The Postman Always Rings Twice...

...But some asshat at 1am rings once then knocks and runs away. I was awoken around one this morning by two very worried looking people that were in fact my children. It took me a minute to put it all together but they said the doorbell rang and then someone knocked. So I made them stay put and I wearily made my way to the living room and peered out the window to absolutely nothing, no people no broken windows or car damage. Everything seemed in order, so I sent everyone back to bed and attempted to get some sleep, which by the way is the story of my life.
When I woke up 5 hours later (have I mentioned I am on vacation?) I headed outside to survey the damage or what ever the hell happened hours previous. Nothing was disturbed and nothing seemed out of order, the only thing that was different from when I first laid my head on the pillow last night was a bright blue pamphlet rolled up and wedged in the handle of my storm door. I took a glance around the neighborhood and it seemed everyone had been visited by this nocturnal pain in the ass.
What could possibly be so important to warrant everyone's attention at  such a late hour...was it a call to arms, perhaps a neighborhood watch was starting up, or maybe someone opened a new business and was getting word out (any of these would piss me off but not as much as the thing it actually was).
It was an advertisement for an upcoming session of Vacation Bible School at a local church. What the hell? Really? Now in all honesty I never saw anyone, it could be a coincidence, but I swear I checked all the doors and cars before I went to bed and this small piece of religious advertising was not on the door at midnight when I finally decided to go to bed. So I assume that someone trying to drum up enrollees at the local VBS decided, perhaps last minute-"OH SHIT, I have got to get these flyers out and fast!" Rediculous, I dont even know how to respond....
So I put that behind me and headed out to start my day, unfortunately everyone in my house likes to eat and have clean clothes and such, which meant the wife and I headed to the local Walmart at 7:00am hopefully to beat the July fourth crowd. Nope. It wasn't bad when we went in, but an hour later the Wal-Mart frustration set in. We loaded our basket with the necessities and headed for the checkout, which by now was three or four deep at all of the three open checkout lines. Yes three out of 22 checkout lanes were open, three. In case you missed something I said THREE. And as always I picked the one with the cashier that has to talk through every item that she rings up, and the customer ahead of us was loud and proud and was more than happy to keep up her end of the conversation. So a 45 minute shopping trip turned in to little over an hour and I swear I will never go back, which is BS because it is close and cheap and I have little other options...
Did some yardwork, made some absolutely amazing pulled pork for our July Fourth celebration later. Hit up the fireworks warehouse and tried to get a nap (to no avail). Spent the evening at my oldest daughter's house with her fiance and the wife and other two kiddos. Blasted a bunch of fireworks, ate, laughed and had a very nice evening. Nothing is better than spending time laughing and having fun with the wife and kids, and we had a ball. Now as the 4th turns into the 5th everything is winding down and things are starting to get quiet. So hopefully everyone had a safe and fun Fourth and the weekend brings much of the same, until next time...don't forget Vacation Bible School is starting next week, let no Ding-Dong-Ditch go to waste...

What Dreams May Come...

...Well I will tell you what dreams, scary stressful, wake up in a cold sweat, fucking dreams. That was my night last night. Chased, shot and left for dead, only to survive and be disfigured and then wake up and I have been asleep for all of 15-20 minutes max. Then I could not go back to sleep for nothing. I hate it, I lay there and replay my whole list of wrong choices and stupid moves and think about what the hell I should have done differently.
But, you know what? Screw all that, I preach constantly to the wife and whoever will listen to live in the now and be thankful for what is happening today. Somewhere on I saw someone post a quote from Lao Tzu (who he is I have no idea...) that goes like this:

If you are depressed,

you are living in the past.

I you are anxious,

you are living in the future.

If you are at peace,

you are living in the present.

I usually don't subscribe to this sort of internet meme fodder but this kind of hit home. For years I have always worried about what was gonna happen, or what stupid thing I did in the past. That meant I could not enjoy even a bit of my day. But lately, maybe old age setting in, I have learned to enjoy the now and not worry about the rest, because in the end I have no control over most of that anyway. So as I cruise the house on this 3rd of July at 11:05 and check on the sleeping children (one is watching netflix on her computer, and the other is watching youtube on his tablet) I am thankful they are home and that my first day of vacation was restful and productive. And now I will try to get some sleep, and hopefully no gunfire....

Sleep Walk With Me...

... Because that is how I felt all day. Little sleep last night and a 4:40am wake up time had me in zombie mode all day.
The good news is I am taking off until Tuesday, the bad news is that this day dragged on for freaking ever. Then to top it off,  when I tried to bail out early I got a last minute request for some floor plans so leaving early was out of the question.
So now I am staring at five days away from the office and some time home with the gang. You have no idea how nice it is to sleep even until 6-7 in the morning and drink my coffee on the couch instead of driving down the interstate. Needless  to say I am looking forward to some time away.
So have a great weekend, stay safe, remember those deployed,  and have a designated driver...

Losin' it...

... Or should I say Lose It.  That is the app that I downloaded to my phone back in April.  I have to say that it is working pretty good,  I am down 24.8lbs and feel a lot better.  The thing about this app is you have to log your food and exercise and it gives you a calorie budget to use as a guideline.
So far I have logged my meals everyday and I have been walking a mile and a half every evening.  Somehow this is easier  for me to stick to because if it is written out and I can see it then I cheat less and tend to stick to it.  This may not be for everyone but it seems to work so if you are in to it give it a shot.
I realized the older I get the more sedentary I become. During the winter months I am in the office more and in the field less.  Over this past winter I got to feeling bloated and lazy and then my oldest daughter got engaged and my middle child graduated high school leaving me feeling old and fat.  So I decided to do something about it,  after all I still have a ten year old son that runs me ragged and I have to try and keep up.  So we shall see how it goes,  only thirty more pounds til my goal of 190. So say a prayer and I will keep you advised...

This is the end...

... Of the weekend.  As I write this laid back on the couch I have succumbed to laziness. 
From the beginning... I got off work on Friday and spent my commute draining a 32oz Coke Zero and listening to Never Not Funny (Jimmy Pardo's podcast, if you don't listen you should). Got home around 6 and got cleaned up and grabbed the wife and headed out.
Went to a local joint and took in some live music and warm drinks but had a good time.  Got home around midnight and hit the sack around two.  Since I had been up since around five it was a long day.  Spent Saturday running around with the kiddos and getting house stuff accomplished.  Another late night and then hit the lake today and that flat wore me out so here I am camped out on the couch wondering where my weekend went.  So back to the grind tomorrow...
This will be a short week.  Looking forward to some time off and some fun with the family.  So until next time...