Go big or go home

I love that saying.  It personifies guys.  As the movie (which is awesome) Inception says "mussn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling."  Right now I carry a Coast V2 flashlight.  It throws a nice 110 lumens that will outshine almost any other flashlight people carry.  It is great but it only throws a focused beam and only at 110 lumens.  So when you are looking for something in a car it can be a bit much.

So I have started looking around at other options.  I think I have a winner with the Coast T7.  It throws up to 200 lumens but also has a low setting of just 30 lumens.  It also has a speed focus that lets you have a focused beam (that will reach 689ft) or a dispersed beam.  The only downside is that I already look like a Batman wanna-be with all the stuff I carry and carrying a larger flashlight will only add to this.  But why only carry 110 lumens when you can have 200? :)

So I ordered the T7 and after carrying in for a few days I now know why I like my V2.  It doesn't pull my shorts down and it doesn't look like a police baton on my waist.  So the CFO is getting the T7 to carry in her purse.  But I guess that is only fitting as she has a 357 and I have a 9mm:)

Here are a few more pics from the Christmas Parade:

Everyone thought the low 40's were a bit chilly:)

Normally this is not something you want to see.... but luckily it was just the beginning  of the parade!

Yes!  All the Police cars and fire engines used their sirens!

I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays.

Henny Youngman

Orphans, dead parents, lonely children at Christmas, morose spoken word recordings, everything you love about the holidays. Move the turkey over so you can fit your head in the oven.
April Winchell

Al

Rewind... Halloween

I think/hope that I may have started another family tradition.  This past year the Triplets (with a little help from their Old Man) put together triplet scarecrows.  Of course, being a man, I totally forgot to take a picture of them!  Luckily the CFO asked if I got a picture of them and luckily we had not dismantled them yet.  So, right before decorating for Christmas we put up a little Halloween again for a photo op.

If bad decorating was a hanging offense, there'd be bodies hanging from every tree! 
Sylvester Stallone 

Our modern society is engaged in polishing and decorating the cage in which man is kept imprisoned.
Swami Nirmalananda

Al

Who is that knucklehead in shorts?

Since moving to Alabama we have talked about making it to Athens' Christmas Parade.  Well, we finally made it.  As one friend observed....yes, we drove four hours in one day to watch a parade:)  But not just any parade, it was about an hour and a half parade!  Not kidding.  There were two "breaks" in the parade to allow the parade participants to disperse without holding up everyone else.

To be fair, while some of the floats in the parade were awesome others were... well... let's just say it's the thought that counts:)  But some were just plain advertising with one string of lights on it.  Not kidding, there was a truck from a nationally known retail leader with just one string of Christmas lights on it.  Seriously?  But hey, the kids LOVED it!

On to the knucklehead, me.  Yes, it is once again Winter and I am still in shorts.  My general rule is that is if the high is above 30 degrees the shorts are a go.  Partly because I just do not like long pants.  This goes way back to my High School days.  Partly because I carry so much stuff that I need the cargo shorts and partly because I just like sticking it to "the man."  :)  Hey, I am a SAHD so I can thumb my nose at the man anytime I want.  I actually think I am not just entitled to do so but it is down right required of me.  Plus, at Church we are always talking about living in such a way to make people wonder what makes us different.  Maybe that is my new response to all the looks/questions I get about wearing shorts when it is cold.... "Hey, don't you know that it is cold buddy?"  "Yeah, but I love Jesus."  On second thought while very funny maybe it sends the wrong message.

We got home around 11pm and it was midnight before the CFO and I got to bed after clearing out the van, starting laundry, washing the sippy cups/dishes, and getting the Triplets' lunch ready for Friday.  Was it worth it?  Ya sure ya betcha!!  Memories are way better than sleep:)

Here is one of the coolest pics that the CFO took at the parade... with no editing.

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain

The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.
Aesop

Al

The easiest time picking out a tree ever!

Traditionally we pick out and put up our Christmas Tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Sunday we headed to Lowe's to pick out a tree.  I steeled myself for the challenge.  You know how it goes.... what do you think of this one?  Oh no, there is a hole in this one.  Untie this one then that one.  Shake it open. That is too tall or too short.  No, it is too dry.  Too fat or too small.  On and on it goes until we find the "right" one, we give up to try another day or we settle.

But not this year, no sir!  As we walked into Lowe's I was prepared for the worst.  We are a bit picky when it comes to Christmas Trees.  Well, we are just picky in general:)  We like Nobels.  Not the people, the tree Nobel Fir.  Not that we don't like Nobility as I don't know any but I just don't see the need for it these days.  But I digress:)  Much to our surprise another family is standing in front of the Christmas Trees looking at two awesome looking Nobel Firs.  Not just Nobel Firs but 8 ft Nobel Firs!  One was skinny and one was .... well... husky:)

They were doing the Christmas Tree dance.  The one where they all take turns holding each tree while the others stand back and the holders spin the tree.  The CFO asked "would you like us to hold the trees so you all can look at them at the same time.  They were a bit bewildered but said thank you.  Luckily for us they chose the larger one and we took the smaller one.  I have no idea how long they had been there to find those two trees but they were both great.  We were done inside two minutes after getting out of the van!

BTW.... War Eagle!

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
William Safire

When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anyone deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something
Dick Butkus

Al

I am thankful I am not shopping

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE shopping and spending money, just ask the CFO:)  But it seems that Black Friday deals are not as great or awe inspiring as the use to be, thanks to technology.  Most items are already at rock-bottom prices if you know where to look thanks to Google and the like.  Now I know you can get Zhu Zhu Pets for $4 at Wal Mart but other than a few really good deals.

If you are already looking to buy something then you can probably find it cheaper today than other days but I don't know that it was worth staying up till midnight or getting up at 3am for, but hey, that is just me.  Not to mention you can get a lot of this stuff online anyway.  I know, I know, some people just love the thrill of the hunt.  You know what I like better?  Staying at home in our warm, dry house, eating bacon and eggs with a good cup of coffee while buying Talladega Nights for $1.99 from Amazon with free shipping.  But hey, that is just me:)

If you were not feeling all that thankful this Thanksgiving just watch the news.  I PROMISE someone else has it worse than you.  I for one am thankful for all the stuff that frustrates me.  You know...

• family - nuff said:)
• taxes - a job
• traffic - a car
• weight - food to eat
• dirt/dust - all the stuff I clean
• yardwork - a house

The list could go on and on.  So for at least one day out of the year I try to look at the bright side of all the stuff that makes me crazy.  But that was yesterday... now I need to deal with my crazy family as we complain about "wealth redistribution", 280 traffic, how fit we use to be and wonder when I will find the time for all my house work and get the flower beds weeded.


Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Oscar Wilde

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.  
H.U. Westermayer

Al

Biking

We got the Triplets bikes for their Birthday.  Well, everyone got them bikes for their birthday.  Bikes are not cheap!  My best friend growing up, the Marine Doc, bought them their new helmets.  I always laugh about how safety conscious we/I am now compared to when I was a kid riding in the "gunner" spot of a station wagon down the highway.

The CFO had the idea to take the Triplets to the culdesac at the end of our street to let them ride some.  The only challenge is that it is at the bottom of a hill.  We made it down and back up with little issues.  The only real challenge was that I was holding/pushing two at once and they had to ride close to each other without running into me, each other or stretching me out too far.

Next up, learning to ride without training wheels.  Maybe in the Spring when I can find a nice hill with a gradual slope.  I taught my self at a neighbors house in his yard.  I want to wait till they want to do it.

For instance, the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created:  Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon.  

Bill Strickland

I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things. 

Lech Walesa 

Al

An update on the rewards (bribery)

A while back we started rewarding (bribing) the Triplets with chocolate milk if they stay in their beds at night.  It usually works.  I have upped the ante by also offering toaster strudels if the ALL stay in their beds at night.  This has been a rare occurrence.

Last night I got home late from celebrating Nuke Doc's Birthday.  We saw Inception and it is LONG, a great movie but LONG.  When I got home the CFO said "I have something you need to see.  I thought ugh-oh.  See, I dropped the Triplets off at the CFO's work at 4:30 pm and she had the evening with them while I hung out with Nuke Doc and another friend, the Toolman.  Since she had them, or I should say they had her, to herself/themselves I was a bit nervous about what I was going to see.

William was dead asleep in our front hallway.  It seems he had gotten out of bed and upon noticing that the CFO was still awake he decided to just wait her out.  Needless to say, he spent the rest of the night in our bed.  I then woke up sandwiched between the boys this morning.  I just keep reminding myself that there will come a day when they don't want to spend time with us.

One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.

William Feather

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday
Proverb

Al