July 4th and Jarrod

This is Jarrod (left) and Justin preparing for our 4th of July front yard picnic this year. The backyard is so dry that we didn't want to risk starting a fire, so me moved to the front driveway. Lexie (youngest daughter) wanted to also camp out in the front yard, but we thought our great neighbors might complain with a tent pitched next to the driveway. Every family member got shirts with United States flags on them thanks to $21 and Wal-Mart.

Justin and Jarrod were also playing with their water cannons. After a while, I convinced them to try and shoot birds with water when the birds dived down towards the grill. After missing bird after bird, Jarrod gave up, and Justin decided to try and throw the whole bucket of water on the bird. Soooo, the bird flew down, Justin threw the water straight up, and was soaked from head to toe when the water came back down on his head. And he looked surprised. Sir Isaac Newton he ain't.

After feasting on breasts, grilled chicken breast that is, I changed the music to some funk, which made the girls start dancing. That's Deborah, Miranda, and Lexie in the middle of the picture. Justin is over at the side dancing like I dance, which is never pretty. The girls, on the other hand, have a different gear in their hips or something.

Changing the subject, but Jarrod has always had a very difficult time in school. When he started kindergarten, his teacher pulled me to the side and said, "he's not going to be ready for 1st grade next year. He's just not ready." So, we tried 1st grade for about a week before moving him back to kindergarten again. After repeating kindergarten, he did a little better, but still struggled. His 1st grade teacher completed an ADD diagnostic survey for our pediatrician, and Jarrod began ADD meds.

Still, school didn't get any easier, and during 3rd grade this year, we realized that Jarrod was going to need professional help to stay at grade level. After multiple testings, we settled on a program through Huntington Learning Centers, which he started this summer. You would think a kid wouldn't want to go to summer school, but Jarrod really likes it. This week, Jarrod got his name on the wall at Huntington for doing good work, and he was so proud he asked me to come inside and look at it. I took a picture because I know how hard it's been for Jarrod to learn, so it's very exciting to see him happy about learning.

Musical Taste

To each his own.

Right?

The following are on my iPod...and you might be offended by listening to the first one.

KoRn "Y'all Want A Single" (NSF Kids, or adults for that matter)

tool "Forty Six & 2"

Michael Crawford  "The Phantom of the Opera -- The Music of the Night"

Deborah is not in any way shape or form a fan of KoRn or tool. On the other hand, I think she loves the music from the Phantom of the Opera as much as I do. I'm a huge fan of progressive rock, which includes the groups Rush and tool, and when I'm working or working out, I love very heavy music. However, Andrew Lloyd Webber and cast touched me with the Phantom of the Opera. I could listen to the music from Phantom of the Opera every day, and it never gets old. Weird, huh?

Ketchup & Catch Up

I took Deborah to Las Vegas to see Garth Brooks and to celebrate her birthday in April. Deborah's a big Garth fan. I, on the other hand, am anything but a country and western music fan, but I gotta tell ya, it was the best concert I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot since I spent about 2-1/2 years on the road doing concert lighting and sound, which means that I've been part of and seen hundreds of concerts.

If you ever get the chance, please go see Garth Brooks at The Wynn Las Vegas. It's worth every penny of the ticket price.

While killing some time one afternoon, I took a walk past The Riviera Hotel & Casino where I observed the Crazy Girls bronze statue.



My immediate response was... 

Just kidding. I ended up rubbing their asses like every other juvenile middle-aged male tourist since about 1980.

Remember, I went with my beautiful wife Deborah to celebrate her birthday,

so the picture of me with my tongue hanging out was taken by Deborah as I chased her on my hands and knees around our suite. But, chasing her with my tongue hanging out didn't work out the way I wanted, and it isn't really very romantic as I've learned. Soooooo, instead of looking a Deborah's beautiful body, I was told to look out our suite window at the adult pool at The Wynn. Now, if you look carefully at the picture, you will see one topless lady sunning by herself in the center of the picture. When you zoom in, like I did, you'll realize that either she needs bigger tits, or I need a better camera.

I can't write too much good stuff about The Wynn like I did The Venetian last September. Although we had a comparable 2-room suite and dined at the finest restaurants, the experience wasn't close to The Venetian. Sorry Steve Wynn, but the suites aren't better, and the food ain't all that. We did, however, bring 5 miniature bottles of Heinz tomato ketchup home with us from different room service meals. Judging by the price of room service, they must be collectibles, which I'm thinking one of the kids can sell on ebay for big bucks.

The only picture we got of the both of us during the trip was our flight back to Denver. When we arrived back home, the official birthday celebration began with the family. I had a cake created with Deborah jerking a barbell and her three kids--Dillon, Lexie, and Miranda--over her head. Except for Deborah's boobs, the likeness of the caricatures to the pictures I submitted to the bakery sucked. Cake Boss they ain't. 

But, Deborah did have a pretty good haul of fun gifts...

however, she still hasn't forgiven me for getting her age incorrect. The way I understand it now, her age asymptotically approached "50," but never actually reached 50 until it started decreasing and we began counting down. I think it has something to do with Einstein's relativity and traveling at or near the speed of light. Or something. Anyway, Deborah is NOT now, nor has she ever been, 50.

And if you could see her ass, you'd agree with her too.

Happy belated-blog birthday to my beautiful wife, Deborah. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I love you.

Day 5 -- Congrats

I love Deborah because...

Of the way she dances with Miranda in the kitchen, in the toy section, and next to the fresh cucumbers at King Soopers.
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Congratulations to the Colorado Marathon finishers. I wish I could have been there doing my part.
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Short today because I have to finish some projects for work.

Day 4 -- 2 + 2

I love Deborah because...

She has an amazing sense of humor.
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"I'm sorry baby, I didn't put two and two together."

"Oh God honey. You're a mathematician. How can you not put two and two together?!"

Day 3 -- The Nanny

I love Deborah because...

She listens and asks questions.
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We made a huge leap a few months ago by hiring a nanny. Gwen has worked for us on a part-time basis since last summer, and we finally brought her on full-time.

My best friend and his wife have a nanny, Yolita. Yolita couldn't drive, clean, or cook, but she was there to watch TV with the kids and go on vacations with the family. As Tom said, "I should have just adopted her."

Gwen is NOT like Yolita. She drives the kids everywhere, and cooks them meals. She also can crack a homework whip, and she's a therapist to boot, which means she's there to listen and counsel when we're all f_cked up. At least one of us is f_cked up on any given day, so Gwen definitely earns her pay.

Tom was right about one thing though. The nanny, Gwen in our case, works their way into a family, and it's kinka like we added an oldest daughter to the crew. Of course, that's meant in a very loving way, as in, anybody that messes with Gwen, messes with us. One might be able to get away with messing with me, but Deborah can, and will, kick some serious ass.

Day Two -- Bone Failure

I love Deborah because...

She is a prolific reader, sometimes reading 3 or 4 books at a time. By seeing the pleasure she derives from reading, not to mention the smarts she acquires, it got me reading for relaxation again.

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I was supposed to be running the Colorado Marathon this weekend. As my long runs during training exceeded 14 miles, my left leg started to fail again. After several weeks of pushing through the pain, I gave in to the pain again and took a month off from running. Now I have to find a new race and start over.

Like last time, failure doesn't occur until my long runs start to exceed two hours, but it's not the time or distance that creates the problem.

It's my weight.

The only way that I'll be able to finish another marathon is if I can get my weight down to 230 lbs, which means that I have to drop about 40 lbs. I've done it before, so I'll get it done. I really enjoyed working with my coach during the training, and it's certainly not his fault that I couldn't get below 250 lbs. He encouraged me to run faster, and had me racing at a 9 minute pace, which I never thought that I would see again. As my weight starts to fall off, I'll be working with David Clark again.

While I'm referring to David Clark, I should note that his non-profit Superman Project is about to start its 300 mile Recovery Run. David will run across the state of Colorado to raise awareness for recovering alcoholics and addicts. If you can, visit the website and chip in a few bucks to support the run.

There's also a new documentary called 1Hundred that features David Clark as he ran the 2011 Leadville 100 trail race. I've never embedded a video before, but here's the trailer.