Stair Jumping

There is a new sport in the house, it is called Stair Jumping. One night this past week when I came in the door I was immediately warned by Kathi about the mess in the stairwell. The kids on the other hand were excited to show me their new activity. They had stacked all of the blankets and pillows they could get their hands on in the landing of the upper stairs. They proceeded to show me how they jump from the top of the stairs into the cushy pile at the bottom.

Brianna's big jump.

Alex's cannon ball.

As a kid I remember doing things like this. Our house in Novato, CA had a long continuous stairway that we would slide down all the time. The house in Tigard had a stairway like we have which is split in two steps. There we would climb through the railings and jump down all of the time.

This just goes to show that kids will create and invent on their own using what is available for fun.

Images of the Ideal Bike

For a few years now I thought it would be fun to build a bike.  Inspired by the coolness of Jesse James and what he does with metal at West Coast Choppers my dream to build a bike was born. Over the years I have seen many bikes, met a few builders and have attended a number of bike shows - throughout that time the image of my bike has developed.

I appreciate many styles and makes of the chopper.  Matt Hotch of SoCal (Fullerton) has a cool modern style that I like;  Zero Engineering has a junkyard cafe-racer uniqueness; Billy Lane of Choppers, Inc. has a rugged, rough-hewn style that is cool; Jesse James has raw chopper stylings that will stand the test of time.  All of these guys have influenced the bike that is in my head. 

Kevin Alsop of Big Bear Choppers has kits for bikes which would take a few of the difficult steps out of the process of building my own bike.  First, my mechanical experience is very limited, although my aptitude is high.  Second, I question the whole licensing issue in the State of Oregon and have a little research to do.  Big Bears kits come ready to assemble minus the paint and are also ready to be licensed as a motor vehicle.  Kevin comes close to my ideal with the Screamin Demon but at my age I think a softtail is probably a necessity.

Recently though I saw the bike in my head already exists.  Want to see it?  This blew me away.  All but one small feature is almost exactly how I picture my future bike.  Maybe I'll bypass all the heartache, fun, and satisfaction of building my own and just jump into the fun of riding by buying one of these.  The only thing that stands in my way is the lack of $20K in disposable funds.

Well here it is in all it's coolness and black.

Those of you paying attention are wondering what change I would make to this thing of beauty... I want spoked wheels.

For more images and information of the bike check out the link here.  Or if you're feeling generous you can order it for me ;-) as an early birthday gift.  To the fella's at South Side Kustom's - Nice Work!

For now I will stick with the nimble, quick, and fuel efficient Buell that I ride.

Duck Art

Brianna is loving her art class at St. Stephens. She loves her teacher.

One of the projects had ducks as the subject. I now have two duck pieces on my wall at work.

Priceless.

I love them.

I wish I could share them with you but my scanner hates me today.

For now picture a duck flying along a range of hills during sunset. That's it, got it? -that's one of the pictures.

Now picture a duck standing there looking at you like he knows something you don't. Got that one? That is the second picture. Sassy duck, I know he knows something.

You can always stop by the office to see them. I like lattes so bring one with you (just not from Dutch Bros. - Sip City preferably)

Show the kids some Queen...

We were doing a little Costco shopping the other night and I saw a video I thought the kids would enjoy.  I tried to suprise them but they saw it.  As part of their homeschooling we try and expose them to new and fun things.  One of my specialties is music.  Over the years they have grown to love Queen - who doesn't right?  The attempted suprise was a concert Queen did in Montreal and the video was called Queen Rocks Montreal.

So tonight we watched it start to finish and when it was done the kids went upstairs to get ready for bed.  When they came down they entertained us with these get-ups...

What can I say?  Who am I to squelch the creativity.

Rolling

What do you do when you come across a grassy hill?

You ROLL!!!

Math Skills

As we speak I am passing numbers to Kathi.

Alex is testing our math skills with questions like "what is 8,000 x 2,456" or "what is "2,568,948 / 748".  His point in asking is to prove that parents don't know anything.  To prove that we do I am using the calculator on the laptop and passing the answer to Kathi.  Alex hasn't caught on.  So far most of the answers go out 20 or more decimal places.  In his hand he has our calculator checking our answers.  We must look like math gods to him.

Please know that we don't feel the least bit guilty about this deception.  Although it is hard to keep a straight face.

I'm still alive.

Praying for change.

Loving my family.

Following a modified Ramsey plan.

Re-financing for 15 years at 4.375.

Almost debt free.

Proud of my kids.

Missing riding each day.

Thinking that Jesus is the coolest, most mystical, loving, and most adventurest person I've ever met.

Thankful for Rob Bell's insight.

Fat and flabby from my wife's good cooking.

Wondering how long Alex's hair can get.

Wishing for better sleep.

Can't wait for Wolverine and Star Trek.

Wanting to go back to Hawaii and maybe stay.

Snow Dog

If he goes out...
He's gotta come in...

So far he's loving the snow.

Stay warm little Owen, stay warm.

Obama's Good Decision

I am a little surprised by the outrage over President Elect Obama's decision to select Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration this coming January.  There are people on both sides of the political spectrum that are upset about this selection.  I for one find myself pleased by it, and doubly pleased by Warren's decision to accept the invitation.

There are differences in the two men's views on issues but they are both Americans.  It is good to see people with different views get together.  Some say that it is an indorsement of Obama by Warren but I see it as a chance for Warren to show his support of the office of the President.  His support as an American and his prayer support as a believer in Jesus.  

Those on the left should be proud that Mr. Obama is sticking with his word to reach across the aisle and work with those from all walks.  He is walking into a tough position and will need all the support he can get.

Should we all only work with those we have commonality with?  Or as most of us long for should we find commonality with those we disagree with and work together to make things better?  I for one see a great divide happening between the Christian community and the rest of the country.  Mr. Warren's agreement to provide the invocation and most likely future guidance and prayer support is a good thing.  Not all of us get the opportunity to interact with people in high power so we need to offer support for those that do get the opportunity.

SLAP!!!

Congress just slapped the American public in the face.

Read this.

If it doesn't make you angry you're not paying attention.

I think a couple emails will be going out today.

Today's Snow

I love snow. There is a cleanness and purity about it that is just beautiful.
Berries in my backyard.
Kids in my frontyard.

Snow on my fence.

Boy's face in my snow covered door.

My lady making jam.

Coffee in the belly.

Dog on my lap.

Football on TV.

A great day.

Tree's Up

We put up our tree tonight.  After struggling with the ball of lights for almost a half an hour I finally chucked six strands because I'm not willing to go through and find the lone bulb causing the outage.  So the tree has fewer lights than I'd like but it still looks good.  The kids handled most of the ornaments with a little help from mom.

If you look at the TV in the background you'll see that we turned off the traditional Christmas music and put on a little Jim Gaffigan.  Kathi was remembering his bit about Christmas trees so we thought it would be fun to listen to him while decorating the tree.  It totally worked.  We laughed and giggled along with his jokes as we worked on the tree.  My kids will grow up with some unique memories of Christmas.  I mostly remember Bing Crosby singing while decorating the tree as a kid.

I've posted the video below so you can get a touch of Jim.  He is a funny guy.

Light 'em if you've got 'em

The other night Kathi was working so I was home with the kids.  After a long day at work this can be a trying time and usually ends up being a good time to work on my patience.  As the night progressed the kids grew more and more irritating and just wouldn't get off each others backs.  Eventually some unkind words were exchanged and tears flowed.  Both kids got sent to their rooms as I took a few to calm down and think of what to do next.

I sat on the couch and took a breather.  I let my mind wander as I thought of how to teach the kids instead of punish them.  Then it hit me, I'd have them make a list.  The list would be five things they like about their sibling.  Ah-ha, brilliant.  I called the kids down.

I sat them down with paper and pencil and explained their assignment.  They both agreed and seemed a bit excited about it.  That took me off guard.  The only question I got was from Alex who asked me if spelling mattered, I told him to do his best.  Here are the lists (spelled as written):

Brianna's List:

• leaves me alone on weekends
• playes with me sometimes
• excanges christmas gifts willingly
• wird
• has pillow fights

Alex's List:

• cool
• ceoot
• nicse
• osume
• grate
• excellent

My favorite thing about the lists is Alex's spelling.  He gets cute, nice, and great wrong but excellent right?  That struck me funny.  The other thing I loved was when after sharing their lists with each other they wanted to change and modify them according to what the other said about them.  Goal reached!!! Conversation started.  The rest of the night went swimmingly.

I have osume kids.

The honest truth is that I have a ton to blog about.  Much of which I just can't, much of which I don't think I want to and much I just can't wrap my head around enough to put into coherent thought.  

Subjects on my mind...

• The economy and who is to blame
• Christians and why I don't like them
• The end of the world
• My latest dreamscapes
• If I were to make a movie
• Unanswered prayers
• The difference between Memphis & Portland
• Why I do what I don't want to and don't do what I do want to
• If I wasn't raised in the church would I be saved today?
• Why I don't live in Hawaii
• Rights vs. Privileges
• Coffee is the flavor...
• What I fear for my children

If I can settle my mind and get some things done I'll tackle the topics above.  I've been contemplating moving my blog so maybe I'll wait and do it there.  Don't hold your breath.

Until then I'll post when I want about what I want and about things that are probably not that serious.

Thread Count vs. Weight

I love it when it is cold.  Especially at night.  We keep our window open a crack to let the cold in.

The other night I heard an interview with a celebrity who talked about how his success has earned him a better thread count in his sheets.  I for one couldn't tell you what our thread count is in our sheets.  To me thread count is unimportant.  What is important is weight.  Not thread weight but overall sheet, blanket, and covers weight.

Call it some Freudian "want to be back in the womb" thing if you want but I love it when it is cold and I can pile on the weight.  The more the better.  You know the lead apron they put on you at the dentist when taking x-rays?  Well I love that part.  For all I care they can leave that on the whole time.  Maybe next time I'll ask them to.

So take your silky sheets and high thread count and give me the heavy weight of piled on blankets.

Starbucks profits dropped 97%.

Which means they still made a profit.

RIP: Michael Crichton

1942-2008

One of my favorite authors has died. Jurassic Park was a great read. I appreciated his research and attenion to detail all the while weaving a good tale.

My prayers in well wishes go out to his family.

Word has it there is still a novel to be released, I can't wait.

Lego's Are Huge

Friday night as I was trick-or-treating with the kids I noticed one thing - Lego's Are Huge.

Alex was a green Lego block for Halloween.

At one house we went to a 20-something guy answered the door.  All the kids were allowed to grab a handful of candy out of his bowl.  Since Alex's costume was a little cumbersome he was the last one to the door.  As he reached in the bowl and dumped his loot into his bag the guy at the door said "dude, grab another handful, your a Lego block and that is awesome".  It was said like a true Lego-maniac.

At another house a guy answered the door in costume and was playing the role of a psyco-crazy guy while handing out candy.  He moved slow and spoke in a deep and gravely voice to the kids.  Again Alex was the last to the door.  He played his role and as he turned to close the door he yelled up to his friends in his regular voice "Dudes, there's a kid who is a green Lego here."  At the window upstairs three sets of eyes appeared looking down for Alex.  I told Alex to turn and wave, he did and got a cheer we couldn't hear through the closed window.

Alex was a trooper in his box.  We hit an apartment complex that had stairs and it slowed him way down.  He had to sidestep all the way up and then hold his box up to his chin for the climb down.

All the other kids in our group had fun and creative costumes and raked in a load of goodies.  We had a good time.  We even trick-or-treated Burger King where the kids got a slushie, the toy of the month, and a handful of mints.  Brianna thought that it was the best part of the night.

Dream World

A little bit ago I posted a dream I had that was very vivid and disturbing.  Thanks for the insight from those that posted responses.  Since then I have kept a journal of dreams that I remember in the morning.  When I wake up I take a shower then grab some coffee and sit with God for a bit and read his word.  Since God used dreams in the bible to speak to people I decided that I would add journaling my dreams to my time with Him in the morning.  I spend about 10 - 15 minutes writing our what I can remember from the nights journey into my subconscience depths.  I am amazed at what my head comes up with.  

Last night I shared the previous nights dream with Kathi and it had her laughing hard.  No, I won't be putting that one out for anyone to read.  As funny as it may have been, what was funny is also a bit embarrassing.  Sorry.

As I write them out I am amazed at what wanders through my mind at night and the clarity of what the mind creates.  Lately I have noticed that my mind creates places I have never been to and things that don't exist.  It is facinating how the mind works.  I've heard the statistic that our mind only uses 10% of its capability.  I wonder if my dream world is using the other 90% while I am sleeping.

As time goes on I will contemplate sharing the dreams that leave me with questions.  Until then I will dream on.