lotr backlash

If any of you have seen the LOTR trilogy (and everyone has), you may notice a trend looming on the horizon in Hollywood. Ever since Peter Jackson made every fantasy novel fanatic's day by making these movies...big major studios are scrambling to get in on the action. If you don't believe me...see for yourself.

1. 300
2. Pan's Labyrinth
3. Eragon
4. Arthur and the Minimoys
5. Pathfinder
6. Stardust
7. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (this is by far the worst one. I thought it was a spoof)

code yellow

Roman got in trouble at school yesterday for making noises in class with his hands. This led to him being put in code "yellow" for the day. Now, yellow doesn't seem all that bad to me, but it's not exactly code "red", either.

At first, I was upset at Roman, but Gina and I talked about it...and as long as he wasn't doing this, we could be OK with him. Seriously, I just want the camera to tilt up so I can see who that man is and make it my mission in life to put him in code "red".

What?

While driving waaaay too fast on 71 yesterday, I saw a bumper sticker that caught my eye. It said, "I'm pagan, and I vote". What does that mean? I found myself getting mad at him for being pagan...and voting.

Salvador

Every morning, I get a coffee from McD's in Delaware and a hispanic gentleman named Salvador hands me my coffee. And he says the same thing every day. "Have a good day, man"

I decided that Salvador doesn't know english and I tested my theory out today. After he said "Have a good day, man"... I told him "There's two dogs fighting an elderly woman at the back of the building". Salvador simply nodded, smiled and waved to me.

I am trying to think of other catchy things I can say to Salvador in the mornings to see if he understands. If you've got any good ones, let me know. I'll take a photo of him soon and post it.

11 years

This past Saturday marked 11 years that Gina and I have been married. Being at a different place in our lives than ever before (both geographical and personal) things didn't work out for our anniversary like I'd planned. Normally, I like to surprise Gina with a trip, a weekend away, some amazing gifts... But none of that worked out this year.

We couldn't get a sitter to watch our 3 children and all our plans fell through. This completely frustrated me and we eventually decided to take the entire family out for dinner and the mall. Not exactly the romantic getaway I'd hoped for, but it was at least something. But this evening held in store for me some memories that I'll never forget.

After a never ending pasta bowl at Olive Garden (don't bother...it really does end when you can't eat anymore and you have to run to the bathroom) we went to the mall and watched our kids play on the indoor playground with 200 other completely hyperactive kids who brought their seemingly uncaring parents. (I don't want to punch children, but when you come close to knocking over my daughter...I get close to kicking your parents) As we walked through the mall, Gina and I decided to get Cassidy's ears pierced.

This was both an exciting moment and a terrifying one, because you're knowingly causing your child pain and it's so stinking cute. As we stood there holding Cass, getting ready to inflict pain and counteract that with a sucker, I was overtaken with how precious my family is to me. My wife stood hovering over Cass like a mother hen. Roman and Syd held their hands over their ears while continuing to drool on free suckers from Icing. And I prayed for Cass and just sat back and watched my family. The photo at the top is Cassidy when we got home from the mall...Her first photo with her ears pierced.

11 years ago, these 3 little children weren't here. Gina and I were engaged and didn't have a clue how everything would turn out with our lives. 11 years of marriage and 4 years of dating later...things are so different and I couldn't be happier. This anniversary wasn't what I expected and next year I'm going to kidnap my wife and head to a beach somewhere...but for now, for this year...it was perfect. We are a family and what better way to celebrate our marriage than with our whole family?

All night, Sydney kept asking when our "anniversary day" would be over. Looking back, I didn't want that day to ever end.

the king has upset me

This may be a total rant, but Burger King has sent me over the edge. Today, I ate some fries and they came in the package you see here. They've insulted my intelligence by putting it in the same category as my ipod or even assuming that it should be served in a pod. And they took the time to trademark the word "frypod". This ranks right up there with the ihome.

Then, they served me a beverage that was anything but diet. Now for most people, this may be nothing more than an inconvenience...but in my case...BK could've killed me. I think they need to know that by simply pushing in the "diet" tab on the lid...that doesn't miraculously take out all the sugar. In fact, it's more than likely that I'll return it through the drive thru window at about 54 miles an hour...or however fast I can throw it left-handed as I race their parking lot in a blind fury.