Long Live Farley & Swazye

When I saw this photo all I could picture in my head was Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze in the classic Chippendale dance off.

Thanks for the fun memory Lil' Earl. For more fun pictures visit Awkward Family Photo's.

Laughs and memories like this are made possible by the men and women of our armed forces and those that gave their lives on soil both foreign and domestic. Thank you all for our freedom to live and laugh. Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, National Guard and Coast Guard.

Heard at Ikea

The kids and I took a trip to Ikea today. While walking through the last part of the maze we witnessed a bit of other family comedy. Meaning it wasn't our family that was the center of the comedy moment.

A boy about 11 or 12 picks a toilet scrubber out of a bin and declares to his father "Dad, I need this." The dad says "no". The boy replies "But I've been waiting ages for a new one of these." My kids were dying holding in the laughter. The dad just looked at the boy and told him to put it back.

Ages. He's been waiting for ages. I could barely contain my own laughter let alone keeping my kids from bursting out. I hurried them along as to not embarrass the dad any more than he already was. How many ages can an 11 something year old boy have waited. Eleven I guess. But for a toilet scrubber? That kid is serious about his sanitation.

Funny?

As a kid I remember sitting around the record player listening to my dad's Bill Cosby records. I loved them. I'm surprised I didn't wear the groves through the other side of the record. His Fat Albert stories and his Frankenstein movie stories were embedded in my brain. Bill Cosby is funny.

Because of a recent thread *here* I had the desire to look back on the things that I found funny as a kid and what helped me develop my thoughts on humor. There are things in life that are funny and other things that can be made funny. On the converse, there are things you just don't joke about, like spousal abuse, which is what was talked about in the above linked thread. Life, religion, politics, and many other things can be funny or made to be funny. To me the thought of a man beating his wife just can't be funny.

As a dad I want to pass on a healthy sense of humor to my kids. As a family we love to laugh and joke. The Bill Cosby of my childhood to my kids is Jim Gaffigan. This guy is funny. I let my kids enjoy his comedy routines as my dad did Bill Cosby's. Often I'll hear my kids quote or reference one of his jokes. For example, we were walking through Costco one Saturday gathering the essential bulk items you find there and we passed a lady with a gigantic pack of toilet paper. My daughter says "she must really like Hot Pockets." We howled. If you don't know his take on Hot Pockets watch the video of Jim below and you'll understand and you'll laugh.

Funny is good. Not all things can be funny. I hope to leave my kids with a good, clean, and healthy sense of humor. I also share with the Bill Cosby and they love him too, especially his take on cake for breakfast. The future of funny in my family looks bright.

This is one of my favorites of Bill's:

Easy Boy, Easy

There are times when I think I'm a patient person but days like today make me wonder.

Why can't God just tell me something. In a voice. A real voice that I can hear. Give me something, something I can grab onto or something I can run with. It's not like I'm just waiting around for something to happen for me, I've been trying to be proactive but nothing is coming of it.

I've got a great family, a beautiful wife and kids, a comfortable home so I really don't have much to complain about but I do. Maybe too much. Maybe that is what brings me to the precipice of impatience. I don't know. I just want some change. Change in the things that bum me out. Change in the thing that occupies my mind.

In the Bible people had to wait forty years. I can't imagine that. Forty days feels like a lifetime these days. For now I lean on my hope in Him and that he has a plan.

Doodles

Sometimes I doodle when I'm on the phone. Today was a doodl'n day.

Growing a Boy

On Tuesday my boy will be nine. Time flies when you're raising kids. Here is a photo of his new summer haircut.

I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday, unfortunately for some not-so-fun reasons. During delivery Alex had the cord around his neck so there was a bit of panic in the delivery room. There was a whole team of people waiting to receive him for whatever problems may have arisen during his delivery. Obviously he is fine and the team at St. V's was marvelous. The second event was when Kathi tried taking her first shower at the hospital after his birth. I was with both of the kids in the room when I hear this big thump from the bathroom. I rush over to find my wife laying naked between the wall and the toilet with a huge red lump growing on her head. She had fainted and fell out of the shower stall. I ran into the hall and yelled for help. This is the second time the staff at St. V's impressed me. Their response was so fast and efficient. They got Kathi into bed and had a neurologist in the room within minutes to check on her. Quite the memorable events. We were blessed with some of the best medical help one could ask for. Which makes a double blessing that day because we received our precious son in good health.

To make up for the tramatic entrance into the world God gave us a gift. Alex is a great young boy, a joke teller, and an all around joy. He's the type that lightens the room when he enters. I look forward to seeing him grow and develop into manhood. It'll be interesting to see what career path he chooses. I can see him doing so many things. For now I just want to enjoy the boy he is now.

I could post picture after picture of Alex being Alex and you would enjoy them. For now I am going to post one of my all time favorite pictures I have of Alex. He was in my room one day listening to my music and I got this precious shot.

He is definitely my son. He loves music, Legos, superhero movies, and all things comedy. Lately he's taken to the band Demon Hunter which is hardcore heavy metal. When we are driving to and from TaeKwonDo he wants me to roll the windows down and crank the tunes. I oblige. The other night he had some kids in the car next to us just howling at his antics. I looked at the mom smiled and shrugged my shoulders - she smiled back with a knowing smile. That's my boy, making people smile.

Let the Gun Polishing Begin

I've always known my daughter looks a lot like my wife. But this weekend I took a picture that confirms it. See what I mean, beautiful!

This coming week she turns 13. My first teenager. As she grows, even though I've asked her to stop, I get glimpses of the woman she is becoming. I couldn't be more proud to be her dad. Her heart is big and her sense of humor is intact. She is beginning to express an independence that comes with age and one that will continue to grow as she becomes the woman that Kathi and I are raising her to be. She cares deeply for others and holds her friends close. Although she'd never admit it she loves her brother and is a good big sister to him. God has given her a tender heart and she uses it well.

I love that she has always been a girly girl. Although she isn't much of a dress wearer she is still all girl. She is beginning to have tastes and styles of her own. She loves to express herself through her own unique fashion sense and hair styles. I was recently asked by a friend if I would let her dye her hair black and paint her nails black. I would. Because I know her heart and it is good.

I know in the coming years boys will begin to call. A forewarning to the boys out there - I am a member of the NRA, I pack heat, and my groupings are very good. In other words, I won't let her go without a fight.

Fatherhood poses many challenges but the one I knew was coming is the one I feel the least prepared for. Thirteen is a ways from eighteen but I didn't think thirteen years could go by so fast. It feels like yesterday that we were bringing her home for the first time.

Sunday Parody

This is further proof that Christians are a funny bunch. I mean that in so many ways.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Thanks Adam for the link.

Last Day and a Half

Here is a recap of my last day and a half in Munich Germany.

Monday morning I had to go back to the show to make sure everything got out as scheduled. I had planned out my day the night before by finding the closest Harley dealership and wrote out instructions on how to get there. My directions were right on and I made it to the House of Flames early in the afternoon. This dealership was stellar. It was the smallest I've ever seen but had more bikes than most I've been to. They had plenty of stock bikes but also had tons of custom bikes. I picked up a t-shirt for myself and my bro-in-law. It was the one souvenir I looked forward to getting.

Tuesday was my last day in town so I decided to sight see a bit. I took the train into town at about 10am and had an hour and a half before the bike tour I was going on started. I wandered about the platz and the markets until it was time to meet up with the tour.

This is the famous Glockenspiel. I didn't see the performance of the wooden figures on the balcony. From what I understand I didn't miss much. Our tour guide referred to it as "eleven minutes of your life you'll never get back."

I took the bike tour through Mike's Bike Tour. Our guide for the day was Rod who was from Sidney Australia. He was a fun guy who kept the tour interesting and enjoyable. On the tour with me were two nursing students from Ireland and a young couple from San Diego. The five of us connected well and had some good laughs.

This photo shows us going through the English Garden which is reported to be a third larger than Central Park in NY. The one word of caution we received when entering the park was about the nudists. They weren't lying. We saw a couple dudes without their knickers as the Irish put it. Yikes, I didn't need that sight on my trip.

This was a man-made river that flowed through the English Garden and was fed by the Isah River that flows through Munich. I guess these guys can't read German, can you? They would toss their boards in the river and jump on them like they were skateboards. It was quite impressive. The water must have been about 4 degrees Celsius.

After the ride through the park we stopped at the Chinese Bier Garden for lunch. Here I stuffed myself with sausage, sauerkraut, dumplings and a beer the size of my head. The food was delicious everywhere I went. We laughed about eating sauerkraut and how it wasn't good for the guy in the back of the bike tour. The guy in the back is referred to as "The Assman" and guess who it was on this tour. Yep, me. I'm the assman. It was my duty to make sure nobody was left behind.

By the end of the bike tour we had had so much fun together we decided to keep going as a group. Neville, from San Diego, knew the way to a couple of the popular brew houses in the area so off we went. We started at this one which was at a large fairground where we played carnival games but skipped the rides. The band was a blast. They played mostly American songs by Niel Diamond, John Denver and the like. We raised our glasses and sang along as the locals got up to dance on the tables. It was quite a scene.

After the fun here we walked to the famous Hofbrauhaus downtown to finish off our evening. We didn't stay too long as I had to get up in the morning for my flight home and the Irish girls had just flown in that morning and were starting to fade.

Overall I had a good time but wouldn't choose Munich as a vacation destination. The experience of a foreign city is always challenging but I managed very well. The first three days I had my co-worker with me who spoke the language but once he left I was on my own. I was pleased to find that most Germans speak some English. My German was limited to common phrases like yes and no.