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In college I saw a bumper sticker one time that said, "I've got a drinking problem: Two hands and only one mouth."
Tonight Damon was doing his best to find a way to get both of his fists into his mouth. Apparently one isn't enough.
So I'm leaving the STARBRIGHT Foundation after two and a half years as an employee. It's been a very interesting ride with some very gratifying moments as well as some very disappointing times. Work on the STARBRIGHT World project has consumed the last four years of my life and I'm very proud of where that project is today, especially compared to when I first became involved with it.
I have accepted a project management role at a local company (emphasis on local) and am re-entering the for-profit world. The company that I will be working for is close to home and offers some challenging and exciting work with people that I respect. I start two weeks from today on August 9.
I just watched the animated short "This Land" by the guys over at JibJab which pokes fun at both Kerry and Bush. Definitely worth watching if you have a few minutes. Their servers have been slammed since their appearance on the Today show, so be patient if you can't watch it right away.
As my boy Cartman would say....
KickAss!!
(In the Cartman world, Kick Ass is all one word, similar to the redneck "SumBitch")
For the record, none of Damon's three grandmas have a mustache. I just thought it would be a funny title for an entry.
Marnia's mom was down for a visit last weekend and we had a good time. She helped me replace a rose bush in my front yard that had died a premature death. Ironically the breed pf rose was called "Diana, Princess of Wales."
Here are a couple of the photos we took while she was here:
This is a photo I took of Damon the other day while I was working on my computer. Thought it was cute to have a photo of him with a photo of him in the backgroud. Not all that artsy or anything, but pretty cute.
Lastly, today we took Damon to the stables to visit and for him to meet Marnia's horse buddies. The guy in the photo below is Jeff, Marnia's friend who got us the free plane tickets to Chicago for our last trip. How cool is that. Damon was enthralled with Jeff's mustache, not that anyone blamed him.
So I took Damon to the pool tonight.
He was amazing. He didn't cry or get upset pretty much the entire time. He did great in the water, which had been heated all day and was nice and warm. He got a little wide-eyed when we were hit by turbulence from other swimmers and wasn't a big fan of getting splashed, but he didn't complain at all the whole time we were in the pool. We were in for about fifteen or twenty minutes.
I figured for sure he'd yell coming out of the pool, but no, not the incredible swimming baby. The only time he complained at all was when I unwrapped his towel from him in the mens room and stripped off his swim diaper. Even then, he didn't complain a lot and once he was wrapped up in his blanket, he was all happy again.
Sorry, no pictures. Don't have a waterproof digital camera.
I was talking with my brother Scott last night and we somehow stumbled into talking about my father's adventures in sailing.
The one that's my all-time favorite happened when I was a junior or senior in high school and involved a canoe, a bunch of lumber and a Navy hat.
First, some back story. At the time my dad had a canoe that was big. And by big, I mean three feet across at the middle and longer than a full-sized pickup truck. He had bought it in the late 70's and had wanted something big enough to fit two adults and three growing boys. The thing was virtually unsinkable (more on that later), and inspired my dad and older brother to take it out into a lake one time with the intention of tipping it. They worked REALLY hard and eventually got it to tip.
Okay, back to our story. My dad had gotten the bug that he wanted a sail boat, but all he had was a canoe. Being the self-respecting redneck that he is, he decided to build a sailboat using the canoe as a base. The sailboat attachment was primarily constructed out of 2x4 lumber and consisted of a main sail made out of a blue tarp and secured to the boat with an elaborate wooden construction, a tiller and an outrigger.
My dad somehow convinced me to accompany him on the maiden voyage of the sail-canoe in the lake near our house, where we put it into the water and sailed out into the middle of the lake. (Note to boat test pilots: do your testing close to shore)
Things were going reasonably well and the sail-canoe was crusing along the lake under sail when my dad's USS Trenton hat flew off. (My older brother was serving in the Navy at the time on that boat.) This is when the bad things started happening.
Mistake #1: He turns around and watches the had fly off his head and hit the water.
Mistake #2: He takes his hand off the tiller and off the ropes controlling the sail.
Mistake #3: He prepares to dive into the lake after the hat.
Fortunately I kept my wits about me and started yelling at him at this point from the front of the boat, and he refocused on keeping himself and his kid alive. However, the damage was done and we tipped over and started to sink. The canoe did end up barely staying above the water and eventually righted itself once the sail had been removed. The problem was that we were in the middle of the lake with nobody around to help us.
Eventually, a power boat stopped by to rescue us and towed the sail-canoe back to shore. I could tell that the guy driving the other boat was really amused by the whole thing, but he had the decency not to laugh out loud at us. At least not while we were around. I don't remember if the sail-canoe was ever on the lake again, but if it was, I was nowhere near the thing.
He did eventually buy a real sailboat and his favorite activity was to go out on Sunday morning before church for a quick sail, tip, swear, swim, and shower, at least until he was banned from Sunday morning sailing trips by my mom.
He himself admits that he's no Dennis Connor, but this little fiasco had its ending written the moment he thought, "Ya know, I bet I could build a sailboat out of that old canoe."
Last night I watched the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" show on Comedy Central. Very funny. Damon was trying to go to sleep in my arms and I kept waking him up cause I was laughing so hard.
How could you not love this kid?
There's nobody better than my wife about creating birthday and Christmas lists. Here's her Birthday 2004 edition. (For those of you who can't remember, her birthday is August 7.)
From Target:
DPCI #214 03 0052 Moret Fitted Tank Top size Medium in Heather Grey or Dark Grey $9.99
From Dover Saddlery (www.doversaddlery.com) or 800.989.1500:
6B-38094A Mountain Horse High Rider Boot in black size 6 $179.80
6B-3971 Nuemann Tackified Glove in black size XS $36.90
From Improvements (www.improvementscatalog.com) or 800.642.2112:
218669 Folding stool $14.99
From Target or similair:
Small digital plug in clock with alarm
Small, rechargeable two-way radios
From Best Buy or www.bestbuy.com:
Skip Doctor DR Motorized Disc Repair System $49.99
From www.Amazon.com or similar:
By Barbara Kingsolver: Small Wonder, The Best American Short Stories 2001, Homeland and Other Stories, Another America
From Hokana Quarter Horses http://www.horsemansmall.com:
Maximizing Your Western Pleasure Horse Video $79.95