late as we want, right? Not so much. In the end, it was a pretty big letdown on all fronts…

Of course, the Older Daughter is too old for trick-or-treating. Instead, she spent the evening/night at a friends house. No surprise there.

The Younger Daughter also went to a friend’s house and her mom took them trick-or-treating.

Now that we live out in the country, we don’t get any trick-or-treater visiting the house.

Our best friends have traditionally joined us for an all night scary movie marathon when Halloween is on a weekend. However, they were unable to join us this year.

The Wife and I stayed home and watched some horror movies. Unfortunately, we chose movies that we had already seen multiple times, so we found ourselves actually laughing at the movies rather than being scared.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice quiet evening together. However, this was the first time since we became parents that we didn’t take kids out trick-or-treating. It think we were both mourning the passage of yet another parenthood ritual as we watch our girls grown up much faster than we would like. Sure, the Younger Daughter still has probably 1-2 years left, so we’ll probably be able to enjoy it at least one more outing. However, the writing is clearly on the wall.

Please, Please, Please Vote!

This is said for almost every election, but this time I think it is actually true. I believe that this may be the most important election…perhaps in our country’s history. We are facing a huge perfect storm of challenges right now. We are in an economic crisis and I believe we are much closer to the beginning of it than the end. We also face numerous threats both abroad and I believe quietly organizing domestically.

The country has faced long odds many times and has always mustered the will and the right leadership to overcome the challenges. I still believe that the collective voice of the American people can, and will, select the right leadership at the national, state, and local levels to deal with the huge chaos I expect over the next decade.

So I don’t want to hear any excuses. Get informed and go vote. We need your input now more than ever before. Don’t let us down.

Let me address any excuses you might try to come up with:

I don’t have time: Give me a break, we don’t have time for you not to learn about the issues and candidates. Even at this late hour, there is time. Make time darn it.

I don’t understand the candidates and/or issues: Oh come on. There’s a wealth of resources on the Internet to help you understand where the candidates at all levels stand on issues that are important to you. It’s likely that your local newspaper and television stations’ websites have links to resources.

My candidate has already won/lost: Don’t let the polls sway you to not vote. When people start believing that it’s a foregone conclusion and decide not to vote, that’s when things can start swinging wildly from what the polls show. If you don’t vote because you think your candidate has won, you may cost them the election. Conversely, if you vote even though it looks hopeless for you candidate, you may just swing it for them if the other side gets complacent. Again, we get the best folks in office if everyone informs themselves and votes.

My vote one little vote doesn’t count: I think that I just addressed this. Every single vote does count. You have no idea how close some of the races will be. You really could be the one to put it over the edge.

Vote!

Punday, November 2nd

A three legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He slides up to the bar and announces: “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.”