summer's over (or is it?)

to my loyal 5 readers (who where recently identified and are now in the process of changing their identities) i want to say thanks for keeping this little mom & pop shop blog open for business so this crazy anchors ramblings will continue on (at least for the short term future), but unfortunately for the five i have a wife who is like the wal mart of blogs & as soon as something happens with myself or the fam she is hot on the case typing away to let her 400 + (or maybe even more) followers now the happenings & exploits of our life. since i have a job and life i can't keep up with her daily posts (and she even writes them in advance sometimes, crazy i know) to give u guys a scoop when it happens like she does. you are more than welcome to read her blog , just make sure you twist that knife as hard as you possibly can in my back if you do. since school is starting next week for my kiddos i thought trip down memory lane would be nice to recap my summer (or at least as its been seen through the RING of this anchor - pic included for those novices to an anchor). started the summer (actually here it starts in may, but for the sake of an argument i will fast forward to june. between celebrating multiple anchor family (and extended family) birthdays, this anchor went camping. due to a lack of short term storage space in the CROWN of this anchor i don't remember the name of where it was, but we had a blast. the kiddos/me/my pops/my umbro & his kiddos all went camping. got to ride for around 45 mins on the worst (known) road in az. we got to enjoy in others misery as we watched a drunk guy lose his balance, and fall off the side of the hill into the river. he was able to swim across to the other side right where we were, and he was also able to verify that his jack daniels was safe as he took even more chugs to verify with everyone. funny thing is that 45 mins down the road we got a chance to actually meet our entertainer when we stopped at the same local farmers market. he gave my kiddos both knuckles for not wearing a shirt like him in the store. as i waited for everyone to get back in the car from the pottie break to get back on the road he emerged from the farmers market victorious with a 36 pack (or some big box) of coors beer & 3 bags of ice. i am thinking may be i need to tak STOCK in my life and see if an entertaining is really that important to me. the next day after getting back was fathers day, and the mrs's got me a ticket to go see my second fave baseball team the diamondbacks. ticket was for a july game (and hap pend to be the 2nd game for them right after hosting this years all star game (for which my wife didn't get me a ticket, and for which i am grateful after turning the game off around the 5th inning due to lack of interest). fast forward to july & the nite of the game. me & the same umbro from camping with went to the game together. best part of the game is watching the db's beat the dodgers after a 3 run homer. worst part(s) of the game where due to an elderly lady sitting next to me (these where great seats over by 3rd base by the way) talking with her friend the entire game about everyone they knew & their business. i enjoy ease dropping on those conversations from time to time, but i just wanted to watch the game. then there was a guy sitting behind me with a female friend (not sure to which capacity she was), but he decides this game he's the official college professor for baseball for her. so everything from getting a person out by catching a ball to what the pitch type was he talked about. got really really really old really fast, but i didn't SHANK him even though the feelings where there. even got to re watch a classic film "fortress" after the game with my umbro. so then a week or so later comes my big trip. the play by play can be read at my wife's blog, so i will give u the heart and soul of our trip. this trip was me/my wife/& another umbro (not the one from baseball & camping). we traveled to my old stomp in grounds texas. found out that the stars at nite are really big & bright deep in the heart of that state, but that's for another day. had the privilege of riding in a car for around 3 out of the 5 days of traveling (to some that may sound like a FLUKE, but not to me). got a chance to see my outlaws (although mama outlaw not as much as papa). got to witness a dear old friend (our friendship dates back to 7th grade when we met) get married & then drive 3 hours to walk in a parade in their honor (if anyone is interested in knowing about the wedding and reception let me know & i will post about it). got to see my little umbro & his fam, and most importantly got to eat texas bbq, which takes top precedent in my life over the rest. now that brings me up to current (most other details of happenings are either too boring or already blogged about elsewhere i'm sure u know where to look for those). since we ha vent hit aug yet then that means summer isn't over, so you may just see a future post about more happenings in the summer (or will you?).

what's my identity?

thanks to censorship, what's left of my readers (i am going with the assumption that there is at least one person that reads this blogs besides me, although i have been wrong in the past), is left to read this post rather than my last one. apparently that one did not pass the blog test (didn't even know there was one either) so you are unfortunate to have to read this post instead. recently after watching a sponge bob episode i came to a realization. this realization got me thinking.... what is my identity? seems a simple questions at first, but after thinking and pondering about it for some years now, i've come to the conclusion that at this point in my life i have no real identity. growing up i really liked, actually loved skateboarding. it started when i was in elementary school, after being out of it for a little bit just picked it back up again in middle school, and stuck with it all the way through the first couple years of college. it consumed me all the time. everywhere i went skateboarding (even got so bad that church was included in this list) was at the front and center for me. for most of my life that was all i ate, drank, slept, & lived (with music being at the forefront as well). there was nothing else (as proven by my only girlfriend ever is my wife, and i still don't have a bachelors degree) that could take it's place. then i got my first girlfriend and she became my life (and still is today), and that became my identity. now that i've been married for 10 years with a couple kids my identity has become father & husband (which is nothing to sneeze @), but i feel like there is more to me than just those labels. when i asked the question to my wife the other day in hopes of something more enlightening than just those labels i got...... just those same labels. it seems this is my identity and there seems to be nothing else to create the passion that music and skateboarding did for me. i feel like if i had a better understanding of my true identity then i could finally figure out the most burning questions i have..... "what the heck am i supposed to do with myself as a career?" everyone i know seems to have this question answered and are either working in the field that suits them or working towards it (usually). i have a brother who is very artistic, and who in high school picked up a camera & started snapping photos for class. now he's running his small business as a photographer. there is a close friend who is probably one of the best i have ever seen with working kids. he loves playing and with them & teaching them. today he is of course a teacher and one i wish my kids could have had (when they where in public school). i wish so desperately to find that true passion again that i once had for skateboarding (there is still much love, but the passion isn't what it once was). i would hope that one day (hopefully sooner rather than later) i could find passion & turn that into my identity. if anyone has ideas about my current identity please leave me a comment so that i can use it to try & help me figure it out.