Rainy days never get me down

I’ve been sort of busy with the wedding plans, moving in and all around helping with all that jazz. It’s been fun to make fun of Trace with each day coming closer to his impeding nuptials. It looks like it might be fair weather for the wedding night, my G says if it rains on your wedding day that it’s a good sign.
Thinking back on Trace as we all grew up together, I never imagine him being married before me. It’s funny to see him take on responsibilities like a grown up, oh, he is going to kill me for that but I suspect he won’t be reading this for a while.
I remember the day I met him, well actually Jacks met him first. We just moved into the new beach house tinkering around on the beach. Jacks naturally gravitated to this guy on a surf board and they became instant friends. Inseparable they were, getting into trouble at Sunday school and later church services. Traces father is the preacher, so the wrath really was cast upon them just about every weekend.
Rock battles, colored water balloon fights, pranks, fires, fights, homework, football, baseball, racing, singing, crying, laughing are just some of the crazy thoughts that run in the back of my mind of us growing up
In our early teen years Trace would spend some time with me and Luke, buying fireworks and liquor. The summer that my parents left for Europe with the constant parties, he was always just a few houses away for some fun. The summer of haircuts, we three thought that if we cut our hair short on one side, this was Jacks idea, that we would be the coolest guys on the island, this lead to all three of us having a crew cuts and sun burnt heads for that year and constant taunting from the longer haired boys.
Triple dates and double dates was always an adventure with us, since he was the preachers’ son he always wanted to be out of the mold causing havoc where ever he may be.
Ever the defender of his friends he was just as eager as I, in fighting someone for the defense of a friend. During ball games he would be right in the mix of the battle if there was one.
The year I ended up massively dehydrated and in the hospital for those weeks, he helped with the family and made sure they were all comfortable. Especially my little sister, making his little sister hang out with her, he was just that kind of guy.
He and Jack learned to drive together in a beat up pick up truck on my grandparents’ farm. That tree is still nicked pretty furiously to this day and they still won’t say who the driver was.
Later the girls were older and the issues more serious, he kept up with the rest of us dating and being out. At a time I felt he would call off the whole idea of dating again and shunned us all for wanting a partner, those were some long hard weeks but are long gone. His heart is totally taken now; I see it in his eyes when he talks about his future in his little living room the other day. He had a glazed look in his eyes as if he had an open window to the next ten years in view. Trace, my friend I wish you nothing but happiness and hope in your next adventure. You found a wonderful caring and beautiful woman to spend the rest of you days with on this earth.

Fay come this way!

The last few days have been mildly moist for us, not that I’m complaining, we really need the rain. I’ve been talking to some of the farmers around here and they are all saying about how the peanuts and other crops are burning up.
I’m glad not to be a farmer, its hard enough to get yard plants to stay alive. Right now if my choice of planting could be it would be corn. So I could make some money off the ethanol production. Some day maybe they will make a car that runs off cotton seed oil, wow the world would smell sweet then!
I’ve been run ragged trying to help Trace and Michelle with moving, cleaning and organizing. Friday night is the big night for the two of them; Trace can’t seem to smear off that smile on his face. He wants to play a song for her during the wedding, brave man! It no surprise to her so don’t scold me for putting this in early. For the last week all he does it practice it over and over.
Spoke with Jacks a while yesterday to make sure he doesn’t come down on his bike, its still raining here and I believe at his house as well. That’s all we need, him down here with a cold to pass it along to everyone.
Lori is about to flip out, she’s excited to be a flower girl as well has having her big brother home for a day. She has put her dress on so many times now that the creases have worn out. Standing in front of the mirror, spinning about admiring herself in her pretty frilly dress and shoes. I can’t count how many plans she’s made for them in his short stay, actually he could be here a little longer since it is a holiday weekend.
As soon as I get home I will post as many details possible about the wedding

Trying on clothes is trying

I’m not a big shopper; clothes to me don’t make the man. I wear clean clothing to work and get them dirty/sweaty in the end result day.
Last night I was fitted for my suit for Traces wedding, what fun! Ladies, until you have Sam the Taylor sliding a measuring tape in areas you don’t feel comfortable you will never understand…. And don’t give me the “well try the gynecologist” routine please. I really am kidding ladies; don’t hit me with hate mail.
It is just a boring ordeal to stand there while he yanked on sleeves and checked the cuffs and shoulders, after 20 minutes it was over and done with. On to better things, the bachelor party plans. Of course Wayne and I made necessary arrangement of “special guests”. Trace wants to start out at Hooters, which is fine with me, at one point this weekend he is having a wedding party on the houseboat that he sings on during the weekends.
I spoke to Jacks early this morning and his suit is ready to rock for him as well, he’s gone down two sizes when G sees him….yeah.
Trace and I will at some during the week be moving him and Michelle into the apartment they found. It’s a cute one bedroom set up, only temporary until they find a home they both like. Michelle of course has the most to move in; I think Trace might have a truck full of personal items.
We are doing our best to include little Julie in the whole process, she’s a flower girl in the wedding along with Lori. Over the last two years she’s become very introverted and didn’t wish to be a maid of honor. If it were up to Lori, she would be front and center doing a dance and a cheer.

Parents

You know at times I want to pity some parents; then again, I want to pity some kids.
The other day I had to go to Builders Square for some equipment as I was there, two little boys were throwing a fit to go home. Granted Builders Square isn’t the most fun place to be but I noticed the Dad totally ignored them whimpering and whining the whole time. Eventually it began to get extreme when one of the little chaps decided to sit in the floor and carry on.
I’m not going into full detail what I’d have done to that kid but you can imagine; in fact a few people were relieved when they finally walked out of the store. If that were me or one of my brothers, we wouldn’t have been able to sit very comfortably for a while and really hated the site of two joining walls where our noses would have been firmly planted for a long, long while.
I know that parents mainly have their hands tied when they are out in public. Every time I think of punishment in a public area I think of child welfare coming down on my head for abuse.
My PG always said to “Keep it at home” in other words; if you do something out of line expect the wrath to come on you the minute you step in the house. If I did something wrong I paid for it in a big way. My grandparents made us work in the garden; my Mom was a believer of putting you in a corner, my Pops believed in the belt. I think chores are a good punishment, I can remember being pointed to the garden many times. Luke rarely felt my Pops belt but many a day he had to cut the grass or pick up the yard. Jacks would freak if he was sent to the corner.
So many parents give out that empty threat “wait till we are home” and the kids know it. “Oh, I forgot about it” or the ever popular “Well, they were so good at the time”. I would be good after being a brat if I knew it would get me out of a long corner standing.
The hard part of it all is that the parents don’t see that slighting their children with the results of being bad only hurts the kids. If Jimmy sees that he can race all over Wal-Mart and knock over the items without any repercussions, later in life Jimmy will think its ok to knock over Wal-Mart and walk out with their money.
I guess all this stems from a conversation this morning where one of the Moms came in late to work because her child refused to go to kindergarten class. In fact she stated “No mommy, I wont be going” which lead to an all out battle for the two of them. I asked if anything would happen when she got home and the Mom said “no, what can I do?” Well by all means get a good chuckle out of it and carry on! See you in about 5 years pulling your hair out trying to get the little brat to school and you ending up in jail for child neglect.
At least talk to the kid and explain to them in simple terms why they need to go to school or why its not cool to whimper and carry on in the store. Looking away and pretending they aren’t yours isn’t helping the situation.

Dates are set!

I had a semi busy semi slow day yesterday, in the morning I did my favorite job which is laying pavers down for a patio, in fact I will be doing a lot of that in the next few weeks. A new subdivision is being made and all the houses are having paving block patios and walk ways and the occasional retaining wall.
I hope to be in the mood to put my own down when its time to add it to my house. I checked on that late yesterday evening, it’s moving right along with the foundation. There are a lot of houses being constructed around mine so it’s interesting to watch the growth. I’m also curious to see who will be moving in next to me.
After the house check I stopped in to check on Trace, the wedding date has been set for August 29th at 7 pm. In the back of my mind for some reason I knew the wedding would be on Labor Day weekend. I was given my instructions from Michelle what type of suit she wanted and shoes. I like a woman who does that; she gives you exactly what she wants no whining or hemming and hawing she tells you flat out how it’s going to be. Besides Trace needs someone like that!
Trace was nervous about it already, he is asking me ideas where to take her on the honeymoon. Their deal was, she had the wedding she always wanted and he could pick out the honeymoon location. Tomorrow night I plan on picking her for likes and dislikes on her trips, I even gave him the one of the places I would go as a suggestion St Thomas.
Jacks will have to be fitted for his suit as well; at first it felt very awkward for me to be the best man. Because Jacks and Trace are very close and practically grew up together, but Trace and I are of the same age and in the last couple of years become just as close. Jacks took the news like a champ and only wishes the best for them, besides with him so far away it’s hard to plan and have dinner parties without the best man. Who would give him the proper bachelor party?
Now speaking of the bachelor party, I need to work on that!

Today’s giggles

Yesterday was a monster busy day for me with a surprise meeting at the City. They are making plans for a few ROW changes, which means I need to work out some plans for the development/beautification of the out parcels, re-election time comes along and they want to make everything pretty.
Today I had a few minutes to spare so I text my favorite person in the world to get a laugh – Jacks. He’s still away from home, trucking away at his new school and learning the ways of Life on his own.
His girlfriend tells me about his adventures of them cooking together and what wonderful creations he makes for dinner. If she only knew about him and catching items on fire, she would clearly ban him from the kitchen area.
Anyway, a few minutes later he calls me and I get the latest scoop about his world. Apparently this weekend he wanted to wash his truck and motorcycle, so he did while on the phone with Jess. He finished his projects and grabbed the door knob to go in the kitchen, it wouldn’t budge. Not that he locked himself out of the house, he said it jammed.
Clearly in a panic, he didn’t want to tell her what was going on, so his mind scrambled in what to do. “I was about to break a window and debating on which one would be less costly” When he remembered that he left the down stairs bathroom window unlocked, he raced to grab his ladder and excused himself from Jess a moment, to wiggle his long body though the window. “I just knew I was going to get stuck with my feet dangling out the house” The bathroom window only opens up so wide so there isn’t much room.
Half way in, he panicked thinking he was stuck and pushed himself back out. He stood in the back yard a while to settle down a moment then thinking about borrowing a neighborhood kid but decided to do it on his once more.
He said he climbed the ladder once more and slid in grabbing the sink and pulled himself in, stood in the bathroom and did a fist pump in excitement then raced in the house, out the front door and back to the phone. Jess asked him why he was so out of breath. I’m not sure if he told her or not, anyway she reads this so she will know now.
I can just see the neighbors looking out and spotting two long legs poking out a window as he struggled to get in.
I will be mailing him some WD-40 for those less stressful phone calls later on today.

Job woes, oh knows!

Not for me however, my job is going along swimmingly, the house is under construction, when it doesn’t rain. The foundation was dug and poured, soon the wall studs will be placed and roof, then I will have a shell of a home.
I’m talking about Jacks girl friend and her job, seems as if Jess is having work worries come along her way.
We spoke last week and she immediately told me she’s angry with her job of seven years, I guess her boss is forcing her to sign a contract that doesn’t please her and on top of that stick her in that position for two years!
First off, there should be some sort of law against making someone sign a contract without the employee being able to make adjustments, who wants to work fifteen hours a week for free? I mean come on really, you are working for them but there has to be some give and take. She’s worked there long enough; the lady should know what kind of person she’s going to be losing.
Eventually she talked her self into organizing a plan for a new job, no sense in staying where you aren’t wanted or appreciated is my motto. So this week she’s getting that resume worked up and putting her name in the job pool once more. I cant wait to hear the story she tells me about quitting.
Like right now for myself, I’m in no rush to hire another secretary to take the position of the last two I’ve had. I’m willing somewhat to adjust, my only requirements is they have to stay until 5 p.m. and not take lunch when I do.
Times are hard and some people do try to make it on low salaries and are willing to take anything that’s offered to them, that’s where the employer has the upper hand on you. I have some friends that weasel their way around work, playing off sick making up excuses, anything really to get out of work.
I have another friend and her boss is abusive in wanting her to attend after hour functions all the time. Before you think bad, they are both married women, just her boss is a spoiled brat and demands to get her way. I remember Cassandra telling me once about a wooden mind puzzle being on her bosses’ desk and her daughter came in and tore it apart. Naturally Cassandra’s boss thought Cassandra messed it up and demanded her fix it. That afternoon I had fun putting her puzzle back together for her.
Personally I like to work, but I’ve always dreamt of winning the lottery and not having to but what would I do with myself in the end result? I guess do what I’ve always wanted and that would be to move to Key West and watch the tourist walk by.

I am the master juggler!

All of last week I worked on so many projects that I forgot about other projects, working on the job, my house, Trace, Michelle, Lori, Mom, on the job. You name it I worked it. Which is good maybe, it kept me very busy, but I forgot to blog, that was the only drawback.
Monday – Wednesday I worked on my house plans, talking to contractors, electricians, and concrete and bricking people, plumbers, roofers. You name it, if they worked on a house we talked about it.
The phone rang off the hook most the time, couldn’t plan for chatter this week or next. It was just too busy of a week to slow down.
Friday night I ran out with the guys for pizza and beer and a movie. I fell asleep at the movies, not that it was boring. I’m no critic, it was cold and dark my stomach was full, the perfect setting for me to drift off. The guys wanted to put party favors on me as I slept, luckily the ladies wouldn’t have it. I’m happy to have Bee around to protect me!
Mom is doing well, the heat still bothers her somewhat and she swells up around her joints that give her pain, she had an MRI for her stomach problems, the doctor said everything looked fine it probably is her medication. This makes me happy because I was sure that the cancer had returned. She would eat and be fine for a while then all the sudden become very ill.
My Pops will be coming home for a week or so from Branson. Joy….
This just gears me up on the production of the house; I’ve been given a time limit of three months tops. If Jacks is allowed to help, I want him to paint a mural in the dining room for me but that’s weeks away, maybe I can time it for Traces wedding weekend.
My PG has been extra moody for a while, Mom made mention that he’s not heard from us in a few weeks. Luke tried calling him one afternoon but he was out, nothing from Jacks since the family reunion, the bad part is, PG came over to drop off some tools last Saturday while I was home. He dropped them off, jumped back in his truck and left, not saying a word. I love the old man but come on, there has to be a little give and take here.
Maybe this week will slow down, maybe not. I hope not!