Oh to be young again and do those stupid, but really cool things we did. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?
Ah, the importance of learning first hand, the meaning of "CRAP!?""That knocked me on my A$$!"
Tastes like chicken...
Peer pressure
Where did I put that rake?
High tide cometh...
This needs a caption?
I don't think this one needs a caption either.... "Duh!"
It could be winter....
It's okay, it's seedless...
A flat screen would give more clarity.
I saw my dog do it... or was that my dad?
And the winner is...
Cheers for the micro-brew!
I am almost middle-aged and though short on years, I tend to be wise and thoughtful. When I lay my head down to sleep at night, I will be a sleep within moments. When I awake in the morning (usually before dawn) I am refreshed and ready to save the world yet again. How do I do it?
"Pray tell oh great sage? How is it that none of the life's grinding demands get you down and stomp you into mush?" "What is the secret of vitality, youth and that unrelentless positive attitude that you share with everyone you meet?"
Well, I will tell you. I owe a lot of it to an old friend - one that has been around for almost as long as I have. He/she/it (not sure) has accompanied throughout my years in high school, through my partial stint in college, then on around the world to destinations many on dream about. And I owe most of those dreams to this constant companion, one who is currently getting the stuffing beat out of him/her/it. So I am coming to the rescue. I will not fail. I will not let my friend down. I will mend (gender unknown) so we may slide into the next 40 years together.
Meet my pillow...
"Oh," you say, "looks like a normal pillow - well except for the dirt and excess head DNA stuff" Lets' take a closer look.
Yes, there is a pillow cover covering another pillow cover - for good reason. Shall we continue?
The cover - covering the cover - is in fact covering yet another cover. The last cover in an effort to contain the secret sleep assisted aides - was sealed with duct tape.
Bu wait! There's more! Note the duct tape held up well and did its job securing a lot of the duct feathers. I am not sure which fowl these feathers were plucked from but as I said earlier, I have left signs of down all over the world. Hmmm, this makes me wonder if I had anything to do with the spreading of bird flu....
The little buggers were leaking out of the original package. I suppose it was a matter of time which is why I had to put it within three pouches for protection. It may not look it now, but this little guy is way soft - it you can get over the prickly, pokey ends of the feathers....
I don't know if "Hollander Home Fashions Corp" in Illinois is still in business but I am one of their biggest fans. It is so hard to walk into a store like Target or Bed, Bath and Big Prices and get a great pillow. There are some within the family unit that might disagree, but my sterilized, "Made in the USA" cotton (95% feathers/5% down) pillow has lulled me into REM everyday for quite some time. It was my job to repair them (since I guess there was more than one bird plucked).
So I stuffed it gently into a clean container and sewed it up securely. I said goodbye to the fluffy feathers for now. Then I stuffed that one into the cover - the one that will be washed on occasion.
That was a lot of work. I might have to take a nap... But first, I have to clean up a little.
My lil helper wants me to play instead. I will clean a little later. Besides, football is on. Nighty, night.... NLM.
We lived in Ohio for a time before I was released from active duty and Poot played sports (baseball and soccer. Here he is posing for his single pic (this is soccer in case you are wondering)...
It should be noted that we did indeed pay for the "professional" photos though I think it is the goal of every parent to get some extra shots in case the photographer screws up. Next is the team shot. See if you - as a reader and intelligent observer - note anything out of the ordinary....
Yes, ... you are right - they are not quite set up for the pose. There is no concentration, no organization, no purpose. Finally, the team gets into the photogenic mode....
***This has been a Nekked Lizard Sports Flashback***
First there was the color wheel. Someday I may even throw in 45s and vinyl LPs, but today ladies and gentlemen, I ask that your attention be directed to this little beauty. Anyone remember these?
Tune in later for the answer. If you don't know, then you might not know about 8-tracks either..... NLM
The years are flying by and those things we plan to do or have looked back on as memories sometimes become a blur. A wake-up and realization that this was true and has no pretensions of slowing down happened at our dinner table the other evening. NLL was gone to Ohio. I was tasked with staying home and continue to make money. As Poot and I ate our corn-on-the-cob (was very good), I noted his growth over these many (few) 12 years. We have found that few pants/jeans manufacturers did not consult us when designing his dimensions. He is tall and skinny. I am also beginning to detect a slight shadow under his nose. This after I noticed a pimple forming to one side of the same nose.
I wondered what it means to grow out of clothes - discarding the overeating we as adults do. He is a boy and destined to be compared to the animal world - I read once that boys, "swim like fish, run like deer, climb like squirrels, balk like mules, bellow like bulls, eat like pigs, or act like jackasses" depending on the climatic and environmental conditions. Boys are for the most part perpetual motion (except when getting up and ready for school) and will not stop until they mature into the working man.
As I mentioned earlier, Poot is skinny but is slowly forming a piece of skin stretched over an appetite. I call him a tornado - because he hits in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times, leaving a wake of destruction behind him. His "clean" room makes me cringe as I know we bought carpet and laid it in his room at one time. If I open the kitchen cabinet and we are out of glasses, bowls, plates and silverware, I know where to go look. He mixes his dirty clothes with his freshly washed and dried clean clothes - on the floor in a pile. Granted, they are in separate piles but they are still on the floor. We can't seem to clear a path to the closet.
Poot's eyes were once the brightest of awe. He is now a spectator and watches everything. He will watch cartoons, parades, fires, the weather, ballgames, boats, people... he will watch everything... except the clock. He will set an alarm, but the sound does not register. His 5 minutes evolve into 10, then 20. Once he is in bed, he must then get up to brush his teeth.
I reflect on all of this as I watch him eat and I wonder if I were like that as I was growing up. I wonder if he will imitate me in certain areas (NLL hopes not). I wonder when the next time will come when he will laugh or cry or get hurt - surviving broken bones, honeybee stings, fights, or a broken heart. My son is growing up too fast. He pushes back from the table, drinks a another gulp of tea and heads off to his room. The plate with the cob is left on the table... I *sigh*. It's okay. I'll put it up this one time. This time I spend with him won't come again.
He is my son.
