movie rex-athon

its always fun when friends come by! rex stopped by for a couple nights recently. i hadnt really seen him much lately and when ever i did it was always with a big group so we were not able to talk much. well, when he came down here we fixed that problem! we had a great time just hanging out and chatting. oh, and watching movies. and boy, did we watch some movies! we started off our weekend by going to the local video store, they were having a pretty good sale, so we took advantage! between us we bought 9 movies and only payed around twenty bucks for all of them! granted, most of them were straight-to-video (which, for the uninformed, means that they are a bit, how shall we say, lower in quality...), but that didnt stop us from having a blast while we watched them! diana even joined us for one or two, but she wisely went to bed before we got to the really lame ones ('day of wrath' anyone?). many of them turned out to be better than expected, which is always a welcome treat. rexy, we will definitely have to do this again soon!

big top

kat, diana's friend from work, invited diana and i to join her and her husband tim at the local carnival. we met up with them and had a fun night of hanging out and enjoying the place! we didnt really go on any rides or play any of the games. a waste of a perfectly good carnival, huh? well, instead we went right to the big tent and hung out and chatted for a couple hours while listening to a pretty fun local band that played all the fifties and sixties hits. at one point diana and kat even went out on the dance floor (granted, they were about the only ones out there, but they were having fun!). my one regret was that we didnt get an elephant ear to eat. i guess we will have to go back next time its in town!
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a trivial night

every once in a while mom and david go to a trivia night event held by a local private school. when ever they would tell us about it we were always interested and wanted to join them sometime. well, it just so happens that one was going on that very saturday night! almost as soon as diana got to mom and david's house after work we were out the door again for a little trivia fun! it was really a great time, they have a bunch of tables set up and we had reserved one with a few of mom and davids friends. we got to enjoy a meal while we played ten rounds of trivia questions, all based on the theme of the event: hawaii! we didnt exactly do the best on the questions (i think we only got about 68 out of 100), but we had a lot of fun trying!

back to work

back on the job! i headed back to work on the house that mom and david bought. last time i was here i tore out all the kitchen stuff and had a good time causing a little destruction! this time i get to paint the ceiling. not quite as much fun... by the end of my couple days of work the place is looking a bit better, or at least brighter due to the bright white ceilings! i've got a long way to go on this place, but thats ok, cause i've got the rest of the summer to do it. thursday and friday i was hard at work, but i was quite happy to have diana come saturday night and stay for a couple days too, giving me a lovely sunday to relax with the wife! but monday it was back to work for me!
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my summer job

its summer, now what about that whole summer job thing? well, for a couple summers i worked night shift stocking at the local grocery store- and promised myself i would never do that again! yuck! last summer i helped diana's mom and david out with some work around the house and this summer i will be doing the same. except this time it will be a different house! no, they didnt move, they just bought a house down the street to turn into a rental. its in pretty good shape, but needs a lot of work- thats where i come in! david want to get that place ready over the summer so they can start renting it out and i'm just the guy to help make that happen! over the summer i'm going to be tearing stuff out, building stuff, replacing stuff, and repainting everything! this will definately keep me very busy (which though i dont like to admit it, is a good thing...) i've already gotten a good start on it. check out the pictures here!

take a little off the sides

during the school year i have to look presentable and professional. but when summer hits, all bets are off! since i have a beautiful wife who cuts hair for a living, i figure i should let her have a little fun with my hair! last summer i did a fauxhawk and bleached it, this year i just went for a full out mohawk- no messing around here!

summer begins

with school done for the year, we decided to visit diana's mom and david for a nice long weekend! we enjoyed a nice relaxing sunday with them, david made a fantastic meal, mom and diana got to spend a little time together, and i just sat back and enjoyed the whole thing!
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a refreshing dip

i'm not usually one to go swimming, but on memorial day it was so hot that i succumbed to the peer pressure (my wife) and went along to the pool. we got there and saw tim, jill, and the kids! unfortunately they were in the midst of packing up, so we only got to see them for a minute. we were still up for enjoying the water, so we went over to the adult pool (good thing they have one of those because the regular pools were packed like a can of sardines!) and took a little dip. it was nice to have a moment to relax and cool down from the heat of the weekend. oh, and i got to see my hot wife in a bathing suit- never a bad thing!

old sunday night traditions

sunday night at sandy pines mom suggested an idea for dinner, and boy did it bring back some memories! the meal itself consists of doritos, refried beans, and shredded cheese. its absolutely terrible for you, but oh so good! what you do is put a little bit of refried beans on each chip in the dorito bag and lay it out on a cookie sheet. when youve done the whole bag, then add a layer of shredded cheese and put it in the oven- presto! instant yum! this is something that we did in our household when i was a child on sunday nights for many many years. a very memorable tradition that i loved! mom and i would always gather around the kitchen counter and make a couple sheets full for the whole family to enjoy every sunday night as we would watch 'our house', or 'life goes on'. oh, what fond memories- and tasty food. it was really fun to remember those times and introduce diana to it as well!

memorial at the pines

saturday morning diana and i were up and at em, ready to head off to sandy pines to see the family! we got there just in time to join the family for a walk through the flea market- one of my favorite things to do! (diana doesnt mind it, but would much rather skip it and sleep in that extra hour- fortunately i usually win on that one). we got to spend the afternoon with the mom and papa and the kids. we always have a great time at sandy pines with the family, and this memorial day weekend was no exception!
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boys and grills

memorial day weekend is here and its time to go up to grand rapids for some fun! diana got saturday off, so we headed up friday evening. the guys and i planned to see each other friday night. not knowing what to do, jeffry lee invited us over to grill out and enjoy a campfire together. well, count us in! we got there and jeffry lee was just putting the meat on the grill- perfect timing! rex, brains and allison, jeffry lee and jill were already there. soon after us came keith, aaron, and freddie- the whole gang! after the fantastic meal that had been prepared for us we all gathered around the campfire and just had a blast hanging out and pestering each other! diana and i ended up being the last to leave- we just didnt want the fun to end but knew we had an early morning ahead.
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what is this 'outside' you speak of?

diana has been getting the spring fever lately, she's been kind of antsy and sick of being couped up inside. with the weather getting a bit better she asked if we could go try to find a park or something to walk around and enjoy this warmer weather. granted, i've lived here for eight years, but going outside has never been a priority for me, so i had no idea where the local parks are at! using the marvel of modern technology, we pulled out our gps and looked up the closest parks. turns out we have quite a few close by- who would have thought? we rode over to one of them and got the chance to enjoy the beautiful weather. we found a nice couples swing and enjoyed a bit of time in the outdoors. i guess this 'outside' thing isnt as bad as i feared. i just hope diana doesnt make me do it more often- if my lily white arms and legs sees the sun, theres no telling what might happen!

and the kitchen sink

every once in a while i surprise myself with my handyman skills! recently our renters (who, by the way, are really nice- its amazing to finally have some good neighbors at long last!) called and said that the sink in the kitchen had been dripping. i went over there and feared the worst, i thought that it might be the pipes coming out of the wall. after i took a look though it was the facet itself that was leaking. not a huge surprise, considering the thing looked like it had been around since the carter administration! i know my papa always told me that when it comes to plumbing i should never try to be a hero- hire a plumber cause its rarely an easy fix. i didnt take his advice this time and tried to fix it myself. turned out to be a lot simpler than i had feared. i went to the store and got a new faucet, took the old one out, put the new one in and voiala! no leak! how often does that happen?!? almost never! it only took about an hour or so and we were in business- a new faucet, this one even has the extendo sprayer and everything! i was so relieved that this wasnt one of those big projects that keep leaking no matter how much duct tape i used! (dont worry papa, i didnt actually use any duct tape... this time!)

hair today, gone tomorrow

have you ever heard of saint baldricks? if not, its a charity that does children's cancer research. its a great cause that holds a bunch of fundraisers around here, the only catch is that the fundraising is done by shaving your head! yikes! the idea behind it is that people raise money to shave their head, there by raising awareness of children with cancer (who have bald heads from the chemo). well, over a weekend diana and some of the girls from her salon volunteered to the the shavers! (not the shavees, dont worry, diana didnt buzz off those beautiful curls of hers!). i was able to tag along and enjoy the event, they had a bunch of people who raised money there enjoying the live music, grills, and fun! diana said she felt really weird shaving off everyone's hair, but julie (in the picture above) didnt seem to mind at all!

an afternoon visit

diana and i always love it when family comes to visit. her mom, david, and her sister made plans to stop by one afternoon and we had a great time. as is our habit when they visit, we went out for thai food! diana did a little bit of hair cutting for mom while the rest of us hung out in the living room. david got to show off his new toy: an ipad 2! we pestered barbara to stay for the night and hang out, but she didnt come prepared with anything to stay over night, so she regretfully declined. that will teach her to come unprepared!
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three floyds

to let off some steam after a long day of work, diana and her friends headed off to three floyds. its a cool restaurant down in dyer. i even got the invite to tag along! julie and diana were there we i arrived, soon followed by jill and her husband larry. we got a table, but they only seat four, so the girls sat at one and larry and i sat at the next table over. it was a lot of fun, i really like larry but havent had too many opportunities to hang out with him and chat. we got talking about work, families, and movies. three floyds is a pretty alternative type place, the people who work there are covered in tatoos! so the topic of tatoos came up as well. larry's got a couple and he told me some pretty cool stories about them and the artists who did them for him. unfortunately there was an employee who was a bit of a jerk and wouldnt stop pestering us about our tables, so i dont know if we will be back there soon, but at least we had a good time chatting!

spring postcards

with diana taking on more hours doing hair we wanted to try and get some more customers for her. one way to do this is by mailing out postcards. since i have a background in graphic design, i love to put together something to send out. the new postcard has the slogan 'new season, new you!' as we change from winter to spring and to summer. theres a coupon on it for anyone who comes in with it and everything! i printed off about a hundred. now comes the hard part for diana: writing on the backs and putting the addresses on them! she figured she would use her down time at work to get them done and sent off. now we just wait and hope that someone will receive it and stop in for some grade A hair cuttin!
if you want to use the coupon but didnt get one in the mail just print one off here!

i want candy

as the year winds down, the 8th graders get to have all their special events. one of them is the 8th grade banquet. its an event where all the kids come dressed up with their parents and enjoy a deluxe meal. they show a neat video of the students with pictures through out their years at school and a few kids get up and speak about the years behind them and whats ahead for them. usually we have the event at the high school, but this year they had it in our own gym. quite a few moms put in a lot of time to convert the gym into a really cool dinning area. this year they went with the theme 'candy land', wrapping each of the chairs as if they were candy, even making a candy cane lane going around the gym- pretty cool!