Halloween

The Season is upon us...stay tuned for some halloween related posts as I prepare my yard for the big night.

new house

Well another milestone down. Finally we are getting settled into life in our new house. I will post some pictures soon!

New House

Well it is almost official. We are just over a week away from signing on the dotted line for a new house. On August the 27th, we will be the proud new owners of a three bed/two bath house on Mary Anne Circle.

This move has been a long time coming. Another sign of becoming older, got to let go of things from my past and move forward. My current house was bought pretty much right out of college and has been home ever since. I came back here after my wedding/honeymoon and brought Lily here after her birth. It will be strange to leave this place behind but we are definitely looking forward to the upgrade.

The new house will feature many creature comforts that this house just cannot provide, at least not without remodeling. The new house will have a remote master suite, which means another bathroom, woo hoo. The house is also about thirty years newer than my current place so it will have better insulation, a fireplace as well as a nice open floor plan.

I am not sure how I will haunt my new house but I am making some plans and hopefully can put something together for this year even if it is small. I am sure it will scare the neighbors.

While I am leaving the the old house, it will not be leaving me as my brother will be the new owner. We have agreed in principle to sell to him at a bit of a discount so he can move out again and start moving forward with his life. I just hope this house is a good to him as it was to us.

I will update the house status with pictures and everything soon.

Barricade

Ok, I know, I know, I am such a post tease. I post and claim that I will post again and then I leave you high and dry. Guess that is better than low and wet, eww! I digress, finally, I am going to share one of the last M&M wrappers from this summer's blockbuster, Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen.

I bring you the last in the series of regular M&M's with Peanut M&M wrapper number 6 in the series. The sixth different bag along with Red, in his Delect-o-Con attire bring us Barricade.



While I remember Barricade being one of the first transformers in the first movie and played a huge roll in recovery of the glasses from Ladiesman24/7, I do not remember him in the second movie. Maybe I missed him, maybe not but for some reason he is predominately featured here on wrapper number 6.

Of all of the decepticons in the first movie, this was one of my favorites, mostly because he was a car. But Barricade was not just any car, he was a Salen edition Mustang cop car. I really like his side pannel that read "To Punish and Enslave", so try of their mindset. Anyway, enough rambling.

I have one more bag to present as well as an interesting flavor. Details soon...I hope.

Sometimes it is the little things...

that make me happy!

Today I was in the downtown Blanchard, you know, at the Blanchard mall, aka Dollar General. I was looking for some sweet treats after dinner and low and behold, I ran into something that made me happy. Sometimes it does not take much and this time was no exception.


I found these, Fright Bites! I know Halloween is still three months away but there they were, right in the middle of the shelf. Of course, I love Halloween, so I had to pick up a bag. I thought I would share with you, so here they are.

The bag only held about 12 candies, not nearly enough for the little beggars on the big night, but at a buck a bag, I guess you could buy quite a few bags.

Well Fright Bites are chocolate with a fudge bite, yeah sure. More like generic chocolate with generic chocolate inside. Outside of the plain old chocolate taste the do come brightly wrapped in a Dracula themed foil wrapper. Each individual bite is about the size a silver dollar.


I know it is not Halloween yet, or even close but I pulled one out of the bites out, nibbled on it while watching Halloween III, Season of the Witch. Halloween will be here before we know it!

Coming soon

Coming soon, the wrap up articles for the Transformer/M&M's promotion for revenge of the fallen and possiblly some entries detailing some of my toy purchases associated with this latest movie. Don't hold me to it though!

Starscream

Starscream...you disappoint me! Classic line from the transformers series.

Megatron utters this often to Starscream both in the original cartoons and the most recent movies. This being said, have no fear, this bag does not disappoint. How could peanut M&M's disappoint anyone? Bag #5 in the Revenge of the Fallen/M&M team up features the power hungry Starscream teamed up with Yellow from the Delectocon team. Really if you think about it, this is an odd pairing. Starscream is all diabolical and Yellow is so laid back and unassuming, maybe that is why they were put together. Starscream wanted to be in charge. Hmm...regardless this was a tasty bag and the revamping of Starscream in the movies was awesome!

Megatron

Well I am back by popular demand, well my one fan requested that I do something here. He was even kind enough to send me the link to my own blog in case I had forgotten it's location.

So without further ado, I bring you M&M bag #4, Megatron. Megatron, leader of the Decepticons teams up with the Blue delectocon for this delicious bag of peanut treats. I love the peanut M&M's, I mean who doesn't, but add Megatron and you do not have to twist my arm to hard to drop sixty five cents on this bag.

Going back a bit, my memories of Megatron were bittersweet. I liked the guy, I mean he was bad and all but his transformed mode was a gun, how cool was that. Boys love guns and I was no exception back in the day. I loved guns, nerf, water, etc. but Megatron was a Transformer gun. Only issue with that was he was HARD to find. The few time I did run across him, I was cash poor and never able to coax my mother into dropping the necessary green on yet another toy. Oh well, maybe ebay will somehow come to my rescue one day.

Ironhide

The weapons specialist, Ironhide graces the third and final plain M&M’s bag. Bag number 3 features the most recent and I would say, the best version of Ironhide in the entire series. Ironhide is portrayed as a GMC topkick pickup. To call him a pickup is a bit of a misnomer as this truck is more like a small semi than a Silverado.

The orginal G1 Ironhide was some Japanese van, red in color and not very strong looking. Not the case now, Ironhide has the “transformed mode” to match his attitude, tough and ready to battle.

These round out the first three in the series of seven packages, up next, the peanut M&M packages.

Wrapper #2, Bumblebee

Package number two in my line up of M&M’s wrappers features the humble bumblebee. Once a yellow Volkswagen in the original, Bay has given him a makeover as a stunning 2009 Chevy camero. If I had a camero like that, it would be yellow with the black racing stripes and I am sure I would put the autobot logo somewhere on the car. Sorry, that is the kid in me talking!

Shown here in his bumblebee gear is Yellow together with Bumblebee striking a pose. And yes this is a “tear and share” package and I did share. My daughter Lily loves M&M’s and had to have a few.

VIctory for LSU

Congratulation to the 2009 LSU Baseball team on the sixth college series championship. Watched the game start to finish and it was awesome.

I felt a little bit of sympathy for Texas but hey, they still have a good team and can try again next year.

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

M&M’s Chocl - o - bots

In my effort to cover all things transformers this summer, I stumbled upon M&M’s. Ok, I would be lying if I said I do not eat M&M’s on the regular but not as often as I did for this series of blogs. I added at least a pound eating these dang things and burned up some gas finding all the packages.

M&M’s stepped up the Transformers 2 promotion with seven new packages and one new flavor. The first cover shows Red in his transformer attire with Optimus Prime and the official logos from the latest movie, including the weird symbols that I have yet to understand, probably because I have not seen the movie. Optimus Prime, being the leader of the heroic autobots gets top billing in this series as made official by placing him on package number one. I am partial to this one of all the package mostly because I am a prime fan and love the big red semi, have since a kid. I actually own several versions of the big guy and cannot wait to see him in the next movie and the cooresponding toys.

While the package is cool and definitely increased my M&M’s intake, it really does nothing for the overall flavor. They are still the same chocolate candies and still melt in your mouth as well as your hand in this heat.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

Yes, it is finally here. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen aka Transformers 2 is out! I cannot wait to see it! Probably going on Friday with my wife and some friends. I will be sure to post my thoughts.

Also I will be covering some of the promotional materials and toys associated with the first blockbuster of the summer. Stay tuned!

Quick Laugh

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, just not much going on.

Quick laugh for the day. I was downstairs in my building, downtown and say this little old man with the strangest shirt. Not strange in the that it was an odd color, or anything. The shirt on the man just seemed out of place.

This guy had to have been in his 70s or older and was hunched over and walking with a cane. The funniest thing was that he was wearing a brown shirt with the neck of an electric guitar printed on it and the words, "I LIKE TO PARTY". I had to turn my head to keep from laughing out loud. Just altogether amusing. I thought I would share.

BBQ Enchiladas and Lime Mints Part Three

After making it to Turtle Rock Retreat and settling in for a nice night, we awoke to grey skies and cooler temperatures. During the night, a cold front passed through and brought us rain and clouds. No problem, the river is wet, we might get wet, and we pressed on.

Back down the five mile bumpy road and up the valley to Jasper we went. We had reserved our canoes and transportation through Gordon’s Motel and Canoe Rental. We did not pay attention the previous afternoon to Gordon’s and I am glad I did not, that would have been a long night of worries.

Gordon’s motel included about five or six spacious rooms and I am sure they were really nice and they claimed to have color television. They also claimed to have a pool, which we found out was empty. Now Ms. Gordon, as we called her, was nice enough, she willingly accepted our payment for our rental and arranged for some bubbas to take us to our drop off point. Wow, these people suffer from limited gene pool disorder!

As we loaded up our paddles and “life jackets” we piled into the van and away we went. Bubba number one tried really hard to crack jokes as we scurried us up hills and around the curves and at a nail biting 65 mph. Bubba number two was along for the ride and was actually funnier than bubba number one as he was holding his seat belt in place since the buckle was missing. He said it made him feel safe. Oh well we should all be safe then, right?

To the drop off point we went and upon arrival, we unloaded and set up for our day of floating down the Buffalo. The river was beautiful, and since it was rainy and cool we had it to ourselves for the most part. We sent the day paddling, fishing and relaxing on the beaches along the way. And I was very proud of my wife and myself as we did not flip over at all the entire trip. We had a great time.

It was amazing to see the river as we did; high cliffs, waterfalls and lots of wildlife! We had a few trouble spots where the water was low or we had to cross under fallen trees but overall the river was awesome. Our four mile float took up the greater part of the day as we slowing paddled down and made frequent stops for refreshments, lunch and restroom stops.

Once we made the pickup spot and traveled back to our vehicle, we trekked back to TRR and had a huge steak and potato dinner. Then we went back to the pond for fishing, hot tub for relaxing and the bonfire for s’ mores.

Sunday was more of the same but with more sun, colder temperatures and a longer float. We opted for the six mile float. The day was great, until Gordon’s nearly left us at the pickup point. That is a story for another day!

Overall the experience was a good one, the canoeing, the cabin, friends and quiet time with my wife made the trip memorable. I will post some pictures once I get them in so you can see just how beautiful the trip was.

BBQ Enchiladas and Lime Mints Part Two

Well after the funny faces, spiting of lime mints and cursing La Hacienda, we loaded up for our final run to the mountains and Jasper/Murray Valley, Arkansas.

Four hours or so of driving through scenic Arkansas and one long and winding road later, we made it to the huge metropolis of Jasper, Arkansas. And let’s just say that Jasper is simple. Not simple in a bad way, but the sign stated that the population was 495 not including us.

Once we reached Jasper the real journey began as we turned south and headed into the valley. We traveled through little villages with names like Parthenon, Wayton and eventually Murray. Finally, after driving most of the day, suffering bad Mexican food and being leery of our surroundings, we found our turn off to our cabin. Our directions said turn off the paved road. Again, strike up a chorus of Dueling banjos.

Not only did the directions say turn off the paved road, they also directed us to travel three miles to the fork in the road and continue another two miles. For you who cannot add, that is FIVE MILES folks! Five miles of us driving into the woods, down a dusty and muddy, bumpy road. We drove so far off the road we were afraid we would not come back.

Up and down the hills, across the washed out spots and under the peering eyes of the natives, we made it to the Turtle Rock Retreat, at last. We rounded that final curve and their lay paradise. The property was amazing. TRR as we would later refer to it, had land, horses, a creek, a pond and one awesome cabin complete with hot tub, fire pits and all of the creature comforts one is seeking when hoping to relax. The pictures in the brochure did not do the place justice. The cabin was amazing! The front was covered with large open windows and a wrap around deck. The inside was very nice with three bedrooms, large tubs, a cozy den with fireplace and a very spacious kitchen and dining area. This was the place for us!

We immediately settled in, chose our rooms and unpacked our stuff. The girls quickly rested their drive weary bodies in the hot tub while the guys fished the pond. We caught fish, they relaxed. After a bit of unwinding, we started dinner and explored the cabin and land around us.

See part three…TO BE CONTINUED AGAIN

BBQ Enchiladas and Lime Mints!

What in the world you say? This was the beginning of our brief weekend getaway to Murray, Arkansas and what would be a brief stay in paradise.

A little back story is due, as it is needed to set up this entry. A few months ago, some friends of ours suggested we take a vacation together. They always go up to Northwest Arkansas to go canoeing on the Buffalo River and wanted us to join them. We had missed their previous invite because Lily was too young to leave with anyone for an extended period of time. So, being the outdoors type of people we are not, we agreed to three days of “roughing” it in Arkansas.

At that time we got online and found a cabin for our stay as well as the canoe rental arrangements. The Turtle Rock Retreat was slated as a nice little place in Murray Valley, Arkansas. We had no idea where it was and only a few pictures online but decided it was the place for us while on vacation.

So with all the child care arrangements made, suitcases packed and final preparations made we loaded up on Friday and headed north. After a brief stop in Camden, Arkansas at my sister in laws to drop of Lily, we were on our way. Eight hours in a truck into what we referred to as “deliverance country”, insert your own version of dueling banjos here.

The stop in Camden put us a little behind schedule on lunch and we tried to make it up by stopping at the first Mexican restaurant we saw in Benton, Arkansas. Why Mexican you ask? We had a pregnant woman on board and nothing else would do. She was bent on having Mexican and they knew of the restaurant from previous trips through the area.

Our “Mexican” restaurant was the La Hacienda in the big town of Benton. Wow, um, interesting. I should have known right away it would be bad when all they had was instant tea, but things got worse as the salsa was not hot but sweet. That is just altogether wrong! Strike one!

We reviewed the lunch menu and selected something safe, enchiladas and tostados. Pretty basic, meat, cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and sauce, boy was I wrong. Our plates arrived, piled high with lettuce, tomatoes and onions, none of which I am just thrilled about, but that was the least of my worries. Once I unearthed the food from the fluff, there sat one sad little enchilada with some brownish-red sauce. Ok, I thought chili sauce, not so bad, let me try it out. Instantly as the food hit my tongue, my nose and taste buds screamed STOP! What I thought was chili sauce tasted strangely like a sweet honey BBQ sauce. Not that there is anything wrong with BBQ sauce, just not on my Mexican food. Unfortunately, my wife suffered the same fate as she ordered them too.

The pregnant woman though we were just being difficult because she picked the restaurant but we let her try the food and with one bite she was on board with us. She knew it was wrong too. Thankfully her and her husband had ordered other foods and was ok but we were left to pick through our food and eat what we could. Ok so with two strikes! I paid my bill and hoped for a better dinner, La Hacienda would not be a future choice for any of my Mexican needs. On our way out of the place, the establishment suffered its third strike and was immediately thrown out!

As we walked out, with the taste of BBQ sauce in my mouth, I grabbed a “mint” from the basket. In most restaurants they provide after dinner mints, peppermints or something similar to mask the breath you obtained while dinning in their establishment. Well this place was not different; they had a basket of red mints and a basket of green mints. I opted for green thinking, wintergreen or spearmint. This is where I suffered my second assault on my taste buds in thirty minutes as the wintergreen mint was LIME! Immediately upon this discovery, I made a funny face, or so they say, and spat the revolting candy from my mouth. WHY, WHY, WHY would anyone want a lime mint after eating! Gross, La Hacienda you fail on so many levels.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Poke Salad Festival Kicks Off

The annual Blanchard Poke Salad Festival kicked off officially on Thursday night. Since I live in Blanchard and across the street from the festivities, I have no choice but to be involved in the happenings.

From across the street I can see, hear and smell, ugh, all of the things going on. So starting Thursday night the music starts pumping, the kids start screaming and the rides get cranked up. Ah, the smell of funnel cakes!

And while Thursday is the "preview" night, it is Friday when things really get going. Our church holds it's annual fish fry and auction. This really brings in the folks to the poke. Our church starts the night with the fish fry at the Polk Salad Pavilion on the Poke Salad grounds.

Two hours of fillets, fries and flies as everyone eats outdoors and under the fans. Generally, we all have fun, eating and visiting and just hanging out with family and friends. This year the food was great but the tea was horrible, and you know my stance on tea, but it still was not enough to spoil the fun.

Once the dust settled from the constant charge of hungry mouths, the auction gets fired up. This year to kick off the auction, the awards were handed out for the fishing tournament and of course, I was not one of the winners, but alas, the guys who won, really kicked everyones butt. Over sixty pounds of fish!

Going, one, going twice, sold, is all you will hear for the next four hours as the auction gets going and the auctioneer gets into form. Anything from live plants, to baked goods, to bicycles and boats are bid on and sold for charity. The first item this year was a hand made quilt, made by a 92 year old church memeber. The quilt sold for $500! Awesome, and the proceeds go to our world missions fund.

The auction was great and got exciting a few times as bidding got out of hand and people got overly excited. And while I did not buy anything, my family did get a few things.

As the daylight turned to dusk the humidity and heat got the best of us and we had to move. My daughter, being lured into the lights of the carnival, had to go across the street and ride.

Now, I make no attempts to enjoy crowds, especially at this event. The general public at the Poke Salad is sub par if you ask me. Dirty kids, smoking trailer trash and lots of other undesirable people. That being said, I hurried my wife and daughter though the crowds and toward the super slide. Lily had to ride the slide. So $3 later and and three tickets in the grubby hand of the toothless operator and up the steps we went. Lily led the way, being Miss Independent that she is, and wanted to slide without the burlap sack. I had to convince her that we needed it to go faster. She bought it and off we went. She squealed all the way down.

Good times were had and we enjoyed ourselves and that is what counted on this hot, sticky night. We went home, get Lily in bed with promises of the parade on Saturday.

Poke Salad Weekend

Oh Boy, the redneck festival has come to Blanchard. Stay tuned this weekend for a few updates from the Blanchard Poke Salad Festival.

Ear Tubes are Out

Just got back to work after taking Lily to have her ear tubes removed. The surgery went fine and was very brief. The doctor said everything looked good and we should be on the path to recovery very soon.

Lily came out of the O.R. a little fuzzy and was very fussy. I hope she has a good day and has no pain. We will see.

In other news, the rain has kept us indoors for the most part for over a week now. We have not played any ballgames nor have I been out to do much of anything. We have one scheduled for tonight but the weather man says storms are coming so does not look like we will play again!

Final update, the final day of our fishing tournament was horrible. We caught two fish, both were in the "slot" so they had to be tossed back. I am starting to think that competitive fishing is not for me.

Summer Movies

I admit, I am not much of a movie buff. I like what I like and make no apologies for it!

I have been watching previews online, TV, youtube and anywhere else I can see them and I am very excited about the upcoming movies. Looks like this summer will be loaded with awesome movies.

I am most excited about the new Transformers movie and the toys that will come out as well. The new Wolverine Origins looks good, plus it FINALLY has Gambit. He should be a great add to the movie. Also, the latest Harry Potter is coming out, GI Joe and another fav will be Angels and Demons. I love Tom Hanks and I loved the book, should be a good combo, I mean the DiVinci Code was awesome, so I have no worries.

I am sure there are others but I cannot think of them currently. I will be sure to frequent Regal Cinemas this summer and get my chair time in front of the silver screen.

I might even review a few here. Stay tuned.

Tubes Out

Took Lily to the ENT today and the tubes have to come out! She has had trouble the past few weeks and the ENT suggested that the tubes are no longer working properly and should come out. Hopefully it will not be too bad. The Doc says it will only take a few minutes, she will be in and out and hopefully this will clear up the issues and the infections. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Another Day, Another Game

Played Tuesday night and whipped another team badly. I think I am growing accustomed to this type of offense. I did not even care that this team had zero chance of winning. I just wanted to play, get the 20 run rule and get out of there.

Tonight's game and next Tuesday's game will be our tests. Both teams are pretty good, but I have a feeling that if we put up 30 or so like we have been doing that we should be victorious. We will see! Will be nice to have a challenge, I think some guys are getting bored with winning!

Anyway, big game tonight.

BTW I was 3-3 with a double and reached on an error.

Redlight Cameras in Louisiana

Fight the good fight and protect your rights. Please go to my friend's site and get involved!

http://chris-brad.blogspot.com/

Your rights and wallet are in danger of taking another hit from BIG GOVERNMENT.

Wii FIT?

No, Wii Not! But Wii will be!

Today is my wife Lorna's birthday, happy birthday baby. She is, as a friend put it, 25th with eight years experience. You can do the math. Anyway, as a present she wanted to get the Wii fit game and exercise board so we got it and another fitness game.

I was surprised at the difficulty level. I thought that like any other video game that you could get the hang of it and learn the tricks but so far, no! We played last night for almost two hours and worked up a good sweat. I think it will be good for us both, plus we get to spend time together and that is always a bonus.

I will keep you up to date on this as Wii get fit!

Another drumming

Again last night we pounded another helpless team. We scored 21 and only allowed one. We finished them off in three innings. My defense picked up with a nice play in the first and a double play in the second. My bat cooled a little though, I was 1-3 with a double. Oh well, cannot hit them all!

Tea Party - Shreveport/Bossier City 5:00 PM

If you are like me and you are tired of this government and their oversized way of business, get involved and head out to your local "tea party" today.

What is a tea party you ask? See below.

A Tea Party is a grassroots organization formed by ordinary citizens. We are you!

Every day people here in Shreveport Bossier who refuse to stand by while our government is overrun by forces that do not respect our Constitution and republic form of government. We refuse to be the generation of Americans that were asleep at the wheel, destroying our way of life.

In over 600 cities, Americans are stepping forward and doing what our ancestors have done when our country has been in a time of crisis, we are returning the country to the objectives imagined by our founding fathers. Low taxes and small government.

Our unique form of government requires that citizens step up and remind our government who hired them, and who can fire them.

We stand at a crossroads in our country. Our government has forgotten that they answer to us! It is critical that we begin to put the fear of the people back in the local and national politicians, as well as the media.
This is your chance! Citizens around the country are banding together to create massive demonstrations. Lets show our state and nation what we already know, that the voices of the citizens of North Louisiana cannot be underestimated.

So get out there and party like it is 1773! Dump your tea and dump the current political effort to ruin this country.

Our local tea party is in front of the Bossier Civic Center on Benton Road, across from Tubb's Hardware. Hope to see you there!

(No) Mercy Rule?

We played our first softball game of the season tonight. Good game for us, we stomped some poor team 33-12 and only because we let up and let a few "go through".

Everyone hit well and played well, we shook off the rust in a hurry and jumped up 16-1 in the first inning and it was smooth sailing from there. After two it was 26-5. We were not in danger of losing by any stretch.

Since it is a Church league and you never want to show up a team and you want to be a good sport, we let up on the poor guys by not exploiting their errors and miscues. We thought we were doing the right thing by only running a base at a time and stopping. We could have score 50 but alas we are nice guys. One problem!

The umpire thought that we were trying to show up the guys and keep hitting by only running one base at a time. Completely the opposite! He called time and called both coaches and warned us that if we did not "just play" that he would call us to forfeit and the other team would win! How absurd, we were trying to be nice and we get in trouble! So we laid it on thick and the next guy hit an in the park grand slam. Guess it never pays to be nice. So much for the mercy rule.

We went three innings, and torched the poor team. Next up another team that lost by 25, maybe we will be mean this time.

BTW I was 3-5 with three doubles. Woo hoo!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

I have been out of town all weekend and have not had an opportunity to do any updates. Sorry for the delay but I was in Winnfield and had no Internet access. That is ok, it is good to get away sometimes. I hope to have a few entries this week so check back soon.

Green LIGHTNING

Yes, I said green lightning. Last night was a very eventful night. Let us just say that I do not want to be a storm chaser any time soon, at least at night that is.

Last night was date night, hence no entry but I made up for it with lots of adventure. Like I said, it was date night. My mom took Lily for the night and Lorna and I decided to have a night out on the town and enjoy an adult meal and entertainment without the kid. The night started off nice, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant and it was great. We sat and talked and ate and even ran into an old friend. The experience was great, an no one had to go to the potty or need a bite of my food.

After dinner we decided to take in a movie and proceeded to the Boardwalk to snag a few tickets to the new Fast and Furious movie. We arrived, bought the tickets and did a little light shopping before settling into our seats for two hours of action packed car driving. The movie was fun, it will not win any awards, unless there is one for bad one liners'. I enjoyed the cars, crashes and explosions. Lorna enjoyed it as well so all was good...until we left the theater.

As we exited the theater we noticed the sky was lit up with some really cool lightning. I could have stood and watched for a while but Lorna was not having it. We jumped into the jeep and decided to head to Target for some Easter essentials but I made a quick call first.

After talking to my mother and learning that the lightning was a rather ominous sign, we decided against another stop. Luckily we tuned into the news and learned that the approaching storm had spawned tornadoes. Oh no, what to do?

Being that we could not go home as the storm was fast approaching and the tornado separated us from our home, we headed south to go around the storm. A smart move on my part. As the storm got closer, we made our way through the back roads and to a "safer" part of town.

One call from my dad changed it all. He informed us that the tornado had been spotted miles from our location. Instead of continuing to make our way home, we opted for plan B. Being near the hospital, we parked in the garage and made our way to the lobby and eventually the ER to hang out and ride out the storm.

While waiting we stood near the windows, I know stupid, and watched the show Mother Nature was giving us. That is when we seen it, the green lightning. The lightning was part of the tornado as it passed just north of us, cutting down trees, power lines and doing untold damage.

As quick as it came, it was over. We waited a little longer, and then headed out. What destruction. We encountered downed lines, trees and red lights. The path the storm cut was wide and scary. We could have been out in that. Fortunately we were safe, all family and friends we safe and no one that I know of suffered any major damage.

Easter and Shreveport tornadoes seem to go hand in hand, let us hope this was the one for this year and all will be well.

I will be in Winnfield (pig land) this weekend for Easter, I will be sure to pack my camera and hopefully get some good stuff. To my two readers, have a safe and happy Easter and remember what Easter stands for.

Raceday at TMS

So Sunday I attended the Nascar Sprint Cup event in Denton, Texas, just outside of Dallas. One of my birthday presents was tickets to the event. I had a great time and my favorite drive won! All in all it was a good day, a long day, but a good one.

In order to make it to Dallas and the racetrack in time, I got up at 5 am, long before daylight and before the birds and squirrels and any other creature that is smart enough to stay in bed that early. I rode with a friend and we met up with the rest of our party on the highway. The drive was not too bad, other than the fact that I was sleepy and it progressively got colder as we approached our destination. Once we hit town and made a stop at a local gas station, I realized that I was very thankful to have brought jeans and a sweatshirt because it was freaking cold. Cold and windy to be exact.

Upon arrival at the track, we were greeted by idiots in all directions. As we tried to park there were idiots going the wrong way down a one way street, there were idiots zipping around in golf carts and out in front of traffic, there were also idiots trying to tell us a parking lot made for fifty thousand or more cars was full because he could not find a spot. God must love idiots, because he made a TON OF THEM.

Once we made our way through the sea of stupidity and into the vendor area, we ran into other individuals of low intelligence. There were women in tank tops and shorts with HEELS, this in a place where you have to walk everywhere. There were also guys that were walking around topless and did not need to be showing that much skin or stomach.

Now I know that NASCAR has a negative connotation to it, and most of the liberal elite think that we are all beer drinking, Dale Earnhardt loving rednecks but for the most part there are some fans that do not fit the mold, such as me and the party I traveled with. I mean I love the races, but I do not get into the brand loyalty and petty in fighting that others do. I will not stop buying a product or supporting a brand if I do not like their driver. How is my fifty cents going to affect whether or not a driver gets funds to drive the M&M’s car.

Anyway, we saw lots of displays of loyalty, from the guy with his drivers number painted on his chest to upper chest of a gifted woman who supported another driver. I think the funniest display of driver support was two Mexicans dressed with luchador masks in their driver’s colors, very strange, very strange in deed.

Once we got to our seats, it was almost time for the race to start, a few cokes, order of fries and a burger later, I was set for 500 miles of high speed action. My aunt secured great tickets as we were right on the start/finish line, two rows up. We could see the drivers in the cars as the passed. We also had a spectacular view of the pits and got to see most of the action there as guys would come in for a fresh four and fuel. I love watching the races on TV because you know what is going on with everyone, but to watch a race live is completely different. You get to hear, smell and feel the race. You hear the engines race by and it gives you chills, the roar of the engines shakes your insides and the smell of the fuel and rubber is something you just do not get from the couch at home. All of the senses are involved.

Good times were had by all, we survived the masses and hey my drive won! I had a blast and cannot wait to do it again!

Raceday

Sorry about the lack of posts for yesterday and today. I was away from the computer all day yesterday and had dinner with some friends tonight. I spend Sunday at the racetrack in Dallas and I will give a full and complete wrap up tomorrow complete with all the "special" people I saw there. Lots and lots of "special" people.

Geaux 24!

Donks

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Long Friday Afternoons

Looks like it is shaping up to be a long Friday afternoon. You know the kind I speak of, where the clock moves two minutes for every five that pass. These days remind me of being in high school, last hour where everyone is ready and packed up to go, just watching the clock, tick, tick, tick.

Nothing compounds this problem more that the lovely spring day that we are having and the fact that both bosses are gone, probably fishing. Ugh. I guess I will get a head start on next week's work and do some of the little things that I need to do. Stay tuned this weekend, I have been doing some camera work and I have an upcoming blog on something that fascinates me, but I am not sure why. Until then, I hope you are off to do something fun this fine day or this weekend at least.

The Week of Medical Issues

Last night I told everyone about Lily, and she is doing better, thanks for all the well wishes from everyone. But now and actually last night too, Lorna is hurt. She did something to her back and is not doing well. She refuses to go to the doctor but can hardly stand. She has a lot of work to do and I understand that but I hope she is not making things worse.

Given the situation, I am becoming superdad/husband. I do not realize how much Lorna has to do until she cannot do it. Wow, tonight I had to corral the kid, cook dinner, load and unload the dishwasher, wash and fold laundry and give the kid a bath. I am wore out! On top of that I had extra home work tonight from the office. I am burning the candle at both ends. I hope there is light at the end of this tunnel. Please pray that we make it to the weekend.

Hospital Visit

Nothing new tonight, spend three hours in the ER with Lily. Do not panic, it was just a little bleeding. We spent three hours and one hundred dollars to find out that the combo of infection and shifting tube caused the irritation and bleeding. She is ok and all is well again. She is to just continue her medication and ear drops. She has a follow up for next Tuesday, pray that all is healed and that the ENT will not suggest that the tubes go back in.

Father/Daughter Day

Today, Lily woke up tugging at her ear and with a low grade fever. Obviously, she was not going to school/day care so what to do, what to do? I volunteered to keep her home and take her into the doctor's office to check it out.

The doctor confirmed what we feared, ear infection! Second time in two weeks. Diagnosis was that her tube has shifted and irritated her ear. That combined with sinus trouble has created nasty drainage and the trouble. So ear drops and antibiotics and we go back next week.

After the doctor's visit, we proceeded to get her meds and a special treat. I bought her a new DVD, Disney's Bolt. We came home had lunch and she napped. Afterwards, she woke up in a pretty good mood so we decided to venture outside and enjoy the nice spring day. Wow, it was really nice.

We went across the street to the local school and took advantage of the open field to fly a kite, ride around in her car and just stretch our legs. Lily also played on the playground, and must have gone up and down that slide fifty times. A few times I had to stop her and get her to drink some juice to slow down. We had a great time and it was really fun to have her all to myself to play and be outdoors.


She is such a ham!

If it were not for bad luck...

I would not have any luck at all, at least when it comes to the fishing tournaments! Yesterday was our second day of fishing on the FBC Blanchard tournament trail and wow, what a day!

First, a little background, I am not a fisherman in any way, shape or form. I like to fish and I somewhat enjoy it, but I am not good at it no matter how you slice it. Last year, our church expanded the increasingly popular tournament to include three days with an overall winner of combined weight. This year, we added a fourth date and drew even more teams into the tournament. The entry fees are split 50/50, with half going to payouts for prizes and half going to the churches mission work. The tournament rules are pretty simple, two man/woman teams, with a five string limit, you can fish any public water and have to be at the weigh in for each day.

Last year I teamed up with a good friend and Sunday school class member who shall not be named to protect his innocence, ha ha. So he and I fished last year and teamed up again this year. Neither of us have much fishing experience nor have we fished much since our childhoods.
He had a boat and could get away on the times of the fishing days and we were set. We bought some rods, reels, baits and set out to "fish". Sounds easy, but that is where the trouble began.

The first date this year forced us to fish with my uncle as the barge was broke and the part was on back order. We went out, fished in the cold, grey, windy day and brought zero fish in, wasted day. This time, again, it was cold, grey and windy, but being the novices that we were, we decided to fish the Red River. MISTAKE NUMBER ONE!

I knew it was a bad omen when the boat would not crank but did we listen, of course not, we are men and we are stubborn and want to have things our way. My friend insisted that we launch and we will "fix" the boat in the water. Ok, after a few failed attempts, we purchased a battery for the boat because it seemed to not be getting enough power. MISTAKE NUMBER TWO!

Once the battery was in place and a few connections were double checked, the boat would still not turn over. Here we should have known that it was time to load up and head back but we, being thickheaded decided to go in the opposite direction. We decide to manually pull start the boat, and it worked! So with the wind blowing, sub zero temperatures and no clue as to where to go, we set out to find a spot to fish.

Once we got into the channel and headed north, we found what we thought was an excellent spot, wrong, it was shallow, and we almost ran aground. Quick thinking by the two of us to throw the boat in reverse and push out with a paddle saved us some embarrassment and got us moving again. From here we pushed on and found a nice spot to drop anchor and do some fishing. A half hour later and no fish, we decided to move. We pulled the anchor up and got prepared to move. MISTAKE NUMBER THREE!

Once the anchor was pulled, the wind pushed us across the channel and as we pulled and pulled and pulled on the motor. No luck, we tried everything we knew to do and finally realized that a battery cable had burned through and we had no power. No power, means no motor, no matter how it is started. Before we had a chance to react, we were pushed against a rock jetty and we were stuck. Thankfully we had cell phones and the number to the marina that we launched from. Forty-five minutes later the Bossier Parish Sheriff patrol boat came into sight and provided us with some assistance. We were towed back to the launch. How embarrassing, but the sheriff said it was not an uncommon thing and that they do it all the time. Not sure if that was true but it lessened the blow, a little.

Tired, frustrated and cold we almost called it a day but I was not going to give up just yet. I had a back up plan, we had to catch some fish. So I called up dad, got permission and set sail to a pond in an undisclosed location.

We arrived with a positive attitude and some hopes for at least one fish. All I wanted was one, to weigh in and show the others guys that we could catch fish. We fished the entire pond with only a few bites. I managed to pull two all the way to the edge of the pier only to have them get away. So with time winding down and our spirits almost crushed we decided to make one more round. I am glad we did not give in. On a whim I decided to change lures and bingo, it worked. On the first cast I caught a fish, on the second, the same result. I then asked my friend if he wanted one of the lures, he decided against it, until cast three. Another fish, I was on a roll.

Now with us both fishing the same lure and time winding down we landed twelve fish. They were small but we kept a few for the weigh in. Once we had our fill and the fish slowed, we packed up and headed in to the weigh in at the church. Officially, we weighed in two fish, totaling just under two pounds! We laughed, as did others but hey we came in fifth place of twelve teams. It was a hard day all around, everyone fought the elements more than the fish.

Ultimately, we had a good day and I won a nice door prize as I got a bass pro gift card. I will be sure to use it to buy some more of those bass killer lures. Who knows, maybe next time it will be warm and the boat will behave! Next time, we will catch some fish, maybe some of them will be noteworthy.


PS, I can catch fish, here is proof. This one was caught last year in Arkansas. This green beauty weighed in at eight pounds, ten ounces. This is by far the largest I have ever landed.

Tournament Day

Today was tournament day, we fought the boat, the wind the waves, and caught some fish. I am too tired tonight to tell the tail, but tomorrow, be ready to read all about it as I tell you all about our day at the river and an unnamed pond. Stay tuned for details.

Fishing Tournament

Tomorrow, aka Saturday, I am going to once again compete in our church's fishing tournament trail. This is day 2 of 4 total. My friend Ray and me and will be fishing on the Red River. We are both very unfamiliar with the launch point and the river itself but I hope we can follow the advice we were given and find some fish. As usual it will be rainy and cold, like it has been the last few times I have been fishing, which will make it even more difficult.

I hope we do well but I would just be happy to catch a few, at least my limit. We will see, I will post results tomorrow.

Another Suprise Party

This time I was an attendee and not the guest of honor. Yesterday (the 25th) was Jimmy's birthday and in what seems to be the trend this year, there was a surprise party held in his honor. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY!

Unlike my party, the cat got out of the bag a little early for Jim when his brother ruined the surprise element last week. Oh well, everyone had fun and I think Jimmy racked up on presents so that is always good.

While there I got to somewhat reunite with an old friend. A friend from back in my 4H days, who is also friends with Jimmy and Tonya, attended and sat beside me and Lorna. You know you are good friends with someone when you can recall stories and instances with just a phrase or a word. Cool thing about reuniting with Sara is that she has a daughter about Lily's age. Hopefully, we can all get together with Jimmy/Tonya/Landry and Sara/Eric/Addison for a barbecue or something and let the kids play.

We joked that it would be funny if all of our girls became friends. They could get together and cause as much trouble as we did back in the day. Back in our youth, we (mostly Jimmy and myself) led the pack in our group and were notorious for stiring up trouble and keeping everyone on their toes. Good times!

Don't we look like trouble?

Urban Cowboy?

My apologies for the lack of an entry yesterday, time, the bad weather and a spunky little girl kept me busy and I was not able to get my thoughts together long enough to do an entry. I hope to squeeze in one or two today to make up for it though.

So about the title of today’s blog, urban cowboy; No, I do not speak of the old John Travolta movie but rather something I saw yesterday as I returned home from work.
Every day, my travels to and from work take me through some of the back roads of my area and through some of the underbelly of this town. One of these “ghetto” areas is the Allendale neighborhood.

Historically, the Allendale area of Shreveport is significant in that it was home to and named after Civil War General, Henry Watkins Allen, the only governor of Louisiana to take the oath in Shreveport, at the time; the capital of Louisiana. The significance of this area ends there. Now it is mostly a rundown shell of its former self, complete with shotgun houses, bad roads and the site of many lead stores of the local news programs. As bad as I feel for its residents, they do provide entertainment from time to time. The amusement ranges from basketball games in the streets to brightly painted cars with loud music and now the urban cowboy.

I saw the urban cowboy yesterday on my way home and I was not quick enough with the camera so you will have to imagine as I describe this guy. Picture this; guy in basketball shorts, with the required six inches of underwear exposed, with some bright orange Nikes, unlaced of course and a blue, knee-length shirt under his gold chains. To complete the Cooper Road inspired ensemble, he topped it off with a blue bandanna, under his flat billed, sideways worn ball cap. He was perched high atop his horse and was strutting down the shoulder waving at his boys as they passed and honked. As I reached for the camera I missed and only got a blur of the scene, nothing post worthy unfortunately. Believe me this was a sight.

He definitely was not what you picture when you say cowboy, or even urban cowboy with the bad, snap up, polyester printed shirts. This guy was far from stereotypical cowboy and was seemingly proud of his outcast status in this less than rural area. While I am not sure if he goes by “cowboy” in his circle of friends, he was a cowboy for a day to me and humorous to boot.
As a dedicated blogger now, I will try to get a picture of this horseman to show the audience. Maybe this will happen soon, if not I will be diligent in my efforts!

All the Rage?

No, not the blue truck nor the rain, which by the way was excellent and rid us of the pollen for now. No, I speak of Brookshire's, our local chain grocery store. All the rage is not a positive phrase in this instance.

Do not get me wrong I prefer Brookshire's to say Wal-mart or any of the other grocery stores in our area, because they are clean, well lit and have a nice mix of mostly well behaved patrons, but I hate the way they do business. This is where the "rage" starts.

Now you have heard of road rage and going postal, and shopping rage is not too far from this. I suffer from lack of patients, I readily admit that I do not like to wait, for anything. I especially do not like to wait in lines at stores, whether it is a fast food restaurant, department store or a grocery store. The grocery store is the worst, I believe that they have 12, 24 or even 36 lanes for "show" because they dang sure do not use them. I will not go into the cost saving measures and under staffing to stay in the black, I understand the bottom line to make money at the customers expense. I get that. What I do not get is the fact that several checkers will stand around with their thumbs up their rear, while you and sixteen other people wait in one of three lanes that are open, with at least one being a 12 items or fewer checkout.

This is where our story begins. Today, I was on my way home and the wife asked me to pick up a few items, no problem. I will just whip into the local Brookshire's on North Market and pick up the FIVE items I needed. Where did I put that list again?

So I enter at 5:34 pm and right away I know that the rage is about to spring out of me. I grab a wet buggy, as it is raining, remember, and apparently no employee can dry the buggies. At least Wal-mart will do this for you. So wet buggy in hand, I head to the necessary aisles to pick up milk, dog food, a mop, muffins and toilet paper. After side stepping the woman with four children with no home training and almost get run over by an employee, "price checking" an item, I secure all my items. The time is now 5:42, not bad, eight minutes and I am rolling.

Again, I position my buggy toward the front of the store and navigate the old woman with the walker, complete with tennis balls, picking over sliced cheese, trust me lady pay the extra for Kraft singles, they make better grilled cheese sandwiches, ask Lily and my wife. I also make it back around two of the previous four unruly children as they have found the cereal aisle, ugh. I make it to the front of the store to be greeted by four lanes open. Two are the 12 items or fewer and two are the regular lanes. Well after sizing up the other patrons and realizing that "12 items" is more of a guideline or suggestion, I fix my gaze on lane 6 and make my final approach.

As I step up, I count the buggies in front of me and what luck, I am number four! Not too bad, and everyone in front of me only has a few more items than me, great this should be a breeze.

Not so fast, my rage radar detects a "disturbance in the force". I see a lady, not much older than myself, with eight items and she is armed with a checkbook! OMG, who writes checks in public anymore! I know right away she is going to stall this line and raise my rage meter to hulk like levels. Four, three, two, almost, she WAITS until the transaction is almost completely rang up before she decides that she needs cigarettes, ugh, why does she do this to me, she knows about my rage, she has to! Well after the cancer sticks are secured, she then starts to fill out the check. Whew, in the clear, until the cashier, sensing my green tint, asks the lady for her loyalty card so she can save twenty-two cents on her purchase! The time is now 5:53.

Now it is my turn. I am poised and ready to break the sound barrier with the speed at which this transaction is about to take place. I set my keys on the counter, whip out the plastic. The cashier decides now is the time to strike up a conversation about the weather, come on, not now. I do not want to talk to you, you are wasting my time, either die or ring up my stuff, at this point I do not care. She grabs my keys, swipes my loyalty card, without asking and rings up my items. Swipe, four digit pin and bang, grab the bags and hit the door. Foiled again, the bagger boy has now loaded my items into a second wet buggy and wants to assist me with this huge load.

Now I am beyond green, I am going red, Incendiary Hulk maybe? This guy, who is probably a high school kid at best is lumbering behind me, dodging every rain drop as he pursues me to my Jeep. I pop the hatch, load my own groceries as he is just the buggy protector and wish him a good day and jump in and crank up the car. It is here that my rage level starts to subside as I listen to comedy on XM radio. My skin regains is natural color and I pull out of the parking lot at 6:02.

On the bright side, I did save $0.43 on my purchase. Aw, Brookshire's does care about me after all!

End of a good weekend

Nothing much here, just wrapping up a wonderful weekend. So I did not get everything done I set out to do or even get close on some things but I had a great weekend. I got to spend quality time with family and friends and that is all that matters. Tomorrow starts a new week with new opportunities and lots to do and hopefully, some will be blog worthy.

Birthday Party Part Two

Today, was a lovely and surprising day!


Saturday stated just like any other, we got up, watched some cartoons with the baby, and had waffles. Then things got interesting. I had to go help my dad do some house painting. Not a major amount, but difficult to get to as it was the chimney on the steeply slanted roof.


See in order reach the roof, my dad had to come up with a "contraption" of sorts to get me not only on the roof but high enough to reach the chimney, without laying on or climbing on the roof. Painting required a track hoe and and steel frame mounted to the front bucket. I was then placed into the bucket and lifted high into the air to paint. The painting itself was not difficult, it was the contortions in which I had to position myself to reach all the angles, nooks and yes, crannies. I will be sore in the morning and got too much sun for my effort but I got it done and helped out, that made it worthwhile.

After that was all said and done, I went home to clean up and attend a party for my less than favorite, great aunt. I had been told, that it was a family reunion of sorts for her 70th, birthday. I was forcefully drug to what turned out to be a surprise birthday party in my honor. I was shocked and happily surprise all at once. The "other" party had been a hoax all along to keep me off the trail.


So I walked in and was greeted by my family and good friends. It was not quite, the lights come on, everyone jump out surprise party, but it was just as good. I had fun, got to see everyone and even got a few more presents (aren't I spoiled?). I was also treated to a 30 minute video montage of all of my "best" pictures from birth to present. That was really touching, funny and humiliating and the same time. LOVED IT!

The theme was LSU, of course, and the room was decorated with LSU posters, pennants, stickers, purple and gold M&Ms and huge cake and LOTS of food. So much food in fact, that we brought some home as did EVERYONE else.

I was very touched by the video and the time and effort everyone put into making the party a success. In addition to lots of LSU gifts, my friend Jimmy, indulged my little habit of collecting transformers, with some new additions. Three to be exact. I will check them out and post pictures soon.




I have to say that I was very surprised and very grateful to have such a wonderful, loving family and such caring and kind friends. I guess that is all one can ask for and I have it!

I have to thank my wife as well, she helped plan, kept me in line about the hoax party and put up with me complaining all week, all the while, she endured a rough week at work. I love you honey!

Here is the huge cake, anyone want a piece?

My Lily is in there somewhere!

Friday Night

Not much tonight, went to dinner and ran a few errands.

Just a follow up, McAllister has redeemed themselves to me once again. They are again serving the large glasses of iced tea, sweet, of course!

Pollen, Pollen, I Hate Pollen

So I am sidelined again today with yet ANOTHER allergy attack. This ones is pretty bad, I am achy and miserable. I can not swallow, I can not talk or drink without pain. I am not stopped up, I am not congested, but my sinus are draining right down my throat. The only way to describe the pain is like having a baseball lodged in my windpipe. And the cause of all this lovely pain? POLLEN.

I am prone to allergies like most others in this area, but this year the pollen count has been extremely high and apparently I have been sniffing it like coke or some other sniffable, illegal drug. Unfortunately, since I went to the doctor about three weeks ago and got another shot, I cannot have another right now. So I will have to suffer with my nasal spray and clarinex. I hope it helps and I hope the pollen goes away quickly. I need relief.

Sorry to sound whiny but I am in pain and miserable. I spent most of the day at home. On a day when most play hookie to watch the March madness tournament, I was home with a legit illness, I could not even enjoy watching LSU beat Butler. I slept through most of the game. Ugh.

Day 2 of 365

Well day two of year thirty has just about come and gone. Other than work, I have spent a majority of my day downloading and researching apps for my new iTouch. If you have any good ones, pass them along. I am sure this will be a new obsession. OH NO!

On another note, we went to some friend's house tonight and had dinner. Christine prepared some excellent enchiladas. They were very good and I over ate as usual with Mexican food. Oh well, I am working out everyday, I should be able to cheat a little here and there. In addition to working out, I have cut out sweets and soft drinks. This has been difficult but seems to be working for me so far. Less calories means I am doing more good in the gym.

Anyway, not much to report today, nothing too exciting happened today but I am sure I will find something soon to amaze and entertain you once again. Until then have a good one.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well today is the day. The big 3-0. I made it with little or no trouble. I got a few "old man" ribbings and I responded with a few "whippersnapper" comments and the like.

The morning started off good, Lily and Lorna were happy and everyone got off to work/daycare on time and without any trouble. Work was pretty easy going today. Lots of birthday wishes from friends both here and at work and on Facebook. I thank you all! My boss took me to lunch which was nice and I got out the door on time today!

My birthday party was great! I got to spend time with my family as well as some extended family. We had dinner and some wonderful cupcakes that my wife prepared. They were awesome, key lime, coconut with white chocolate icing and sunny lemon with lemon curd. If you want the recipe, let me know, I will direct you to it and you can make and try your own.

As I grow older I learn to appreciate the time spent with family even more than the gifts, but this year's gifts were pretty cool. I got tickets to a Nascar race at Texas Motor Speedway, Gift cards, a Wii game, some movies, a LSU window cling, a St. Patrick's day stein, and and sweet Ipod touch. I have a first generation nano, but the touch is so much cooler. It is basically an Iphone less the phone calling capability. I will be sure to download plenty of music, videos and apps. I am sure you will find out about some of my favs soon!

Overall this was a great birthday and I look forward to this year, thirty is not so scary, at least not the first day. More to come, stay tuned.

PS I am working on a big blog but it has been a little delayed as I cannot find all of the stuff I am looking for, but soon I will.

More Transformers

Well first of all, this is my last post of 29, first post of 30 as it is midnight.

Second, I promised and I am now delivering, more Transformers. I dug into storage tonight for this one. I have a huge Rubbermaid box full and I mean FULL of Transformers. I know you do not care, but I will share anyway. Sharing this makes me happy and gives you a window into my madness. You will learn through time and blogs my madness. (insert evil laugh here)

To give you a view of the sickness, here is an over all shot of my current collection, new, old, and anywhere in between.


Yes, I have some in boxes and some loose. Wish I still had the boxes for some! Ok so for all!

This is the my current favorite! This was my major award for 2008. This is the special Pepsi remake of the original G1 Optimus Prime. I drank way too much mountain dew and Pepsi for this one.

Here are my Toys R Us re-issued G1 versions of Smokescreen, Grapple, Hoist and Sideswipe. I love Toys R Us and they used to be the go to site for my Transformer fix. Now TRU is just a sad shell of what they used to be. The glory is gone! And for that matter KayBee toys is bankrupt too. Many a day were spent standing in the aisles of these stores as the cash burned a hole in my pocket and I had to pick which one to bring home this time.

Here are the old originals, yes that is an original G1 optimus prime, thanks Ebay! I had to snipe that one. Hate it when others do it to me, but it is sweet when it works in my favor. The others cars and trucks were actually mine from back in the day so these are the oldest of the collection. The blue firetruck has to be in the worst shape.


Here are some of the good guys (Autobots) from the 2007 movie. Optimus Prime, and crew. Love the new version of Bumblebee, boy did GM do an awesome job with the new concept camero.

Here are some of the bad guys, aka Decepticons. Love the Saleen Mustang. The side of the police car reads "To Punish and Enslave"!

Finally, here are my latest purchases, the 25th anniversary editions of Starscream and Hound. These are very close to their original counterparts as they maintain the original color schemes. For some reason Hound came with Ravage. Puzzles me as to why, but hey, he was a bonus, now if they will just release Soundwave!

Well you have now seen how big a nerd I am with the toy collection! And yes I admit it, I collect toys like a kid, but hey I can grow older but I do not have to grow up!

Oh and by the way, it is St. Patrick's Day now as I finish this, so be sure to wear your green, because if you do not, I will pinch you for sure!

Old Things are New Again

Well being the nerd that I am, I get enthusiastic about things, 99% of people our age do not even think about or care about for that matter. Take for instance the latest trend of bringing back the toys of our youth. Barbie, who does not look a day over 35, is 50 this year! GI Joe, is 35 and my all time favorite Transformers turn 25. These were toys of our choosing as children and toy executives have brought out the special editions to draw us into buying them for our "kids" and by "kids" I mean ourselves. They continue to find ways to separate our hard earned cash from our pockets by sending us retro versions of our old favorites. And I am biting, hard in fact.

Where am I going with this you ask? Well I said I am a nerd and that goes right along with my obsession (there is that word again) with Transformers. As a child I had a lot of them. I had the little ones, I had the big ones, I had the good ones (Autobots) and the bad ones (Decepticons). I even had a few knock off versions called GoBots. All in all I had way too many of those little robot/car/airplane toys. I can remember my first (Blaster, a boombox) and my favorite (Tracks, a blue corvette). I can also remember every garage sale where I parted ways with my toys for a quick buck to waste on stupid things or other, newer toys. And thanks to Ebay, I will never be able to afford the ones that got away.

With the most recent release of the live action version of Transformers, which I loved, they have released a ton of new toys. Many of which are renamed versions of old classics, and yes, I have picked up a few in a moment of weak nostalgia. Even more recently they have released the 25th anniversary editions which are trickling out and yes, I have one of those too. While they are not quite the same old, same old, they are closer than some of the more recent editions.

While the target audience for the new toys is definitely the kids, they do not appreciate nor care about them as much as we ever will. For example, I have a nephew that has a few transformers but his primary focus is Nintendo everything, Wii and DS. He has no concept of how great those toys are and what he is missing out by not taking full advantage of playing with them and collecting them. But as for me on the other hand, I am really enjoying the re-release as it makes it more affordable to pick up a few pieces of my childhood and have something to pass on to a younger generation. Something to show to my kid or kids when they grow up. A bit of a time vault for them but sweet memories for me.

So do I as I did and reclaim a piece of your childhood, no matter what it is. If it is transformers, barbies or GI Joe, they are still out there, and you can grab a few retro versions. If it is something else, well I hate to say it but Ebay is there.

Maybe I will go a little deeper this week and show you my "collection". We will see. And if you have any old transformers you want to part with, give me a shout. I am sure we could make an arrangement.

Until next time...