Motivational Monday - Brothers

Thank goodness I was blessed with a "Luigi" in my life!  

Super Mario Bros. How I Remember It

Yup, that sounds about right!

August Photo a Day - Sibling

Hey there.  You see that guy up there?  Yup, that's my brother.  He posted this pic on Instagram not too long ago and I thought it was hilarious.  Not so much the pose or any thing like that.  It's the fact that we were at the same place, The Downey Brewery, earlier that week my brother was irked that he wasn't invited.  lol  So in retaliation, he sent this pic to show my friends and I, "how he does it."  lol  Yeah, we're awesome like that.  The last time my brother and I were both at The Downey Brewery at the same time, we each had about 6 boots (28 ounces of beer per boot!) and the wife had banned me from setting foot at the Brewery again.  lol  Yeah, that happened.

Anyways, it's always a fun time when I'm hanging with my bro so here's a little shout out to the only sibling I have, my lil brother.  *Cheers*  Later!

My Christmas Story - Banjo Kazooie, N64, and a Snitch

With Christmas being literally around corner, we all have our christmas stories. Whether it'd be getting that special gift, giving that special gift or just remembering the times you've had with your family and friends. I got my own Christmas stories to tell, maybe too many, to be honest. There's one I remember the most, its the one that makes me laugh and it reminds me of how much the memories of family means to me.

Motivational Monday - Growing Up Poor

My brother and I did the same thing!  But without boxes and paint!  lol

Introducing My Brother, Wide E Wake

Hey there.  Recently my brother came to me and asked about the blogging business.  I told him how long it took me to start up a fan base and all the long hours that it took to manage the site.  He told me that he may start one himself one day.  Pretty awesome, if you ask me.  I offered him a spot on this site as a way to get his feet wet.  You know, to get a feel for the blogging game and he was all for it.  Since that discussion (which was probably 2 or 3 days ago) he has already written up 3 posts.  I'll have his first post published shortly.  So let's give a warm welcome to my bro, Wide E Wake!  Make sure to follow his new Twitter feed!

The goal is for him to not only feel welcomed, but also start up his own fan base so that one day he can branch out and do his thing, if he so chooses to.  But in the mean time, we'll see what kind of changes we'll make to the site to help him along the way.  I'm already in the process of getting the site a much needed makeover and a new logo.  Hopefully, those changes will take place soon.  Later!

The Local Baseball Team DTK (Down to Strikeout)

Hey there.  So it's happening...  I'm on a local baseball team.  I'm still not 100% how it happened but I'm glad it did.  I've been feeling a little slow lately since I really haven't been exercising much, but since I've committed to the team, I've picked it up a bit.  I've been hitting the batting cages with my son and bro, working on that eye hand coordination, and even tossed a ball a bit to work on glove mechanics (or whatever the baseball lingo is).

Taking Up a New Hobby

And it's gone!

Hey there.  I am in need of a hobby.  Not just something where I can lounge around at home and do, but something that will get me outdoors and move around some.  I am still on a mission to be more fit, but I'll be honest and my workouts have been sporadic.  There is no routine, no consistency, and quite frankly, little to no motivation.  But you wanna know something that does motivate me?  COMPETITION!

Practicing Our Swing at the All Star Park Batting Cages

Hey there.  I'm not a huge baseball fan.  I just can't watch it and enjoy it on TV.  I don't mind playing it though.  Yesterday, my brother decided that he wanted to take my son to the batting cages.  Sure, why not?  The boy likes basketball and football but has not been exposed to much baseball so maybe this outing will spark an interest in the sport.  So I go pick up my brother and our cousin wanted to come along so the four of us are off the batting cages.

We went to the All Star Park batting cages in Bellflower.  Not a bad spot at all.  Being my first time there, I didn't know how much this would run me or what kind of equipment I needed.  We took some bats and batting gloves just in case.  When we asked the clerk how much, he said it was $35 for a full hour, unlimited pitches (11 at a time), free bat rental, and helmet rental.  And the best part was that we all could take turns and get as many pitches as we could get for that hour.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

I'm an awful hitter so I missed... and I missed a lot.  But that's alright because as the hour went on, my swing got better.  Not to mention my son's swing as well.  He doesn't have the upper body strength that we have so his swing was a little on the slow side as the hour went on, you could tell that fatigue was setting in.  However, when I asked him if he wanted to sit a round or two out, he refused.  We all told him that it's going to build some muscle on that small frame of his and that it showed good character to keep on swinging.  By the end, he definitely had a good time and asked if we could go back some time soon.  Awesome.

We left the cages saying how we all haven't been there in years, or never been there before at all.  This morning, my boy comes to me and says that his arms are sore.  lol  Mine are too.  I'm surprised that his hands are not aching a bit.  My palm and forearm are a little sore and I'm sure it's because I was using muscles I've never used before.

Perfect form!  Too bad I missed it!  

My cuz... he's been waiting 8 years for this moment.  lol

My brother the loser!  Swing and a miss!  hahahaha!  Where's the dingers you promised the boy?

My boy!  Taking a swing!  You can do it, boy!

Even though baseball is not the sport for me, it could be for my boy.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind going back to take some more swings.  If anything, it'll work out some of those muscles that I don't use and will better my hand eye coordination.  We all had a good time so I wouldn't mind heading back there with the same line up.  lol  Until then, later!

Looking for Great NBA Ticket Prices

Hey there.  I am looking for a great price on Los Angeles Lakers Tickets. I've been a fan of the Lakers for as long as I can remember. My brother and I would watch NBA basketball for long periods of time in our youth. Actually, we'll do that now. lol Especially after the All-Star break, since this is the time where teams get serious and start vying for playoff positioning.  Now, my son is getting sucked into the games.  He started watching the Laker games with me and, I believe, is now a fan for life.  This is why I'm looking for tickets to a game.  It'll be his first NBA game and I want it to be a good one.

The Staples Center is an awesome venue and I haven't been there in about a year now.  They recently unveiled a Jerry West statue outside the arena.  The NBA logo himself. I'm sure the boy wouldn't mind walking around seeing the statues and maybe even have a few seconds of air time on TV if we're lucky enough to pass by LA Live while they're filming.  You go in for a great NBA game and you come home with an experience.

If you're a fan and have not been to an NBA game, you need to definitely consider it.  Whether you're looking for Boston Celtics Tickets (to see the "Big 3"), Chicago Bulls Tickets, (to see Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and recently acquired Carlos Boozer.), Dallas Mavericks Tickets (To see Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd), or Houston Rockets Tickets (to see Kevin Martin and a cast of young talent), the NBA always delivers when it comes to a great game.  You should pick up tickets for when the Lakers are in town and witness Kobe Bryant, the Mamba himself, in all his awesomeness.  Man, am I looking forward to the game!  Later!

Is Wrestling Real or Fake? You Decide

Hey there.  My brother led me to the below clip of some "professional wrestling".  If you ever wondered whether or not professional wrestling is real, this video will answer that question once and for all.

Note:  It's a slow loading video but man, is it worth it.  HAHAHAHA!

Thanksgiving, A Long Weekend, and Surgery

Hey there.  Hope everyone had a blast this Thanksgiving weekend.  Nothing quite compares to a 4 day weekend!  Especially after eating some turkey and stuffing your face with... well... stuffing.  lol  So let's go to the highlights!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at my uncle Peter's place.  He's been the go to guy when it comes to holiday madness.  Most of the family gathers at his place and we all have a good time.  Thanksgiving was no different.  Most of the guys were ourside, hanging out, watching football and boxing, while most of the ladies were inside "cackling " (as Psycho Mike would say) and hanging out.  All in all, a very awesome experience.  Food and drinks were in abundance and you know damn well that I had myself more than a few plates of food.  And that's not counting desert!  lol  At the end of the night, the "secret santa" exchange was determined and we were on our way home, stuffed as a bird, a little after midnight.  Here are a few pics of the evening.

Serving salad from a cracked bowl cause that's how we do it.

The ladies enjoying a little bubbly

The young ladies enjoying a drink, like thier mothers.  It better be soda in them cups!

Daaaaaaaaaaam!  That bird looks delicious

So much food, they don't know where to turn!

Long Weekend

Once we semi-recovered from Thanksgiving, Black Friday reared it's ugly head.  Here my thoughts on Black Friday...  I'm not a big fan of it.  Every year, we hear about some people trampling and stomping over people because they just had to have whatever it is they're buying.  I'm more of an online guy.  If I can't find it online then I more than likely will not buy it.  I just hate hearing that a child was killed because a mob of people couldn't control themselves just to save a few bucks.

With that being said, we stated home most of Friday and didn't really do anything.  I avoided stores like the plague and just hung out with the family at home.  My son and I took advantage of the free XBOX Live Weekend (decided to let my membership end until I get my hands on the XBOX Live Family Pack) and played us some Bioshock 2 multiplayer matches.  I've always been a fan of the first person shooters and I like the way Bioshock 2 changes it up just a bit to differentiate it from all other first person shooters.  Anyways, we caught up on some gaming and decided to put up some holiday stuff.  I ended up getting a new tree, since our old tree is somewhere around 5 years old and needed to be replaced.  Also ended up getting some of that long green string type thing that people hang for Christmas, and started decorating the place.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  I don't have any pics of that yet so I'll get on that as soon as I'm home and there's still daylight.  lol


Monday's Surgery

Monday morning, I'm up at 5:30 am.  My brother was scheduled to have surgery on his shoulder at or around 7 am so I drove to the hospital to meet my brother and mother.  I arrived shortly after 6 am and my brother had already checked in.  The nurse was supposed to let us know when we would be allowed to see my brother before his surgery was to begin and when it was 7 am and still no word from the nurses, I asked her what's going on.  She pretty much said to walk on in and look for him.  lol  We find my brother, in his "purple" mumu strapped into a bed, getting ready for his surgery.  The doc comes in and starts to give us the run down of what is going down.  He grabs a purple marker that surgeons use to mark their patients and notices that it's a little on the small side.  He then makes a comment about how "they" seem to be cutting corners everywhere.  lol  My bro and I chuckle and the doc then shows us where the incision will take place and lets us know that he will be shaving off some of his bone and remove scar tissue.  He seemed like a pretty cool guy.  Once they whisk him away, my mother and I have coffee in the cafeteria while we wait for an update.

Them magic drugs are in full effect. lol

My wife arrived soon after and the three of us waited a bit before the doc came in with some photos of the inside of my brother.  He explained the pictures to us and told us that the surgery was a success.  He also explained how the recovery process will be a long one.  6 months worth of recovery time.  My brother will also need to attend therapy sessions to strengthen his shoulder. 

Once we were allowed to go see him, I asked how he was doing and what not.  Before long, we're watching America's Funniest Home videos and cracking jokes.  I know that it probably wasn't the best of places to mess around in, considering that there were other patients close by that didn't look too happy, but there we were, goofing around.  While the nurse was giving my brother his home care instructions... I interrupt her and say to her, "To give to us straight doc, is he gonna make it?"  lol  My bro and I chuckle and the nurse seemed to find it amusing.  My brother then starts to reference The Office and says that even though he had shoulder surgery, he's probably going to be going home with a limp.  lol 

Once they dismiss him, my mother grabs his clothes to hand to him.  Since he's buck naked under the mumu, I closed the curtain before he started getting dressed.  I stayed with him, just in case he needed help.  He managed to put on his underwear and his sweat pants with what looked like slight discomfort.  That's when I said, "Bro, I love you, but I'm not getting you dressed."  lol  That's when we hear my mother and a few other people outside the curtain laughing.  It's good to know that we both can laugh during something like surgery.

He then gets wheeled off to the street where we wait for my mother's car to be brought to us.  We then see a smart car pass by and my brother says to the nurse, "smart car...  there's nothing smart about that car.  Kitt from Knight Rider.... now that's a smart car."  The nurse laughed, I chuckled.  Damn you, The Office....  invading our lives like nothing else can.  lol 

I told them that we would go to my mother's place to make sure my brother was well situated.  I soon after get a text from my brother asking me to go get him FIFA 11 for PS3.  This guy... already trying to use the "woe is me, I'm hurt" thing against me.  When I said, no way, he turned his attention to food.  He asked if I'd bring him some brownies.  lmao!  My wife gets wind of my brother's brownie craving and decides to make the "baby" some brownies. lol  Oh man... good times.  We cap the night off with some Street Fighter IV.  I haven't played Street Fighter since Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES!  I managed to kick some butt with Blanka (old school favorite) and then gave up the last game to my brother... just so that he can feel better about himself.  lmao!  Now, he's at home not knowing what to do with himself.  6 months is a looooooooooong time.  I'll try to stop by and kick his butt on Street Fighter more often.  lol  Until then, later!

A Restless 3 Day Weekend

Hey there.  Happy Labor Day to all!  Our labor day weekend has been a restless one.  Our baby stated showing signs on sickness Friday evening and he had a stuffy nose through out the night.  That didn't let him sleep much so we were up most of the night trying to make him comfortable.  Come Saturday, he's in full blown sickness...  coughing, slight fever, and runny nose.  Needless to say, sleep wasn't meant to be for Saturday night.  Sunday... he seemed a little better, but now our daughter and son start with a sore throat and some coughing here and there.  Oh man...  The baby has gotten some of the older kids sick.  Come Sunday night, our son woke up close to midnight and refused to go to sleep.  Before I knew it, it was close to 4 am and we were still up trying to comfort him.

We had plans to go to the LA County Fair but most of the kids are sick, the baby is being fussy, and now I'm beginning to feel a sore throat.  Oh man... so much for an activity filled weekend.  My bro did come over on Saturday and I managed to win a game against him in Madden 11.  Believe it or not, I've never really played much of the Madden series so I'm awful at it... but we made it somewhat exciting and interesting!  lol 

Ugh...  Now I'm sneezing... greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat...  Hope we start feeling better soon.  Until then, later.

Took the Long Weekend Off

Hey there.  I stepped away from my online duties for the whole weekend off, which has it's good and bad sides.  Good because I needed to step away from a computer and not do any additional work during the holiday and bad because I know I missed out on several opportunities to increase my potential income.  Even my Twitter messages were extremely limited.  But, eh.  I needed to break so I decided to take it.  I will also post my top commentator winners later today and dish out some cash prizes so check back later in the day for that.  I'll have the rules for that in the post if you're new to the site. 

This long weekend had it's highs and lows.  I hung out with my bro on Friday to catch Boston take down the Magic.  I was expecting more fight from the Magic but they just didn't have it in them to take down a strong, veteran team in the Celtics.  I also was able to score on a new XBOX 360 for roughly $70!  Mine crapped out on my long ago and I grew weary of having to "fix" it every couple of weeks.  I just didn't want to do it anymore.  I plan on selling the parts on Ebay to make up some of the cash.  Anyways, since I'm part of this panel that takes online surveys and I cashed in my virtual money for GameStop gift cards and I was able to get a pretty damn sweet deal on an XBOX 360.  So I took advantage and grabbed the one that came with 2 free games.  The kids definitely missed it.  They immediately turned it on and started to play RockBand and Guitar Hero!  I as glad we got one cause now I can play FFXIII!!!

On Saturday,  we planned on checking out the neighborhood fair.  You know, the ones that they set up in the middle of the street that take up blocks of the neighborhood.  What we didn't count on was it being so damn hot.  Then it didn't help that the wife and I were in the middle of a "tiff" so we said screw it and went home.

Sunday was upsetting.  I did get to put in a few hours of FFXIII so that's a plus.  But as the day dragged on... we started to feel a little on the lazy side.  Being Sunday, we figured we'd just stay home and relax.  Then we remember that my mother was having some birthday "ice cream and cake" for her daughter.  It's just ice cream and cake, we figured so we'd go for an hour or so and then come home.  Well... it turned out to be more than that.  When we arrive, we see the grill on... oh man... this is going to be a "thing".  Once we get in the house, my mother says to me that my cousin is going to the store and that I should go with him.  He's only going to get some meat and chips to grill...  well... my mother decided that it's going to be a party type thing so as my cousin and I are at the store, we stocked up on chips soda, beer, meat, veggies, and all kinds of foods for the guests.  At this point, I was upset...  I called my mother and snapped at her for having all kinds of people over for "cake and ice cream" when it was just going to be "us".  She says to me, "Well, it's not like you were just going to come to sing happy birthday and then leave."  To which I replied, "Yes, actually, I was.  I wasn't even going to come today but I figured it was going to be quick."  I hang up and offer to pay for some of the stuff my cousin got cause quite frankly, it sucks that my mother sent my cousin to the store to pay for her party stuff.  So we got back, grilled it up, ate, drank, and hung out some.  A one our trip to my mother's turned out to be closer to 5 hours...  It was cool to see some of my aunt's, cousin's, and their little ones, so I'm not too upset about that, but I was peeved at the way the mother handled the whole thing....  Especially when she already has a birthday party planned for the following weekend!

On Monday, we try the fair thing again.  But this time, we wait until late afternoon, early evening before we head out.  The kids got on some rides, they won some stuffed animals and we enjoyed us some funnel cake.  All good stuffs that fairs have to offer.  lol  All in all, an enjoyable night.

As a bonus... we took the kids to see Shrek Forever After (or whatever it's called) in 3D.  I don't think I've even paid over $60 to take the family to see a film!  The 3D was pretty cool, but the movie simply isn't as good as the original.  Actually, all of the Shrek movies have diminished in quality since the first one.  Nevertheless, it did have it's moments and overall an enjoyable film.  If you guys have kids, definitely go and check it out.

So that was my weekend, friends.  How was yours?

Happy Mother's Day (Oh Yeah... and Happy Birthday to Me)

Hey there.  To all you mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  I know it was yesterday, but I didn't have a chance to post and figured I'd do it now.  Yesterday was also my birthday!  Knowing that Mother's Day would overpower any birthday, my wife set up a dinner for us on Saturday night.  We set out to eat with my mother and brother and we caught the Laker game all the while.  One hell of a game, it was.  Afterwards, we headed back to our place where the cake was the talk of the town.

I should've taken a picture of it, but I didn't, so I'll have to wait until they are Emailed to me, but the cake was kinda odd looking.  It was about 5 inches high and seemed more like a block of frosting than a cake.  My bro claimed that he made it and that's why it's funny looking.  Fair enough.  I'll buy that.  After watching a few episodes of The Office, we cut the "cake".  As I was about to slice through it, I noticed some silvery substance sticking out of it.  What the...  So I look closer and it's saran wrap wrapping a box.  No wonder it was funny looking.  It turns out that it was a box containing a Dwight Bobble Head doll.  How bad ass is that!  lol  We all laughed and my bro confessed that he wanted to put the box in jello but that they couldn't find a big enough container.  That would have been classic, but the cake thing is just as good.

Yesterday, my wife and I woke up to our gifts.  Me, for my birthday and her for Mother's Day.  I ended up getting her this one leopard bag from Betsey Johnson that I thought was pretty cool.  Aside from the standard leopard print, it had lightning bolts on it which I thought was pretty awesome.  She loved her purse and then presented me with my gift.  The wrapping was pretty cool.  It was home made by the kids and the paper had all kinds of stuff sprawled across it.  Words like "daddy"  happy birthday" and "Pantera" (lol).  I opened it carefully to void ripping the paper and uncovered Final Fantasy XIII.  Does my babe know me or what?!  lol  I've been wanting it for sometime  but I'm not one to dish out full price for a game unless I really want it (Guitar Hero: Metallica) or it's a collector's item (Final Fantasy XII).  I thanked her for it and reminded her that I'll be missing for awhile.  I'll be there physically, but my mind will be on Final Fantasy.  lol

We then got dressed and we treated my mother and mother in law out to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.  It's always a good time when we get together and laugh it up.  After we over stuffed ourselves, we took off to the mall and treated my mother in law to a mini shopping spree.  She was able to go to any store and choose out of stuff.  After wards, we intended to go to the park and spend some time with the kids.  That didn't happen.  As soon as we got home after the mall, the wind really picked up and it didn't seem like the best of ideas to take the baby outside.  So my wife and I decided to stay in, order a pizza, and watch Beyond Belief.  Later in the evening, she baked me a cake.  A REAL cake, lol, and my family sang happy birthday to me.  All in all, a great weekend.

Going to our First Dodger Game

Hey there. I'm not very big on baseball. Don't get me wrong, if someone were to come along and say, let's play baseball, I'd probably say sure and go hang out with the guys. But watching the sport is a completely different issue. I just find it a little slow. There's not much in movement from the players and, in my opinion, there's too much time in between pitches.

Now, 2 days ago, I was awarded 3 tickets to a Los Angeles Dodger game. My brother and I were talking about taking my son to a game and this seemed to be perfect for that occasion, because really... who gives out 3 tickets? That's an odd number if you ask me. Anyways, he's up for it and my boy is excited about going so we'll be heading out to that later this evening.

I'm hoping that a live experience is different than the one sitting in front of the TV. My brother claims that it's better, but then again, he's a fan. I just figure that's it would be some great bonding time with my son and bro. The 3 of us out to see a game. And just because I don't like something doesn't mean my boy won't like it. We try not to shield them of stuff we don't like. If they wanna listen to certain music, so be it. If they want to watch certain sports, so be it. As parents we support and we expose the kids to our style of stuff and if they like it, great, if not, that's great too. As long as they get to have the experiences that they enjoy, I'm all for it. Later!

(Quirky) Brotherly Love

Halloween??? Nah, just fooling around.

Hey there.  My brother and I have a pretty strong relationship.  Well, at least I like to think so.  Since we were young, we always hung out together and even more so when our father passed away over 18 years ago.  Our mother raised us on her own, but she worked so much (and partied!) that sometimes it was just us taking care of ourselves.  I'm sure that has a lot to do with how we interact with each other.  It's always a riot, we always laugh, and we have this quirkiness to what we find comical.  The Office, Dumb and Dumber, and other "quirky" shows and movies are hilarious to us.  We constantly quote them and actually use many of the phrases from these shows and movies without even thinking it about it.  Case and point:  My wife and I were driving to work or my mother in laws (can't remember where to) and she asks me, "What's a Sasquatch?", to which I replied, "Only the strongest animal on the planet!", taken directly from what Dwight says to Andy on The Office during their duel.

Now...  my wife is used to my "comedic" phrases and gestures.  This one took the cake.  She looked at me, said her "Oh my god" and turned away and chuckled to herself.  Me, on the other hand, am laughing my ass off.  lol  She then looks at me and says, "And you didn't even think about it.  You're turning into Dwight."  lol

Now... if it was my brother... we'd be going at it to see who would reign supreme.  Just look at the below...  This was an actual text conversation that we had yesterday.  The whole thing started with me asking my brother what he was having for dinner.  Don' ask...  lol  Here's the conversation, word for word...

Bro: I'm thinking "where the f*** you taking me????

Me: Not tonight, maybe some other night.  The kids made honor roll (again) this month.  lol

Bro: LOL mom never took us anywhere for honor roll

Me: Yeah, tell me about it.  We took ourselves to chuck e cheese, oh my bad...  Pistol Petes. lol

Bro: lol yea, ourselves

Me: lol

Bro: Moms had no idea I just stop bringing home the honor rolls left them in the locker lol

Me: Nah, mine "mysteriously" got lost with the homework. lol

Bro: lol  I never did homework but I managed

Me: Yeah, I stopped doing the stuff in jr. high. lol

Bro: Man I hung my certificates in class!!! lol

Me: My certificate was the template.  They had to change MY name to let other kids have some. lmao!

Bro: lmao... I would get them so often that they just started making photocopies so that they save money on the "good" paper

Me: Man, they stopped giving me certificates and just handed a lifetime achievement plaque.  Figured it would save time and money.

Bro: lmao!!! u been to HP???? I have my own statue!  I graduated and they're thinking about naming the gym after me!

Me: Don't even get me started on sh*t named in my honor!

Bro: lmao!  What the school toilet???

Me: More like a whole subject!  Ever heard of Viculus?  Look it up, you probably haven't cause you couldn't handle regular calculus.

Bro: lmao!  Stuuuuuuuppppppiddd!!!!  Ever had AP Mandizziiiee Literature???  Takes English literature to whole other level... or even AP Physical M****???  Ever heard of P90X???  Ten times worst!!!  Can't handle that kind of work out.

Now...  At this point, I know he's stumped.  Answers are not short and he took forever to respond.  He just couldn't top what I said and he knew it.  It continues...

Me: Nah, foo.  I got you on that one. lol  sh*t was weak.  lol

Bro: lol yea one for you finally lol

Me: lmao! this guy. Sore loser.

Bro:I gave u credit lol... we'll meet again

Me: That we will.

Bro: We will slap swords lmao

Yup...  that's a typical conversation between my brother and I.  Only us would have a conversation in regards to honor roll and escalate to whatever you want to call what the above is.  lol  The funny thing about it is that we'll find ANYTHING and turn it into the above.  lol  I'm curious to know if our's is unique or if some of you out there have similar relationships with your siblings.  Until we "meet again".  Later!

The Kids and My Father's Presence

Hey there. My pops passed away when I was 9 years old. I grew up without really having a father figure in my life and it was pretty tough. My mother was rarely home so my brother and I practically raised ourselves. I guess that's why my brother and I have a pretty close relationship. Anyways, I always told myself that I would try to be the best dad I could. I am now the dad of 4 and I do my best to provide the best I can. But sometimes... I feel like I'm getting a little help from my pops.

There have been some pretty strange occurrences involving my brother and my kids. First off, when my dad first passed away, my brother would say that he would see him in his dreams. Mind you, my brother was 4 years old when my dad passed, so it's not like he would be making stuff up like that. I'm sure that he was too young to really know what was going on. Then, when our oldest son was born, more weird occurrences started happening. My son would be in his swing, and the swing would inexplicably move on it's own, the TV would turn on and off on it's own, and we would hear some pretty weird noises coming out of a radio that wasn't even plugged in. When our oldest daughter was born, more of the same went on. The same with the swing and I started to hear voices. It never really freaked me out, but it did raise my curiosity.

With our youngest daughter, we didn't have much in that kind of activity, but we did have one huge one. My wife set our daughter down on the couch and she went off to the kitchen. My brother in law was in his room, my wife in the kitchen, and our daughter in the living. Then, my wife hears the sound of someone giving someone a huge kiss. You know, that puckering sound. So she goes over to the living room, thinking that it was my brother in law kissing our daughter. Nope, he was in his room, semi-asleep. My wife freaked. She's never really dealt with anything of that sort so to hear "someone" kiss our baby frightened her. The other night, as we were having dinner, my daughter says to me that she remembers seeing "little daddy" when she was born. I asked her who that was and she said that it was my dad, that she likes calling him "little daddy." It threw me in for a loop but I continued along with her to see what else she would say. She says she remembers seeing him when she was born and that now she misses him. My wife and weren't sure what to make of it. We were not talking about my father so it was extremely odd that she would just throw that idea out there. Now, things are happening with our youngest son.

We find that our son loves to stare at my pop's picture. I have a picture (drawing) of my father in the living room. When we sit on the couch holding our son, we see him stare at the picture and then laugh and coo. Another instance involved footsteps. I was at the store and my wife was sitting with my baby son on the couch. Again, he looked at my father's picture and laughed and cooed and smiled. Then, my wife heard footsteps in the hallway. She freaked. She called me to ask me to hurry home. I check it out and the kids were asleep and I as I stand in the living room, talking to her, we both hear the footsteps again. Pretty intense stuff. And that leads me to the bouncer. Our son loves his bouncer and we believe to have found out why. When we place our son it, we snuggles with his blanket and then drifts asleep. Nothing weird, right? WRONG! That is until you see that the bouncer is rocking itself, even though it's off! It's happened on more than one occasion and I point it out to my wife each time I see it happening. So what are we make out of this?

I say, it's my pops helping me out. It's always happening around our kids, and it's usually when we're trying to rock them or soothe them. I joke around with my wife and tell her that it's my pops doing all the crazy things around the house. The corona bottle, Odin, and since the kids' birth, them. Just the other night, I placed our son in his bouncer and as I was walking away, my wife noticed that the swing was pushed by no one. Yup, it was swinging on it's own. We both just looked at it and said, "Dad, he's in the bouncer." I smiled at wife and she still looked a little freaked out by it. Well, at least we know that my pops is still around, helping out. And if one of the kids start to complain that their head hurts, I'll know it's him... giving them a noogie. lol Later!

Stupid, Funny Movies

Hey there. My wife and I watched the movie The Hangover this weekend. Word on the street was that it is one hilarious movie. So it got our interest and we sought it out to watch. I thought the movie was hilarious. I was laughing throughout the film at it's stupidities while my wife was practically falling asleep while watching it. She didn't find it as funny or as good as I did. Later on in the day, as I was flipping through the movie channels, Step Brothers was on. I said, "Oh, Step Brothers" and my wife goes, "Again... You and your brother like retarded* movies." She didn't find Step Brothers too funny either. I asked her which movie made her laugh more than 3 times and she said Elf. lol

My bro and I, laughing it up since the mid '80s

My bro and I are goofballs. We quote, if not act out, funny parts of movies all the time. I just sent a Twitter message to my bro about what my wife said and his response is that the movies we like are "witty" and "smartass" type. lmao We can go on and on about movies and the funny lines in them and literally end up in tears from the laughter no more than 10 minutes into the conversation. Or sometimes its just randomly shouted out to start a conversation. It's not uncommon for my brother to walk in a room and go "I'm singing. I'm in a store and I'm singing!" LMAO The movie that we're stuck on right now is Step Brothers. We'll send messages back and forth quoting the movie. Great lines such as:

"I have a belly full of white dog crap in me, and now you lay this shit on me?"
"Look... we can bicker about this night, but what's done is done Dad. Are you guys going to invest or not?"
"Mom, I honestly thought I was gonna be raped for a second. He had the craziest look in his eyes. And at one point he said, "Lets get it on.""
And... "You have the voice of an angel. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus."

Oh man... And this isn't a new trend. We've been doing it since we kids. Dumb and Dumber used to get us cracking up all the time. Ace Ventura and Austin Powers were other characters we quoted and acted out constantly. Oh man.. Good times, good times. I don't doubt if The Hangover takes the new spot as the movie we go back and forth on. This movie has some pretty hilarious lines like:

"I always wondered why they were called roofies. Cause you're more likely to end up on the floor than the roof. They should call em floories."
"Oh, you know what? Next week's no good for me... The Jonas Brothers are in town. But any week after that, it's totally fine. "
"Now remember, what happens in Vegas stays, in Vegas... Except herpes, that shit will come back with you."
"I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust."

So what about you guys? You guys have a quirky characteristics like my bro and I? Any crazy antics between yourself and your siblings? We always manage to get someone laughing. Sometimes we're the only ones laughing because of our sense of humor. lol When is the next stupid, funny planning on coming out? Until then, later.

*If I offended anyone by my use of the word retarded. I'm sorry. Don't mean to offend anyone by it and it's used in no way shape or form to put down anyone.