Happy Fathers Day...

Yep. That's me and my dad. I guess that was taken about...3 years ago. Good times. I still have that shirt.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the dads out there, Happy Fathers Day!

But I would especially like to wish my dad a Happy Fathers Day!

Thanks dad. For teaching me to tackle. Thanks for teaching me to ride a mini-bike... upside down. Thanks for playing catch with me. Thanks for being just stern enough to know you meant business. Thanks for knowing my limits. Thanks for a singing voice. Thanks for a conservative mindset. Thanks for showing me what it means to be a real man. Thanks for all my cars. And my braces. And my schooling. Thanks for understanding. Thanks for caring. Thanks for always being there. Thanks for being a friend when I needed one. And thanks for being a Father when I needed one too. Thanks for being the blueprint of what a dad should be.

You may not have thought I was paying attention. But I was

I hope I am half as successful with my kids as you were with yours.

I love you, dad.

This scene from this movie never fails to bring a tear to my eye and always reminds me of my dad. He always had time for a catch.

I just noticed...

my list of books I'm reading. Two things can be surmised from that list. The first is obviously my political persuasion. Conservative. Not Republican. Unfortunately, now there is a big difference. McCain is a Republican not a conservative. Reagan was a conservative.

The second is the fact that I don't always finish what I start. I should probably only have one book listed here. As it is there are 5 and there could be more. "Angels in the Whirlwind" a book about George Washington and his command during the Revolutionary War. I am a big Revolutionary War buff. Kelly and I went on a trip of New England a few years ago. Well, it was actually seven years ago. We saw the Boston Massacre spot. Lexington and Concorde and the road Paul Revere took on his midinght ride. We saw the Old North Church and Paul Revere's actual house. It was awesome. I'll expound more on that later. See what I mean about not finishing things. "A History of Philosophy" which is a book about, well, the history of philosophy.

Yep too many things started and not enough finished. I think I know why that is though. It has to do with

Pics as promised...

Graduation day...

Madison graduated today. She graduated to Kindergarten from her day school. I have plenty of pictures which will be up later today. She won the most determined award. I have no idea what that means. I hope it was given to her because she was determined to make the most of her school time by reading and practicing math and creating an environment for her and her classmates conducive to learning. She probably got it for being first in the lunch line everyday. It's kind of like the kid with ADD getting the most enthusiastic. You can't give him most disruptive so you settle on enthusiastic. Come to think of it I got that award alot. I keed. I keed. Madison's award was well deserved because we see her at home practicing and practicing. That's why she reads so well.

Cute scene. After the ceremony she came up the aisle to where we were sitting and Ian came out of the pew and gave her a big hug, unsolicited and without a punch at the end of it. It was oh so cute and we didn't have the camera ready. I don't belong to the "let's recreate the spontaneity" crowd who would push the children together in a fake embrace and have them stand there waiting for the flash. Nope. I have that image in my memory and that's good enough for me.

Madison also had soccer practice. Kelly took her this time. They had a good time. Madison is a very good dribbler. With the soccer ball, smart guys. Ian, Reagan and I hung out at home.

Ian is really coming into his own. He understands more and is less prone to tantrums. You can explain the situation to him and he does not go ballistic. More often then not he says OK and accepts what you have told him and that is that. He still has his moments but for the most part they are dwindling.

Reagan is still just Reagan. She is rolling around on the floor. Smiles alot. Sleeps well. Eats well at times. We are in limbo with her right now. She should be getting teeth any time now. Crawling is just around the corner. So until she gets more exciting there won't be much about her. I keed. I keed.

O-bla-di O-bla-da...

life goes on.

Sometimes you fall into a rut. There is not much you can do about it. Work becomes mundane. I become mundane. Funny word "mundane". Funny word "funny" for that matter. I think I will pull myself out now because this could grow into one horrible loop and I don't think anyone wants that.

Music helps with the blahs, though. One song in particular, which you are probably hearing right now, is "There Goes My Life" by Kenny Chesney. It's about this high school kid who finds out his girlfriend is pregnant. He's too young for this. Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before...I digress. He is bummed that he is not going to be able to go to the west coast and hang like he wanted. The chorus says, "There goes my life. There goes my future. My everything. Might as well kiss it all goodbye. There goes my life."

The second verse picks up the story a couple of years later after many sleepless nights and a thousand diapers. Her pictures cover the fridge. He is watching his daughter climb the stairs to his wife to go to bed dragging that teddy bear. The 2nd chorus "There goes my life. There goes my future, my everything. I love you. Daddy, good night. There goes my life."

Last verse is he is checking his daughters car to make sure it is ready for her trip to college. As she drives off, "There goes my life. There goes my future, my everything. I love you, baby. Good bye."

Sad and uplifting song that reminds me of my children and it always brings a smile to my face. I'm only human so the funks will come but I just hope to keep them at bay a little longer and usher them on their way a little sooner with the help of music.

Our tax dollars at work...

Some things speak for themselves.

I guess these "artists" feel they are being bold and pushing the boundaries and sparking conversations about the banality of religion and its opiate of the masses appeal.

I'll start. "I think you're a schmuck."

Funny how these bold and cutting edge artists always use Christian symbols to stick up places and place in jars of urine. It's never a cartoon picture of Mohammed. Talk about being on the cutting edge. Right across their throat.

Christians are easy targets. Turn the other cheek and all that. We just sit back and take it. Islam on the other hand. No self-respecting, bold, cutting edge artist would be caught dead dissing those guys. (Pun intended)

Give me a Salman Rushdie any day of the week and twice on Sundays over any of these artist bozos. Rushdie lived in hiding for a decade and apparently moved more than 200 times in that time period.

Now that's art.

Apparently not everyone reads my blog...

I thought I explained that boys and girls are different. What up, Maryland?

Three months ago, a new law in Montgomery County, Maryland, was passed that demands co-ed locker rooms and restrooms in all public accommodations. The law was intended to accommodate “transgendered people”—that is, men who say they perceive themselves to be women (i.e. Michael Jackson), and women who claim they consider themselves men (i.e. Michael Jackson). This is one of those slippery slope laws. Well...read on...

Last week, Colorado’s legislature passed—and Gov. Bill Ritter signed—a law that will open all public accommodations, including public restrooms, to anyone who wants to use them. That means men may use a women’s restroom, and women may enter men’s rooms. The rationale for Senate Bill 200 is that transgenders should be able to use the restroom they feel most comfortable using.

What about me? Shouldn't I feel comfortable in the bathroom too? Comfortable being a relative term of course. Having the family bowel's, is potty time ever really comfortable?

Here's where it starts to get serious...

The lack of privacy is not the only problem. Nobody is going to ask a man if he is trangendered before allowing him into the ladies’ room. This means any man—including a child molester—could simply follow a little girl into the privacy of a public restroom. And, if a man decided to expose himself to a young girl there, who is she going to complain to? After all, restrooms, by definition, are places where one exposes the private parts of one’s body.

Men will have even less privacy, because they often do not use stalls.

Appalling as this law is, it gets worse. Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family points out, in the Denver Post, that the law also threatens religious liberty: Colorado’s “public accommodations” law includes not only hotels and restaurants, but also any small or home-based business that offers “goods or services” to the public.

And, as we have seen before, radicals go out of their way to target Christian businesses. As Minnery notes, in Albuquerque, a Christian couple who operate a photography studio politely declined, on religious grounds, to photograph a lesbian “commitment ceremony.” For this exercise of their First Amendment rights, the couple were forced to appear before New Mexico’s human rights commission and fined more than $6,600. Now, if you dare to deny a transgendered “man” access to the women’s room, you can be prosecuted under criminal laws and spend up to a year in jail.

I always use the stalls in public restrooms. Always. I never use the urinals. I hate those things. Dreaded fear that. Let's just say I took too many microbiology classes in college. The stalls are not much cleaner you say. True...true. But at least in the stalls I can cover the toilet seat with so much John Wayne toilet paper that my feet don't even touch the ground. That's sanitary.

John Wayne toilet paper? That's toilet paper that is rough and tough and don't take crap off of no one. (Rim shot.)

What was my point...oh yea...if the transgender people followed my lead and always used the stalls, we'd have no issue. If a man dresses like a woman and uses the womens bathroom, they only have stalls, or so I'm told. No issue. If a woman dresses like a man, use the stalls because frankly the urinals aren't going to be much use to you anyway.

Why do people make things so complicated?

The times they are-a-changin'...

Three graduations this year. One niece, one nephew and one daughter of a cousin. I'm not sure what that makes her. A second cousin I think.

Strange how a milestone in one person's life can mean so much to someone else but for very different reasons. I am very proud of my niece and nephew and second cousin(?). Graduating from high school is a big step. You are well on your way to becoming an adult. As long as you don't do what I did. You're looking at about a 10 year detour if so.

I think back to that time in my life and the issues of the day. Would the girl I was dating at the time and I survive a year of long distance? Irving to Denton was Irving to Hong Kong as far as I was concerned. Would I meet any friends at North Texas State? That is what it was called before they changed their name to UNT. I am glad they didn't rename the radio station too. Turns out there wasn't really anytime to meet anyone. I transferred to UT Arlington after my first semester. Besides now, those were the best 7 years of my life. From what I can remember. Just kidding. It took me the requisite 4 years. I do know I had a blast and formed friendships that I still have today, 20 years later.

The one thing that stands out in my mind was the day I moved out of the house. I pulled away in my white Toyota truck and dad was standing on the sidewalk waving goodbye to me. I can see it like it was yesterday. I pulled around the corner and cried like a baby until about Lake Lewisville. I was scared. I was alone. I was starting a new life. But the image of my dad, standing there waving goodbye with a look of sadness knowing another one of his sons was leaving home but also with tremendous pride knowing another one of his sons was leaving home, got me through that drive and that semester and those college years.

Luckily, there is no reason to ask him if I have made him proud. He tells me all the time.

Amazing stuff...

Wouldn't it be nice if this was the only type of prenatal surgery performed on the littlest of us.

Things like this remind me of a story I once read. It was about a man in Florida who was caught with some sea tortoise eggs. The sea tortoise is on the endangered species list. During his trial he said they were just eggs and they weren't actual turtles. The judge said, "They're gonna be." and banged his gavel. The man was found guilty.

Wouldn't it be nice if babies in the womb had the same privileges as turtles in the shell.

Blob update...

I woke up this morning and with a little concern turned my focus towards the blob in the pool.

Blob? What blob?

It was virtually gone. I guess it couldn't hold its breath long enough. Nothing but a few white patches that I'm sure will be gone by the time I get home from work. The infamous sheet said there may be some of the product leftover but it would dissolve in 24-48 hours. If I wouldn't have jumped to conclusions...I wouldn't have had a blog to write, so there. Nyah Nyah.

If there were any doubters, (read my sister Katy) there should be no more. This stuff is amazing. The pool is crystal clear and I promise you it feels like you've put on lotion when you get out of the water. Madison even commented on how the water felt different. "Kind of softer" she so smartly said. I highly recommend this stuff. It's called Algae-B-Gone. Just kidding. It's called Endure. Seeming to imply that the happiness and joy you get from swimming in your beautiful crystal clear soft pool will "endure" the whole summer...I would have called it Algae-B-Gone.

Yes, the kids and I went swimming last night. Blob be damned. Actually I went in the pool earlier and tried to chisel the blob away to no avail. I rubbed and scrubbed and rub-a-dub-dubbed that darn thing pretty forcefully. I had as much effect on it as I do on Kelly when I tell her I am putting my foot down on this issue. None. Since I didn't go blind or break out in hives, I figured it was safe for the kiddos. Besides they wanted to go swimming and what's a little blindness when you can stop the whining. Pick your battles.