Ok well here is another little snippet of pics from our "adventure... Keep your eye on the first picture...It's a kids meal ( I couldn't resist putting it in there)... These are a collection from both parks...Truly pretty places without so many people....some of these views are breathtaking...

Well here is a little piece of what we got to enjoy at Disneyland. They have a great parade and at the California Adventure park they have revived the electric light parade, which was always a favorite for us....I also managed to throw a few of my kids in here as they learned how to become jedi knights and got cozy with Minnie...

I'm sure I will have a few more tomorrow but for now enjoy :)

Very cool eagle ...they had a whole section for the U.S.

The boys decided they would like a pic with minnie (guess they realized mom was gonna make em anyway)


Snow White made an appearance or two



I think everybody loves pooh bear


Pinocchio is just about everywhere in Disneyland even to this day.


Peter Pan was busy antagonizing Capt. Hook throughout the whole parade.


A very cool shot of the Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel at night..this is in California Adventure park.


My youngest was training to be a jedi knight by fighting with Darth Mal...


I can't believe they still have elliot the dragon roaming around..


These pictures really don't do justice to how very cool these floats really are.




Donald is my personal favorite


Paradise Pier looks so nice at night...California Adventure


More nighttime Calif Adventure




My kids get the biggest kick out of Beauty and the Beast (I think it's more because of the candle than the beast)

Wow, what a week. This was going to be the first trip to Disneyland for my 2 younger boys, so my wife and I were pretty excited. We knew they would love it as we have in the past. I could almost taste the cotton candy as we were driving there.

I have never been to the "Magical Kingdom" on Christmas before, so I was a bit excited myself. After all, how many cool things can they do for every other holiday, just imagine what they would come up with for this. They have their own parade celebration even. We stayed at a decent hotel, not great and surely not the suite like the picture in the pamphlet showed (surprise surprse). We didn't really care though. We just wanted to get into the park and start having a good time.

So the first day we walked to the park from the hotel and it's only about 3/4 of a mile (long blocks, since the pamphlet also said 2 blocks from disneyland). We figured we were tough and the kids had a ton of energy, so who needs to wait for the shuttle to get to the park. So they check the bags at the entrance to the entrance of the park. Then we give our hopper passes to the less than enthusiastic ticket counter person. I guess they get tired of the magic after it becomes a job. I was then informed that when I left the park, if I was returning make sure I got my hand stamped so that I could get back in. No problem I thought. that's easy enough, besides they stand there with a stamp as you leave. So we get into the park, and it's basically a living wall of people. There had to be 10,000 people in the front waiting to get in, and that was a small piece of the crowd.

The kids are pulling us this way and that, because they are oblivous to everything except for the excitemenet of a new park, and the possibilities of what they might find. So we figure it'll calm down a bit, we were there at midday and it's usually pretty busy about that time. Day turns into night and guess what, it's busier still. Now we are being herded into these lines of traffic to keep the park "flowing", it felt like we were herded cattle. There were parades going on at the same time that they were doing special shows, and people were overwhelmed with choices of what to do so everybody seemed to be just running from here to there and hoping to catch a glimpse of one thing or the other, without really getting to catch all of anything.

The kids were sorta hungry so I figure we may as well get a little snack. I knew the food would be expensive but we planned for it, and were ready to give them an A+ experience. We find a little umbrella stand and get some burgers and fries (soda sold separately from the meal). 4 people cost $57.00 for a burger fries and a coke. One of those meals happened to be a kid's sized. So you can guess how much came with that.

So we tried to move around the park and get a few rides in, but every line was at least 60 minutes. eventually on day 1 I think we managed 2 rides, well three if you count the little fairyland boat ride. I was told that this was the quiet day and Christmas eve and Christmas would be much busier. Oh joy for me and mine, we were in for quite an adventure.

I have tons of pictures to share and I promise they will get posted in the next couple of days. For now I just wanted to share this little tidbit with all of you. If you are thinking of Disneyland for Christmas.....Don't...Bad idea, the park is gonna always be the same, but the amount of people they cram in there for the holidays is absolutely ridiculous. You are pushed around and stepped on, not to mention the "cast members" are for the most part rude and anti-social. Not the people in the shows or doing the survey, but most of the servers and a good portion of those handling the rides are just some really unhappy people.

Yeah, I'm sure I feel a good rant coming on about Disneyland. I have already started my letter to the place we got our package from to explain to them, what I thought of it ....

Well tomorrow is another day, and it will probably include at least a portion of all those wonderful pics we managed to take, because that is one great thing about DL. It's just pretty, no matter how you look at it, they originally did a great job on this place.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll let you guys know how wonderful legoland was too :)

Well guys, my truck awaits me and the family. We are just a few short hours from leaving, and I'll be well out of laptop range on this trip (it's a rule that I'm forced to follow). I wanted to take a quick moment to say Merry Christmas to all of you out here in the blogosphere.

Especially to those of you that follow along so closely to what goes on in this little blog group that we have formed (Kristy has the name). It's a pretty comforting thought to know that there are other people out there that are irritated by the same stuff as me, and at the same time you guys can see the good stuff too.

I guess this has just made for some really good days for me. I know that I can come home and check out a few blogs and it will always offer up a chuckle or a hmmm moment for me. Sometimes that's all I need.

So since I most likely won't be online again until around the 27th, this is my chance to say thank you for keeping me at a level of sanity (a low level mind you). I hope that you all continue to blog and for those of you with goals set on being published, I hope that is your Christmas wish come true this year.

Be safe and have a great holiday. God Bless :)

We are going to spend Christmas at Disneyland this year. Now this will be the first trip to the magical kingdom for my 2 younger children. They have pretty much jabbered on incessantly about this trip for the last 2 1/2 months. I'm ok with that, because I understand that they are really really anxious to experience this place.

I personally love Disneyland. I am transported to another world when I walk through the gates. I'm a kid again and everything is ok while we are there. I have never been to California adventure park though. So this will be a first time for me and the wife in that respect. My oldest has been there a ton of times, and he swears up and down that it's every bit as good as Disneyland itself. Time will tell.

My middle boy (Cameron) is celebrating his 12th birthday on the 27th so this is sort of a 2 for 1. He gets a cool B-day present (visiting the park) and cool presents while being at the park, since the whole family is going. Mom and Dad along with my Sister and her family and my little brother (not really little 6' and 36).

So I'm packing and planning and a little more excited than I should be for my age I guess :) Now if they could just import some snow to Anaheim I think it could be a truly perfect Christmas ..........

I have been involved in many websites over the past 5 years. I am involved in gaming as I have said in the past. One of the sites I was involved in a while back was a gaming site called Jayofteror (yes it's misspelled on purpose). I became friends with many of the members in the course of a couple of years as I was an administrator on the site for a while. One of the other administrators on there named Dave had a beautiful dog named KJ and this dog was his best friend as you will see. He had to have KJ put down and he posted about it. I had thought about sharing this post some time back but kept putting it off. After reading Rae post about Jack, I felt that this was something I should do.
It's a bit sad (a lot) but well worth reading.


The Story of KJ RodentBoy



The nick name RodentBoy started towards the end of my old dog Keith’s life that passed away back in 94. The nick name quickly carried over to my buddy KJ (Keith Junior) and he had it ever since. The reason for the name was because Keith used to get so excited to see me when I would come home from work, running around like a rodent knocking things over with his heavy tail. KJ did the exact same thing and so the nick name carried on. Today we had to let my good friend KJ go. KJ was a beautiful dog with bright blue/whitish eyes. He was the best damn dog to ever take Keith’s place. We picked him up from the Humane Society the very day Keith passed away. It really did help us get through those tough days caring for a puppy. I thank him for that. We also had developed a bond together. He was my buddy. He was part of our family. He was loyal. He never complained about anything, even at the end.

About 2 years ago, KJ had difficulty walking on hardwood floors and going up and down the stairs. You might think this sounds crazy, but we even moved to accommodate for his condition, to a house that had one level. It gradually got worst over time to the point that he could no longer walk without assistance from my wife or I. It was a hard decision to make, but it was also hard to see him that way. A week ago he lost his vision for a few hours and it was a rough time and we knew at that moment it was time. I just hate to play the role of god. It shouldn't have to be this way, but sometimes they need a little help to get over the fence. To a place where they can be what they once were.


KJ,

I have friends to greet you on the other side of that fence my friend. I could see how tired you had become. I could tell you were ready to start running, jumping, and enjoying car rides again. I love you so much as I do with everyone who has touched my life. You were a part of our family and I won’t ever forget you. One thing is for sure, we will have our walks together again one day, I promise.


I’ll always remember our times together
Light on your feet, light as a feather

Light blue eyes fur white and gold
Many good stories to be written and told

You helped me get through the times I was sad
You were the best damn friend I could have ever had

It pains me so to see you this way
Especially remembering the good old days

Putting my sadness and selfishness aside
You’ll be with old friends and enjoying car rides

Friends from my past greeting you there
You’ll be able to run and jump everywhere

I couldn’t have asked for a better friend
Until we walk together again

Big big hug and pat my friend.
Big big hug…

A couple of days later he posted this....

I just wanted to share, that my dog had it great his last days with us. He had everything that he had enjoyed to eat with us the past 14 1/2 years.

Wednesday he had Mac & Cheese
Thursday he had a double cheese burger
Friday was pizza crust night as that was one of his favorites
Saturday he got a bath and had 2 nice steak bones with a lot of meat left on them.
Sunday morning (The vet freaked out on this one) Right before the vet was ready to give my buddy a sedative to relax him, I stopped her as I still had to give him his morning breakfast. He got 1 plate of a stack of pancakes and another plate with 2 eggs over easy and 6 strips of bacon along with 6 slices of cheese. He laid right down to eat it all and practically fell asleep on his own. It was so easy for the vet after that. I felt my buddy was content and knew it was time.

It was sad when it was all said and done, but I did everything I could think of to make him as comfortable and happy as could be. I owed it to him. He was clean and beautiful, his stomach was full, and all his family was by his side to the end. It was a peaceful end to a great life. The vet had a gurney to take his body away, but I refused and said that I would carry him out myself. I carried him home when he was a puppy and I carried him out in the end. I wouldn't have had it any other way.


That is a testament to true love right there. Dang story brings tears to my eyes everytime I read it....

I just read a post from a site I'm following http://abstractevidence.blogspot.com He has just started posting and he is definitely in the abstract. Enjoyable read and I have read his writing in other venues (I know him) he is very talented and as he continues to write any of you that choose to follow him will see that. Back to my point (is ADD contagious?)

Invidus' quest is for a horror film. That started me wondering what mine is for. I enjoy a good movie even though I have to say that I haven't seen many horror films that rate "good" with me. I enjoy many genres of movies really, even if I choose to focus more on Sci-Fi or Fantasy. Romantic Comedy, Action, Comedy, Drama. I enjoy a well made movie with a good story line and I don't really care what it's about if it's done well.

My quest is not for a movie though. My quest is for some peace...I'm not getting all hippy on you and asking for peace on earth (although I do sorta enjoy the flower chains they're pretty). I'm talking about peace of mind. You know that level of contentment where you are OK with things as they are and will be.

I'm at an age where I start to guage things. I guage where I'm at compared to 20 years ago. I guage where my kids are compared to me 20 years ago. My job, health all those types of things. I have to say that I'm fairly content. BUT....I am not completely there. I still worry about the bills, and worry about health of myself and family.

How do we take that final step and get that peace that I think we all want? Maybe we don't. Maybe it's about the quest and not the destination (I heard that somewhere). What do you think? Am I fooling myself into thinking that it's possible? I hear people talking about being Zen like or that meditation is the key. I don't really do well with the whole meditation thing, and I"m not so sure that is MY path to peace.

Give me your take I'm curious what others are thinking about this. Are you on the same quest and is it taking you down the same paths? Or am I just one crazy 40 something dad and father who needs to live with it.

I will start this off by saying I'm not in good shape. I'm lazy about exercising and don't enjoy it all that much anymore. Stuff hurts when you exert a lot of energy and I don't liken the pain to success like my High School coach used to make me do.

That being said. I also don't wear skin tight clothing when I go out to eat (or at home for that matter). First of all I'm a little self-conscious about my weight, and I surely don't want to share the fact that I have extra baggage with the rest of the world. Yes there are plenty of guys that worry about their weight and overall appearance even if we don't seem to care all that much.

All of that jabbering was to get me to this point. I was at dinner last night. We went to a nicer restaurant not a tie and jacket kind of place, but not sweats and t-shirts either. We sat down and the first thing my little son tells me is "Dad, I'm not hungry." Well that's not all that uncommon. He has a tendency to say he's not hungry and then we get home and he is famished and why don't we feed him and blah blah blah...Typical little kid stuff. Then he pointed to the table almost directly in front of us and I realized why he wasn't hungry. I too had lost my appetitie, when I saw the rather robust couple at the table. It wasn't the fact that they were obese that got to me as I pointed out earlier I have no room to talk. What sorta sickened me was first of all the guy was wearing what my wife calls prego pants. You know those elastic stretchy pants that sorta look like sweats. These prego pants were navy blue and he was wearing a plaid button up shirt. He had on black socks stuffed into house slippers. Not even the slippers that are for walking outside. He wasn't huge, but the fact that his shirt was too small and untucked and half of his gut was hanging out the bottom was enough for me. If that didn't do enough for me, next to him was what I assumed was his wife. She was wearing a muumuu (moo moo) it was brightly colored and about 3 sizes too small for her. She had this bandana like thing on here head that didn't match her "dress" and was also wearing slippers.

The way they were dressed was bad enough and it was like a car wreck, I just couldn't turn away. The part that really made it bad was that they were eating. These people were sure to show the world what they were eating too. I guess nobody ever explained that you shouldn't talk while munching on shrimp. Food spraying everywhere as they chit chatted and continued to agitate my queasy stomach. I stopped a waitress and asked her if there was anywhere else we could sit. She explained that there were no other empty tables. She didn't seem to understand that these people were making me a little unsettled in the tummy. I wasn't the only one either. There were 3 other tables around these people and they too were all entranced by the disgust sitting in front of us all. More than one couple asked for different seating and the waitress who had to be a complete ditz asked if there was something wrong with this part of the restaurant because everybody except "that" couple had asked to be moved. Well my wife saw it too, and she was not about to sit there and watch while we tried to figure out what we were gonna eat. Up we got and left, and when the gentleman at the door asked us if there was a problem I explained to him what it was. He said there was nothing he could do about that, and I'm guessing he said it to at least 2 other couples that were leaving behind us.

Ended up at IHOP having breakfast for dinner and that is always enough to cheer me up.
I had to field questions from my little ones though asking why those people dressed that way and didn't they know better than to eat with their mouth open. I didn't say a lot about it, hoping that it would just pass, but it got me thinking that maybe I did over react and everybody has a right to be comfortable. But I just can't get past the fact that sometimes you have to be considerate of those around you. Anyway I still got to eat but now I'm sure I'm gonna have a nightmare or two about the man in prego pants chasing me with shrimp hanging out of his mouth. Just yuck!

Well if you read the title you might think this is about a drunk driver. I have to say it's absolutely not. There is drinking and driving involved though. This is one of those type of moments that make me giggle like a school girl (sad isn't it?)

I'm on my way to work this morning and I'm not paying much attention to the other people on the road. I drive about an hour through the country raods to get to my work location for the day. Up ahead of me about 1/2 mile is a car pulled over by a CHP car. I noticed that it was an employee of our company so I pulled over to see if everything was ok.

Right away the officer starts coming back to my truck and I can see that our employee is looking a bit red in the cheek. The officer was a bit grumpy with me and sorta rudely asked what I wanted. I explained that I was the Safety Manager for the company that this guy worked for and was just making sure that everything was ok, or if maybe he was going to need a ride. I simply asked if this was alochol or drug related and he said it had nothing to do with that but drinking was indeed involved.

He tells me that he will be done in a minute and then I can talk to my employee. So I wait a few minutes and the ticket is given and the CHiP drives away in a hurry. I figured maybe the guy just didn't like Monday mornings so I didnt' put too much into his attitude. I walked up to the guys vehicle and he doesn't want to look at me. I asked him what happened and if it was serious. He explained that it was a ticket for littering.

Turns out that this guy was driving down the road munching on his McDonalds breakfast and enjoying his coffee. He got a phone call that turned into a rather lengthy discussion and he forgot about his coffee. It was cold now and as he was driving he decided to chuck the cold coffee out the window. I didn't figure that was a big deal since lots of people discard of their coffee that way. What made it a big deal was that at the exact time he tossed his coffee out the window a CHP car was driving by in the opposite direction and in case you can't guess where the coffee ended up it was all over the CHP car.

I couldn't help it, I just laughed in this poor guy's face. I told him that of all the dumb mistakes he could have made this was definitely a top 5 candidate. I promised not to tell anyone at work, and so I had to let you guys hear about this. I'm not technically telling anyone at work, but if they happen to read this well that's not my fault right?

This was definitely my Monday morning LOL.........

Well Sunday is supposed to be a day of relaxation, but I was not going to get that chance today. My kids decided that they wanted to be up and at em at a brisk 6:30 am this morning. So while I didn't jump out of bed, I sure didn't sleep either. Ah well, maybe I'm just jealous cause I remember being that age and having all the time on the weekends to do what I wanted. It was a pretty great feeling to know that your biggest worry for the day was what time lunch was.

Jump ahead to early afternoon and my football team is getting a lesson taught to them as well...It's called losing 2 in a row. (Dallas Cowboys...you guys are killing me) that notwithstanding I figured I'd laze around on the puter and just read up on some blogs and play a few video games while the kids had their nerf gun wars. But not gonna happen. The inlaws are in town from out of state and that means that they have to come visit. They come over (in the middle of my disappointing Sunday football game) and want to take the boys christams shopping. Now that sounds like a great idea, let's kill two birds with one stone. I don't have to visit since I was feeling a bit anti-social anyway and I won't be shot by random nerf darts for a little while. Unfortunately this only lasted about an hour and back they came. Then they were ready to settle in and "visit".

Fast Forward to three hours later and they are leaving. I figure now I can relax in front of the puter and do nothing if I felt like it. I jump on my favorite video game and of course there are only a couple of other people playing. They were all online earlier when of course I couldn't be present to enjoy my Sunday visit with them. So I messed around a little bit and figured I could find something a bit more productive. Not likely, clothes get washed dinner gets served and that raps up my Sunday.....

Oh well I'm a pretty positive guy, so I figure it was only a matter of time until I actually looked forward to Monday. Here it is and I'm actually looking forward to getting back to the work week.

Hope all of you managed to enjoy your sunday a bit more than this. And Ian I hope your little one is feeling tons better.

This time of year, I always get to thinking about past holiday's. I get to remember when I was a kid and my grandparents were still around and we were all one big happy family. There was nothing to worry about, cause well I didn't know any better I was a kid. This was the time of year for all sorts of great things. Good food, presents, and family time. I loved it then and now.

It also got me to thinking about my own life, both good and bad. I wondered out loud the other night if I would change anything if I could. With that in mind, I decided to write myself a letter at the ripe ol' age of 18.


Dear Me,

I have some things you need to know, so just keep an open mind and read carefully. I don't expect you to believe that this letter comes from your own hand, but I can prove it with some tidbits of information. You got completely blitzed when you were 14. You were at your friends house and he snuck out his moms brandy and cognac. You tried to make it home, but passed out in the neighbors yard. Good thing for you they were good friends of the family. They took you in the house, cleaned you up and put you to bed. The worst part was the next morning when your dad showed up to bring you home. He made you get in the pool cause he said you were still drunk. He didn't realize back then that all it did was make you wide awake and drunk. He also made you go to your baseball all star tryouts hung over. You definitely learned a lesson that night, unfortunately you had to learn that same lesson a few more times till it stuck.

Convinced? Good, well I just want to let you know that you are doing OK. You are gonna make a few mistakes along the way and I want to warn you now about them. First of all, don't bother chasing after Maureen. She is not for you and she will just lead you on for a few years before moving on to someone else anyway ( and it won't be another guy if you know what I mean). You are going to marry your high school sweetheart, but that isn't going to work out. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go through with it though. You will get a great son out of the deal, and it's more than worth the pain and suffering she will cause you.

I know you are thinking about the military, well quit thinking about it and just join. It's going to be the defining moment in your young life. It will change everything about you and make you the man you are today. I promise that you will suffer when you go for a good 2 years, but you will also find out that you are a tough young man and you are capable of so many things you never dreamed were within your grasp. Turns out that dad is right you can do what you set your mind to.

When you get out of the service, don't jump at the first job you find. Shop around a little bit. You have a number of skills, don't let these people take advantage of you just because you are young. Also, don't work 3 jobs at once. It's bad for your health and if you keep doing it you will get sick and be in the hospital, I PROMISE!!!

You will get re-married and you are going to be happy. The 2 boys from this marriage are going to make you realize that your life is good. Make sure you take the time to teach your kids the right things, I don't mean sports so get your mind off of ESPN. This is about something far more important. Teach them to be good adults, they are sponges and they think you are pretty super, so don't blow it. The same thing goes for your wife. Make sure you let her know that she is a defining moment in your life. Every bit as important as all the others.

You will work a lot, play a little, and start to get old. You are gonna feel the effects of some of your dumb choices in life. Football is fun at your age, but it hurts later on in life, so remember that the next time you hurt that knee. Take care of your shoulder, it's gonna hurt you later on too if you don't get it operated on like the doctor wants.

All in all you have done OK. Don't sweat some of the small stuff like you do. Worry about it if you can change it, otherwise leave it alone. Make sure you tell Nonni and Nonno how important they are, same thing with Gramma and Grandpa. They won't be around forever you know.

That's all I have for you for now. Good Luck, I know you will be fine.

PS....If you get the chance to go out with Lorey A. Take it she is a pretty great girl and it would be a nice memory for us to have :)

Well I had read a post by Ian about phobias and I mentioned that I would indeed have to make a post on them. So here goes

I'm deathly afraid of the ocean. Not of being in a boat in the ocean. Not of looking at or being near it, just of being IN it. I love the coast and enjoy going to Santa Cruz and walking the beach. I just cannot fathom going in the ocean even to my ankles. I know that it's unrealistic to fear something like that since there is no way that ankle deep water could pull me in (I'm a pretty big fellow and tend to stay rooted). I can't help it. I have the same issue when it comes to the lake. I don't like swimming if I can't see in the water. Maybe it's too many times seeing Jaws or The Abyss or one of those types of things, but whatebver the case I just can't bring myself to do it.

I don't mind going deep sea fishing and I was in the Marine Corps and even spent time on a carrier. Just don't make me go in the dang water ok....I love to swim in the pool. I can see the bottom and I'm quite sure where everything is and that makes it absolutely ok with me.

So how about it everybody. What exactly are you scared of? What is that brings out that uncontrollable fear in you and makes you freeze up like a deer in headlights?


Here's your chance to state it and get it off your chest.

I have been a bit lax on my posting as of late, and for that I"m sorry. Things come up as we all know and we make room for them however we can.

So that said I figured that since I have gone sometimes a few days with no post and that's not really my nature, I would go ahead and throw a second one on today, just because somebody asked me an interesting question today and I want to share it. Let me say that it was interesting to me and all of you might not share that same interest.

Here goes...In a word describe what Christmas means to you. Not a paragraph or a sentence or a poem. He was absolutely specific when he asked me about this. And he wouldn't accept more than one word. He is doing this for a drawing that he is holding. Whomever gives his idea of the best one word answer will win a $100 gift certificate. I don't have any gift certificates to give out so I figured that I would change the rules a little teeny tiny bit.

I want a one word answer as well...The difference is I want an explanation for the answer, so if you have a few minutes ponder over it and tell me what you think...

I will share my answer somewhere in the comments :)

BTW guys thanks for reading some of this crapola that I post and thanks even more for responding to some of this crapola that I post. It makes me realize that a lot of us deal with the same well crapola and it's nice to see that I'm not alone in how I react to some of this.

My wife always wants me to go to the Christmas party for her work. I usually don't want to go. I worked at the same place a while back and know a lot of the people. I in fact have a good relationship with most of them (there are always a few).

This year I was talked into it, or more directly "told" I was going. So I got casually dressed because if I have to go I'm gonna at least be comfortable. That turned out to be an ok thing, as my wife ended up being a little overdressed. There was a pretty good turn out considering the company employs about 100 people in this town. I think we saw about 60 people all together so it was not empty that's for sure. That also turned out to be part of the problem.

The food was good and the bar was open so all things considered it looked like it would be a passable evening. I found some of my former co-workers and we chit chatted about different things, had a few drinks and enjoyed a rather tasty dinner.
The music started and people were out on the dance floor having a good time. I guess the problems were happening in the bar while we were away.

Two guys that work together and don't have any problems with each other at work (from what I was told) had some words exchanged while they were in the bar. I guess both of them had too much to drink and I would have liked that bartender a whole lot more if she would have shut them both down a few drinks earlier. Unfortunately she didn't and they kept pouring them down. The liquid courage was working overtime, because the next thing I know I'm in the middle of a "scuffle". They punched at each other a few times and then somebody else was trying to break up the fight and I just knew that I had to help. I grabbed one of these guys and dragged him away telling him the whole time that somebody had called the cops. It all seemed to be under control and then...... Another "friend" decided that he didn't like how we were treating the two guys that were fighting and came in to defend his drunk friend. Now this is a pretty big guy and I guess he figured he was pretty tough to boot. After 8 years in the Marine Corps I don't look at big tough guys the way I used to. He had been drinking and I had about 2 drinks in me from all night. I wasn't even light headed and this guy was really trying to get me involved.

Fortunately (for him) people started coming in and dragging everybody apart. I got one drunk into a car that was waiting for him and some others dragged drunk #2 to a car that was waiting for him. I told big tough guy that I would drop by his work today when he was sober and see if he still wanted to have that discussion with me. I wonder if I should even bother going down there now. I have to admit that I do get to feeling like a 20 something again when I get around all those guys and I might not use the best judgement in the world all the time because of that. No offense to 20 somethings of the world. I know many that use great judgement, but I also know a lot of them that allow their emotions to control their actions too often which I tend to do when I'm around them ...

So I made a decision that from now on I'm gonna have to take a closer look at the guest list before deciding if I'll attend these grand parties being thrown. I've now officially rambled on long enough and I'll go back and finish my work. The more I think about it, the more I realize I am going down to that place today and see if drunk tough guy is so tough when he's not drinking...lol

I have sorta been slugging around the last couple days. Just haven't been the same since hearing about my friends loss. I have been keeping myself busy enough the last couple days to keep my mind off of it though.

Lots of work is always a great escape, and yeah I know it's an escape but I choose it sometimes because it does offer me time to sort of straighten out my head a little bit. That said I pushed hard at work to keep my mind clear of all of that and came home a bit flustered from work. Lol guess it was a trade off in this case. I gave shock and sorrow for frustration and irritation.

So I went to my computer when I got home and was plugging away through the pile of emails that seem to just sneak right up on me and threaten to overwhelm me. My youngest son walks in the office and just stands there staring at me. I have to admit I was pretty engrossed in what I was doing. I knew that he was there, but he didn't say anthing just stood there. I didn't say anything figuring if it was important he would comment. He didn't say anything for a few minutes then walked out, so I crawled back into my work and continued on.

About 5 or 10 minutes later my little one was back. He walked around the desk and held out his hand. Inside it was a small piece of chocolate from that Christmas calendar thing we have on the refrigerator. You know the one that counts down the days to Christmas and each day you open a spot to get a small candy until you reach Christmas. I asked him what that was for and he explained that I looked like I needed a present. I just looked at him for a second not understanding. He told me I had been not feeling good and he thought that I should get a present to cheer me up. I gratefully accepted the chocolate with a smile. He gave me a big hug and told me that he loved me and ran out of the office.

The 8 year old boy was able to cheer me up in about 10 seconds by showing me that he cared enough to pay attention. Here I was thinking I was being coy and hiding it, and the smallest of the group saw it for what it was. He's a great kid, and has a huge heart. I just couldn't believe that he saw through me so easily.

I decided that if he was willing to go through the effort of cheering me up that the least I could do was be cheered up. I see everybody busy going about their business and not many people have the time to slow down and look around at the everyday stuff. I'm sure glad my kid is at an age where everyday stuff is still the thing that interests him.

I looked at my note reminding me to let my family know that I love em. I am making sure I do that a lot more, but I called Ethan back in the room, to give him another hug and tell him thanks again. The smile on his face from something that small was amazing to me.

The mood is improving just thinking about that little act of kindness from my own son. I just wish I was in touch as this little guy is to what matters the most.

Ethan, you are a great kid and Daddy loves you!!!