the 30 dirty

now that i have had a couple days to soak in being 30, i am going to do a post that will stand as a time capsule for me, and this blog (with the big assumption that both of us are still around in the future). i am going to put down some ideas, and ask for those 5 readers of this blog to share any input or ideas that you may have, regarding making my 30's even be better than my 20's. hard to beat, no doubt, but i think with a little blood, sweat, tears, and greenback (it's money for those who didn't know) we can make my 30's bigger and better than my roaring 20's. so for starters i am suggesting that i at least make it through my 30's alive. easy to do you may say, but how many of you have heard of the darwin awards? next would have to be...... finishing school. i know your reading this thinking "jodie you have an associates degree in telecommunication from the prestigious south plains college, what else do you need? if your not thinking that, then you should, but back to the point at hand, i need to at least get to my bachelors, if not masters (but let's not get too ahead of ourselves now) before i turn 4.0. i am planning on still being with my wife amy, and our adorable boys (you can read amy's blog if you want to know what trouble they are currently getting into), but you never know, amy could come to her senses (for my sake let hope she doesn't). its a sad but true, but that is really all i got right now as i am trying to be as realistic as possible. yeah there are somethings like play in a band & touring, or making films, and skating @ burnside, but we all know that is just wishful thinking right now. gotta take it in baby steps just like bill murray. i am now opening this post up the 5 to give any of your input/ideals/goals/or thoughts as to what i can do in the next decade to make up things better for myself (selfish i know) than my 20's, as well as make up for things not accomplished as of yet. in 10 years from now (i'm remembering my 1st day at cromer (i think that's how it was spelled) elem & it was a fresh new school, and i was starting the 2nd grade, and we had this great big assembly with larry peterson the new school principal. he and the staff had each class put some stuff into a time capsule, and then at some point (i forgot when) they would take it out from where it was buried (on the inside of the school), and reveal its contents. if anyone remembers when they where going to open up that capsule, please let me know), and together (hopefully the 5 will have multiplied instead of divided) look at what as been said today, and see if i was able to make it to the summit called the 40's. that's all i have for now, but please (pretty please) if you read this post, leave me a note or something that can be added to this momentous occasion. good night.

dum dum dum dum

with this being my last hours prior to turning 3.0, i decided that i would try to reflect on my 20's with a top ten list of "what i can remember memorable moments". now i am going to apologize in advance if i forget something big. my memory isn't the greatest these days. here i go:

1. courting & getting married to amy.

2. both my boys being born (mason's was more memoriable, but that goes without saying).

3. the realization that i wasn't going to be able to ever in this lifetime become a pro skater (that one still hurts to this day).

4. got my associate degree from the world renowned south plains college

5. grew a beard (several times).

6. was in my first films (you can see 2 of them on my facebook).

7. had my 1st computer crash (and hopefully my last).

8. gained weight (lots of it).

9. learned to cook (a few things).

10. finally, i had my face taken off, and then put back on using a titanium plate and screws to make me even uglier than before (if you can imagine).

so there you have, the things that stick out the most (or that i can still remember) from my past decade on earth. it's a sad but true i know, but none the less it's me. take it or leave (just kidding to my 5 readers, i need you to keep reading)it. so long till after i am 3.0 (and to my 20's).

p.s. a couple things i forgot to put i the top ten, but did happen just recently, and are worth noting are:

11. was hit by wife with car (and i saw it coming).

12. hot myself in the eye with a towel, and have some blood & fluids come out (seriously).

now i'm sure that enough foe now. so long to my 20's, hello 3.0's.

the true meaning of halloween

i've been having some food for thought moments over the past few days (i can hear you saying it now, here we go again), thinking about the differences between when i was a young buckaroo and celebrating halloween, and now some years later as a father experiencing it with my boys. since i have not celebrated halloween for over quite a few years (previously working nights) the spirit of halloween which once ran through me like the colorado river has since almost dried up much like most the rivers in az. so with a little scrooge in me, i am going to try my best to give some of my thoughts on the differences i see from now to back in the day. the main reason i am kinda down on halloween is the lack of creativity that i see expressed by this current generation. when i was a kid (i do a pic somewhere to prove it), i think i was around 9 or 10 i took and spiked my hair up with gel, wore ripped jeans with a ripped up bye bye birdie t shirt, tied some bandanna's around knee, and put pink hair dye spray on my hair, and i was a punk for halloween. now this costume i put together myself (the only thing i was unable to was purchase the hair spray so my mom did), and that was what i was then. now of days it's all goofy looking masks & costumes that look even cheaper than when i was a kid. people these days believe you have to purchase a costume from a retailer, so they can feel good about not having as many people fired and on food stamps. people used to use their imaginations & creativity to come up with some great costumes. here's another cheesy costume i did for halloween quite a while back (prior to being married to amy, just courting her), and i was joey lawrence (i was the blossom joey, not the i just got out of chemo joey) for halloween. the thought process at the time was amy would be six (blossoms best friend from the show, and amy is a spitting image of her), and i would be joey. so i cut off some sleeves on a flannel, put on some pants with holes all through the knees and elsewhere, put on some old combat boots, and did up my hair up (what hair i had), and spent the evening say "whoa". amy went as six, and all she did was purchase a hat, some flower pants, & a top all that six would have worn and we where the perfect couple at the party. see a little imagination, and a few"whoa's", and you can get costumes on the cheap. i know its hard these days to think of great ideas for costumes with life coming at you a mile minute (i have adhd, so things are going by me even faster), but to me people used to be more excited for halloween. i can remember when i was growing up there being at least one haunted house on each block, if not more, and kids used to be able to roam the streets with their parents, and go door to door (assuming the porch lite was on with no sign that read "will shoot solicitors on site, no questions asked"), and fill up the largest pillow case they had with candy. just like archie said "those where the days". i know there are still some people out there who hold on to that spirit of halloween all year round (we call them pagans), but it seems they are a dying breed (not the pagans). i am venting cause this will be the first time in a number of years that i will be able to get out there and roam the streets (if i can get amy's permission to do so) with my kids, and i would like them to have at least a glimpse of what halloween used to be for me. i want my boys to get the pillow case full of candy (so i can take the good ones from them afterwards, and leave them with candy corn, and the crappy peanut butter wraps that come in only orange and black wrappers- jk), and know what a real haunted house's are (no its not a house that young teens are pressured into going in & are then shown little plays that tells them not to engage in immoral activities, and then out of peer pressure write on a note that they have accepted jesus and all is now well (not to knock it for those of you who like it)), but the real way halloween was supposed to be celebrated and the real haunted house that made you pee your pants cause something freaked you out so badly. now i am going to leave this message with you (my 5 readers), and this is directed at the young (to slightly older) ladies, wearing next to nothing or "ho" outfits for halloween, they don't constitute a costume. i won't complain if you do, but i've seen this in full effect over the past few years since used work nights and i work right next to asu. when i would be getting off of work, the party's on mill ave right next to my work where already in full swing and i could see them for miles. even though it may seem like a good idea to wear the mini skirt w/stockings and call it a witches costume its really not a witches costume (unfortunately due to the blog being rated p.g. i cannot fully disclose a more appropriate word for those costumes. although who am i to dictate for anyone of my readers (all 5 of you) what to wear for halloween. till next time, "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat, if you don't i don't care, i'll pull down your underwear"!

help wanted

i was watching a movie earlier this week (one that i had seen previously), and my first thought after a few minutes into it is "why am i watching this movie again"? it's been sometime since i last watched (a few years) this film, and i didn't like then. still i spent the next hour and forty minutes (give or take) planted on my bed watching this movie. i don't know if i was expecting it be better than i remembered or just out of plain laziness, but i sat there and finished it for the second with the same results as the first time "i want my hour and forty minutes back". this is the intro for the subject of my post today. i have been thinking long and hard about this with my life (i promise not to go back over my previous post about a similar subject). i have been wondering a great deal how my life has become so complacent. i don't know when it started, but i do know that i need to do somethings different with it or lose more than just the hour and forty five minutes i lost earlier this past week. i know that the first step to getting out of complacently is to first acknowledge it, and then take action against it. with that being said, i leave this post open to all 5 readers (and if there is more, feel free as well) to offer up some suggestions that have worked for you, or if you don't find yourself in the same predicament as myself, you can leave some suggestions that's working for you. please don't think that i am sitting here all depressed (even though it may seem that way). i have just been thinking long hard about how much more my life could be (and hopefully should be), and what the reality of it is. on that note i open it up to the readers of this blog for your help. i thank you in advance for any suggestions offered up to help assist me. please note alcohol and drugs won't help me with this problem, as someone at work suggested (jokingly i hope) this week. till next time. toodle loo