This and that

* Happy birthday, Matt! I still think you are 22 (not 23).

* I'm doped up on muscle relaxers and pain killers right now. I have a pulled muscle in my back and am completely numb to the world at the moment.

* Planted some burning bushes in the back this weekend. They look good. Thanks to Senor Brown for that week working on his landscaping crew. Of the few things I learned that week, proper planting techniques was certainly one thing.

* Kelsey played with her Jazz band Friday night. They sounded great! She forgot her strap so dad drove over to Uncle Donald's and swiped Dustin's guitar strap. He showed up with it and connected it in the middle of her song. She laughed and kept right on playing.

* I have a big announcement on the way... big announcement. I want to get it finalized before I make the announcin' though.

Doing my good deed

I headed over to Farmer Elementary yesterday to help with my wife's class. I had my painting supplies, some brushes, and small canvases. The plan was to work one-on-one with each child and create a piece of art for the upcoming Mother's Day. Sounds simple enough, right? Did you know that my wife teaches a unit of kids with special needs? There is nothing simple about that.

However, the little ones were on their best behavior for me. I knew from Jooj's stories that I should be ready to expect anything. But really they were little angels. Some of her kids certainly suffered a greater severity of autism than others. But we successfully completed nine pieces for each of her nine kids.

I was so proud of them. And helping them do that made me feel very special. Little Junior was adorable. Lexie was as cute as the stories (even when she was licking paint). Garren spoke in his alienspeak and it was sweet. Even Donoven was on his best behavior (he was very excited to be painting a piece for his Granny).

Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to doing it again.

"I get cancer, I kill Jack."

I took Jack, the 7-year old Jack Russell-Pit Bull family dog, to the vet yesterday. He had a small growth on his leg. Dr. Vaughn told me that it was a tumor and that it had to come off. He said that with the black pigment in the tumor it would be malpractice to not take it off immediately. He lasered it off and I went back and picked up Jack shortly after. Everyone said he did well and we'll know in a few days whether or not it is going to be something to worry about.

I also watched "Wall*E". Very cute movie. I'm going to watch "Kung Fu Panda" later this week.

Kudos to you if you caught the Fight Club reference in the title of the post. Double kudos to you if you are willing to point out that the line I used is actually from the movie and not the book (as the author's name was Joe in the book and Jack in the movie).

Everything at once

I've been so bad about keeping up with my blog. I blame it on working from home. I spend my day on the computer and don't feel up to spending any more time on it after I'm done for the day. It doesn't really make much sense because I used to come home and spend hours on it after work. I'm not even playing video games as much. I guess it's an adjustment.

Anyway, here is what has been going on, presented in short, randomly ordered, marginally run-on sentences...

Found a dog the other day. Realized it was the same dog as the dog in the Lost Dog paper on the STOP sign. Called the owner. Her name was Pixie. Dog. Not owner. She was happy. Owner and dog. Refused reward. Easter was awesome. Good Friday should be renamed Great Friday because of Mimi's Fish Fry. Met Lauren's beau. Man, his teeth are white. Served them both a beer (legally). Loved every minute of it. Jooj was sick. Another infection. Weak, weak, weak. We went to Immediate Care. She's feeling better. She made an appointment with my doctor. Yay! Saw "Speed Racer" again. I really like that movie. Watched "The Incredible Hulk." Was impressed. Not a big Hulk fan but entertaining. Caroline gave Kelsey a ton of old jeans. Bless your heart. Watched "Speed Racer" again with Wade. He loved it. Happy birthday Gerard Way! Cousin Curt had his first book published. "The Irish Witness." Kennedy assassination. Gonna check it out. Good to see both sides of family. Bridget's hair looked awesome. Little Emma is still adorable. Asked cousin Matt to play Hotspur in the comic that I'm planning. He said yes. Need to work on Barbara's paintings of her kids. Tobias needs to stop jumping on my desk and laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaying on the keyboard. Taking Jack to vet tomorrow. Growth on leg. Looks weird. Type too fast when I write like this. Wrists hurt. Cramping. Finished.

April Fool's

I find it oddly ironic that UK is announcing their new head coach, John Calipari, on April Fool's Day. Just sayin'...

I told Jooj that I wasn't planning on trying to pull a fast one over her today. I don't really have any good scams planned and figured she didn't really need any pranks pulled during her Spring Break holiday. I think she appreciates my candor and lackadaisical effort :)

I am finding that working from home, spending 8 hours a day on the computer in the house, is draining my will to be on the computer for recreational purposes. Oh well!

Finally, we are finalizing our plans to get a kitty cat. Exciting!

Weekend Updates

Warm weather hit the 'ville and I finally feel as though Spring is upon us...

* I hit the skate park, along with half of the Concretins, on Sunday. I had a good session. I am getting my speed back and had some great runs in the capsule with my lip tricks (nose stall, tail stall, axle stall, and rock-fakies). Ah, skate season is open.

* Jooj and I did a little cleaning on Saturday. She cleaned the yard and I cleaned the garage. It felt pretty good. Then we took the netting off the pond and fed the fish for the first time in 4 months. I counted 10 (went into the winter with 11). We have a bit of an algae problem but the guy at the pond store says that everyone does right now. We picked up a net, some Super Bug (yummy bacteria), and some stuff to combat the algae.

* U of L won their first two games to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. For the most part they looked really good. Jooj and I have brackets and she is leading by 4 points right now. The funny thing is that our brackets are almost identical at this point. The only difference is that I have Memphis going to the Final Four and she has Uconn. And that game is worth 4 points. So we'll either tie or she'll win. Crazy!

* Mom and dad bought a new TV and gave us their projection TV. It is so big... and heavy! I about blew a vertebrae getting it upstairs. I don't think Pops and I realized how heavy that SOB was going to be.

* We celebrated Jooj and my niece's birfdays this weekend. The next day we had the normal dinner with my immediate family. You know, I just love my whole, big family. I love everyone on my wife's side (especially you, Kim :) and of course I adore everyone on my side. I am just so lucky to have so many wonderful people around me.

* The neighbors... grrrrr! I can't even go into now but it appears that round 1 has gone to me. I'll disclose more a little later. Stupid Aussies!!!

Toby ran away from home

Tobias "Toby" the cat ran away from home this afternoon at approximately 4:20 PM. Lucky for us, he is rather spoiled and not particularly filled with a sense of adventure. Oh sure, he sometimes fancies himself a big cat hunting on the Serengeti or a sleek jungle cat stalking his prey. But really he's spoiled rotten.

So it was no surprise that he turned up after 10 minutes of searching for him. Shaking his food canister was the ticket to luring the king back to his castle.

Welcome back, Toby. I know that the family (even Boba) would have been torn up had you not returned.