Men Will Be Men

This year's Christmas was kind of bittersweet. We know that it will probably be the last one that we spend with Sherri's dad. We spent the night Christmas Eve so John could see the kids open their Santa gifts on Christmas morning. One of the highlights of my day came at an unexpected moment.

While watching the Laker/Heat game, John and Mary called us kids (Sherri, her sister and husband, and myself) into his bed room for a serious discussion about his health. It was half time, so John thought he would just put the new 42 inch LCD TV on mute and us boys wouldn't be distracted by the game.

John has become completely dependant on his breathing machine, without it he would suffocate. I think that is how most ALS patients die. His doctor said that usually at this point the patient has about two months to live. At some point in time the breathing machine will not be enough.The doctor said we would know when that time had arrived and gave them a prescription that would relieve pain and anxiety when John was at that point. Not an assisted suicide type of thing, just something that would make the passing more comfortable for him. When this time arrives, John would like his family to be with him.

This conversation is going as expected, teary eyes, sad faces, when all of a sudden John goes, WHOA as he is looking at the TV screen. During half-time, ABC decided to go into the stands and interview Siovaughn Wade, the wife of the Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade. She had a low cut dress on that was barely covering a huge rack that John couldn't help but notice. We all said WHOA. The camera quickly zoomed to her face. We all started laughing. The timing was perfect. Siovaughn Wade's boobs put an end to a real bummer conversation. It is good to know that even in times of sorrow, men will be men.

What The Heck!

There was no baking! None of the gingerbread house kits required any baking. I was kind of bummed about that. Nothing had good candy either, but I told Alissa we were gonna make a gingerbread house, there was going back after that! Anyways it was still fun to do. Maybe next year I won't do a rush job and make one from scratch, with good candies too. Thanks for the project Sue. :)

Sue, I Can Bake.

I made pizzas for over 10 years. I know my way around an oven. Not just those conveyer ovens that most pizza places use today either. As a matter of fact I baked cookies today, before I saw your post! A gingerbread house would be a snap! Game on baby!

Only In Palm Desert

My wife is the manager of a ladies clothes store in Palm Desert CA. Palm Desert is an upper income community in the Palm Springs area. All of the real money in the Palm Springs area comes from Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and La Quinta. Palm Springs is middle of the road now.

Every year Sherri's store collects toys for the underprivileged kids in the area. Even though there is a lot of money in the Coachella Valley, there are many low income areas that have a need for this stuff.

Anyways, she has a big box in her store that customers can leave a small toy for a needy child. The ladies are always very generous, but some ladies don't seem to know who they are giving gifts to. Here is a list of some of the things found in the box.

A Neiman-Marcus gift bag.
Jewelry. A nice necklace, bracelet, and toe ring set.
Adjustable bra straps.
Gift bag from Bed Bath and Beyond.
Make up from Ulta.

Any toy from the .99 store probably would have made the day of any of these kids. What the heck are these ladies thinking?

Ow,Ow,Ow

I'm a big wuss. This hernia repair job hurts like hell!!! I don't know how these women who have c-sections get around so quickly. Good thing I have plenty of vicodin! I have been kicking back watching movies on vicodin all day. "Lucky Number Sleven" and "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". Pretty good movies, K.K.B.B. made me laugh too much though. Maybe I'll do most of my blogging on vicodin this week. I'm sure Nicole Richie would approve.

Home for the holidays...

... only because I'm getting my belly-button fixed! I've had this hernia for about a year. It really doesn't hurt. It just looks funny, and gets stinky! (Aren't you glad I shared that!) It's also a weird feeling being able to push my intestine back into my abdomen. (Aren't you glad I shared that too!) So Monday morning I get my guts pushed back in, and the hole covered with mesh and sewn back together. Hey, that's it! That's what Austin can do with new found skill!

This will be my final entry ...

… about Austin’s femininity. I don’t want everyone to think I’m a ragging on him, but he keeps spewing estrogen all over the place. We will just call this the end of a trilogy, kind of like “Return of the Jedi”, that was kind of gay, it had Ewoks. First we had “Cheer Wars”, then “The Seamstress Strikes Back”, and finally “Return of the Make Up Artist”.

Not very long ago (last weekend), in a galaxy not far away (Disneyland), my family and me celebrated Alissa’s 6th birthday. We drove there Sunday afternoon, spent the night at one of the Disneyland hotels, and spent the entire day, Monday, hopping between California Adventure and Disneyland. It was a great time, we all had fun.

There are lots of things to do there without actually going into Disneyland. Sunday we spent the entire afternoon hanging out in downtown Disney. It was Alissa’s day, so we let her pick out the hang out places. Her favorite place was a store called Libby Lu’s. I have to admit it was pretty cool. Like a Bassmaster Proshop for men; Libby Lu’s is the ultimate store for little girls.

Libby Lu’s had all the “bling” a little girl could ask for. Libby Lu’s also had many “stylists” on hand to do little girl makeovers. Alissa’s favorite thing to do at Libby Lu’s was to make her own make up, it was also Austin’s. He was very into the lip-gloss station. He made sure Alissa was putting the right amount of glitter into every $10.00 jar she made. (Libby Lu’s was not cheap) They had two jars made before I noticed how much it was going to cost. Ouch.

Come On Now...

... He is starting to sew! My wife doesn't sew!
Alissa got a sewing kit. She wanted to repair some of the stuft animals that Splinter had chewed up. She didn’t know what to do, so I had to get her started. It's a good thing I've seen Rambo: First Blood, I stitch up all my cuts!
Here comes Austin, "What are you guys doing?"
Alissa, "Sewing, wanna try?"
Austin, "Yeah!"
Me, "Great."
The kids sewed up every "Splinterized" animal in the house. This was cool; I actually got to watch almost an entire movie without interruption. When they were done with the animals, Austin repaired a pair of shorts that he had ripped. This kind of spooked me; I think he can actually wear them now.
Next day:
Austin, "Dad, did you ever sew when you were a kid?"
Me, "Nope."
Austin, "Boys sew, right?"
Me, "...................................................... right."
Austin, "Cool, I like to sew."
Me, "That's nice."

THIS IS JUST A SILLY ENTRY. I KNOW AUSTIN IS NORMAL !!!!!

That's So Cute, I Guess.

A friend of the family gave Alissa an early birthday gift yesterday. It is one of those gifts that if you are the parent of the child getting that gift, you might want to kill the giver.
Alissa got this. It is the Bella Dancerella Cheerleader Studio! Now I get to listen to the same annoying cheers over and over again! Put it together girls and do it with spirit!

B.E.L.L.A., B.E.L.L.A., Bella Bella all the way!
Hey, go Bella, shake it up, go Bella!
Hey! Hey! Bella fans, yell it out and rock the stands!

It is really cute. Watching Alissa in front of the TV doing her "routine" is adorable. I have to sneek a peek because she doesn't want me to watch. She doesn't understand that cheerleaders do this kind of thing IN FRONT of people. What's not so cute is my son Austin doing the "routine" with her. I'm signing him up for baseball A.S.A.P.!

Trip to Arizona

About 5 years ago my father died of esophageal cancer. About 6 months later my grandmother died from cancer of the gallbladder. Each death took a huge toll on my relationship with my mother and sister. People do some weird stuff when confronted with the death or inevitable death of a loved one, and my mother and sister went over the top. I’m not going to air out dirty laundry, but I have not seen or talked to my mother since my grandmother’s funeral.

This weekend I went to visit my mother. She bought a new house in Arizona about 6 years ago and has never invited me to see it. I have been insulted for quite some time.
I was reluctant to go, but felt it was time to bury the hatchet.

When we showed up yesterday, I was surprised by the feelings that I felt when I first saw my mother. She looked older. Her hair had gone white and had gotten considerably thinner and she looked old. All of my bitter feelings disappeared and I just wanted to hug my mom.

My mother and I really didn’t talk much about what had happened in the past. I think we just understood it was time to move on. She was really great with Austin and Alissa. My stepfather was equally as good with the kids. He totally won the heart of Alissa. It turned out to be a really great trip.

Some things aren’t worth hanging on to. If you have some sort of problem with someone close to you fix it or let it go. The bitter feelings are not worth it.