Happy Birfday F!

Happy birthday Franny! It's not as easy to celebrate as it used to be, but I gotta recognize your day. :)

(Sorry about the poor picture. It's from the Mizz's zero point naught megapixel camera. D's always sleeping in the room with the good pics.)

Happy 1st Birthday D!

I had to sneak a happy 1st birthday wish in here for D while it was still actually his birthday.  He's catching up with his brother just as fast as he can.  He figured out walking in about a week, and although he's not great at it yet, he loves it and gets further every day.

Tomorrow is official party day, with a Cinco de Mayo theme, including beer, margaritas, guacamole, and a pinata.  We're really just using D's birthday as an excuse to invite some friends over, but he doesn't seem to know that.  I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this blog yet, so everybody be cool.  Don't spill it to him, OK?

Happy 4th of July!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted anything. I told myself that if I didn't have time to keep current on the stack of bills on my desk, I certainly didn't have time to blog. I don't think I actually got behind on the bills and stuff, but it was all I could do to get everything paid on time, including occasional online payments the day things were due. But I finally got ahead of the critical things and I have a few minutes. Ever since Baby D's arrival, most waking moments have either involved working or taking care of one or both kids. I've been able to watch movies and more TV than I've watched in a year, but only while holding an irritated or sleeping baby. Doing anything involving hands or a brain hasn't been much of an option. But we're getting better at it, so maybe this blog won't die after all.

In the time since I've last posted, I've missed (blog-wise anyway) a bunch of stuff. There were several birthdays, including Franny's and the Mizz's and the actual births of two new nieces. Baby D has started to smile and laugh at me all the time. My boss got back from a 6 week vacation beyond phone-reach. Both the Mizz and D have done numerous funny and/or impressive things. There was Mother's Day, during which my mother was visiting, and Father's Day, during which my father was visiting. The Democrats finally chose which history-making presidential candidate they are going to field. And gobs of other stuff that's escaping my mind at the moment.

Anyway, while the rest of the country is outside blowing their fingers off, I have a little time to myself. The Mizz and I left Franny and D at a 4th of July cookout so the Mizz could get to bed. the Mizz had a big day today (Thomas) and a little nap in the car on the way home, so he wasn't up to partying all night. So it's just me and the internet and a bunch of explosions outside my window. Happy 4th.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! I know it's a day late, but at least this time I can say I was not near a computer yesterday until late at night and I was three hours jet-lagged. Mom's birthday was actually yesterday, and for the record, yes, I did call her, albeit from an airport while I was chasing the Mizz around trying to tire him out for the plane. I'm not sure how coherent the conversation was, but I'm sure she got the gist.

Since it's not polite to call your mother old, I decided to dig around for a picture to make fun of instead. I was originally thinking of a hospital one from around my original birthday with full-on beehive hair, but this one struck me. It struck me because with the chops, the perpetual squint, and the apparent lack of fashion sense, that could be me in the background instead of Dad. (In case you missed it, I'm the short guy in the blue track suit.) I also thought Mom had quite a good look going too until I realized that the glasses, shirt, and even the hairdo would probably be right at home in Portland today. I'm assuming there's some sort of polyester pants action going on too, but that might have to stay in history's laundry heap. Even in Portland, we have standards. Now that I write that, I can safely assume that the Mizz's generation will bring polyester back just to annoy me. Or maybe they'll work with 80's stuff like parachute pants and Miami Vice colors. Whatever it takes to irritate Dad.

Anyway, back to the point. Congratulations on another eventful year, Mom. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today Dad turns something old. What? 60? 70? Something like that. Go Dad.

Seriously, I should watch out. I've been calling him old for quite awhile now. Old and out of touch, and certainly not cool. As best I can remember, it started when he was about my age. That means that either I'm now getting old or I'm a bad judge of what old means. I don't actually feel all that old. No, I take that back; the Mizz can make me feel ancient even though he's not even trying, but from what I hear, it's the kids that make you old anyway.

Most of the time I feel a lot younger than people who are clearly my age, but act, um...what's the word? ... Mature. Yeah, that's it. On the other hand, I feel pretty old when I work at a college, or, God forbid, a high school. Wow. Just wow. They're such...kids. They don't have a clue. Not like when we were in high school. We had a pretty good handle on things, but these kids these days really don't have any idea about the world. I pity the future. Now get the hell off my lawn.

But seriously, I mainly feel like I have more in common with people younger than me than older, at least in general outlook, although that's becoming less true as time goes on. Most likely it's happening to all of us, so plenty of people older than me are sitting around thinking the same thing. To (probably mis)quote a caller I heard on a radio show about aging gracefully, "I usually feel the same way I did when I was in my early 20's. The trouble is I still look at young women the same way I used to, but then I realize that they aren't looking at me the same way." Not that I'm trying to pick up high school girls, but you get the idea.

For another take on the idea that probably doesn't reflect well on me, I'll quote David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) from Dazed and Confused, "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age."

Not that I'm... Oh, never mind.

Anyway, that brings me back to the idea that I might not be a very good judge of what it means to be old. I do hope that's the case. I'm not really ready to feel old yet, and if my attitude is any indication, I don't think I'll be ready anytime soon. I'll leave it to the Mizz to imagine that I'm old and out of it and follow Dad's example instead. I'll continue to enjoy life and do what I damn well please, which as it turns out, I now see as pretty cool.

Well, how egotistic is that? A happy birthday message that's mostly about me. What a wonderful child I am. Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad. I'm sure you're doing just fine. When I checked earlier today, you were enjoying a book and a beer on your back porch on a sunny afternoon overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Sounds like a fine way to celebrate to me.

Not here. It was raining on me all day. You should have seen the drive down I-5. I could hardly see... Whoa. There I go again about me. Happy Birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

The 10th was my birthday, but I guess I didn't have much to say then. It was actually a fairly low key day. No big deal since I had already had 2 birthday cakes. (I did save a piece for the actual day though.) A couple friends came up Saturday with their two little ones and I shared a cake with the Mizz and another July toddler. It was an excellent cake with homemade chocolate mouse as frosting and homemade chocolate ganache drizzled over the top. On Sunday, we had a few people over for pizza and Franny made me her special spice cake with non-special frosting. Normally when she makes it for me, she makes Kahlua frosting, but in deference to the toddlers and the pregnant woman in attendance, she just made really good non-Kahlua but insanely sweet frosting. It was still excellent, and it was nice to have friends over to share it with.

35 seems like it should be some kind of momentous birthday, but it doesn't feel that way. Maybe it's because I feel more like a 20-something masquerading as a 35-year-old. I'm running around acting like and adult, but it doesn't feel right. If only I could figure out what I want to be when I grow up...

On the plus side, at 35 I can now be elected president. Keep that in mind when you go to the polls next year. I'm pretty sure most states accept write-ins. I figure I could stumble into the white house blind drunk and do at least as well as the current occupant. If I tried it sober, I'd probably come off looking like George Washington in comparison.

Happy Birthday Mizz!

The Mizz is officially twice as old as he was yesterday. He turned two. We made him say that many times, but I don't think he knows what he's talking about. He likes to count, but the numbers don't mean much to him. He can count quite well to 13, but that means that there are 13 of anything he counts. If he runs out of things, he just points to the same ones again until he gets to 13. And then he gives himself a big "YAY!" He even had 13 feet the other day. He counted them both a couple times and then moved on to lights in the room until he got to the proper number.

We surprised him this morning with a train set -- his first. As you can see, he dug right in.



Five minutes later, witness the destruction that is Mizzilla. He didn't really need the track set up anyway since he mainly just liked stuffing things through the wonderful suspension bridge, whether they fit or not. It turns out that, with persistence, even a helicopter or a jetliner can go right on through. I'm sure Jerry Brockheimer would like to know that little tidbit. I highly recommend clicking and enlarging this second picture. His expression is priceless.



It was a fairly low-key day for the Mizz. Franny took him to the zoo and then we went out to eat this evening at Claim Jumper with some family who wandered into town. The food was fine, but there was WAY too much of it. I ordered a half-size country fried steak (Yes, there's still some southern in me.) that would have overlapped the sides of a normal plate. Luckily they brought it on a platter. I can't even imagine the size of a full order. I imagine a side of beef, breaded and deep fried in a hot tub. The Mizz had a good time coloring on his place mat and eating the food Franny smuggled in from home. They even had a free kid's plate with cheese and applesauce, so he was set. He could get as loud as he needed and nobody in that place could even hear him over the din of the cavernous room. Excellent place to take a toddler.

Happy Birthday Phil!

Today is my father-in-law's birthday, one day after his daughter. They've always enjoyed sharing the fun. I guess I don't have much of a leg to stand on worrying about losing my thunder to the Mizz's birthday one week before mine.

I won't say just how old Phil is today, but according to Janet, he now gets half-price movies at AMC. I guess that's something.

Anyway, happy birthday Phil. It's been nice being able to share it with you.

Happy Birthday Franny!

I just realized, I'm up late enough for it to be Franny's birthday. She is now officially 29 again. Anyway, I think that's the annual birthday she's decided to have.

Happy Birthday, Babe. Love you.

(That's an old picture, but I still like it.)