Family

Lydia, Oh, Lydia

by

This video clip is kinda special for my family. Our daughter, Lydia, really likes it. I’m sure you’ll see why. 🙂

[flv:http://web.mac.com/shawnp0wers/lydia.flv 400 300]

It probably violates copyright of some sort, but for reference sake, it’s The Muppet Show, Season 1, Episode 2.

Enjoy!

Ocean

by

One of the stops we made on our recent vacation was at St. Augustine. It’s the oldest city in the country, or some such thing. Honestly, history really isn’t my thing — but it was also the first time I’ve ever seen the ocean. In fact, no one in my family had ever seen the ocean, so it was very special.

Girls in ocean

First off, the ocean is salty. Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s why they call it saltwater. But really, it is salty man! It’s not like, “Martha, your potato salad has a bit too much salt.”

It’s more like, “Hey look, I put my foot in the ocean. Now I have foot jerky.” It’s that bad. But enough about that.

I’ve lived in Northern Michigan for over half my life, and I’ve seen tons of lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, springs, etc, etc. After spending one morning at the ocean, however, I don’t think inland beaches are allowed to call themselves “beaches” anymore. There’s just no comparison.

One of my favorite CDs is that “sounds of the ocean” kind that is basically a recording of the ocean. I’ve never liked the ones that interject music into the mix — I like just the ocean sound. Much like a picture of pumpkin pie isn’t anywhere near as nice as tasting pumpkin pie, those CDs don’t do the ocean justice. The depth and intricacies of the crashing waves are really indescribable. I found myself lost in a paradise that seemed, even at the time, to be cliche. I lay there on the beach, with my straw hat over my face, and drifted away. It was like feeling the vastness of space. If infinity had a voice, it would be the ocean.

Florida, baby!

by

We’re leaving for an 8 day trip to Florida today. I’ll do my best to post from the road, but I urge you to read my daughter Amanda’s trip blog. Her teacher assigned her the task of journaling every day, and we’re posting it for her class (and the world, I guess) to see.

Stop by and check it out!

Bright Stars

by

Last night, I found myself driving home after dark with our youngest daughter. Going for a ride in Daddy’s truck is a special treat, and apart from the loud exhaust, rusty body, and non-existent shocks, I can understand why. My old truck rocks. It’s a stick shift, and Daddy drives it kinda rough — great fun.

Anyway, the really cool part is that as we walked into the house, I thought I’d give her my “look at Venus” speech. My whole family hears it all the time, but I thought maybe I’d spark some emotion in my youngest.

It turns out I was right on the money. I called Lizzie to the front of the house, away from the porch light. I pointed up to the west, and said, “Lizzie, do you see that really bright star over there?”

“Uh huh.”

I was tickled that she said it with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. “That’s not really a star, it’s a planet, like Earth is a planet.”

“Really?!?!”

“Yep. It’s name is Venus, and it’s not as big as Earth, but it shines really bright so it looks like a star.”

“Wow, cool!”

She was actually excited about knowing it was a planet. 🙂 The coolest part was when we went inside, and Lizzie ran to Donna. “Mommy, did you know that really bright star is a planet? It’s name is Vee-Nuts!”

I love my family. 🙂

Take the green pill, Neo

by

I just recovered from a 16 hour headache. It was a doozy. I feel better now, and I don’t have gas either. Odd thing to mention? I agree.

In our medicine cabinet, we have sinus headache medicine. They are green pills, which a person with a hurting melon takes every 6 hours to feel better. The problem is that some time over the past few months, we changed brands or something. See, now, the sinus medicine is orange. We still have green pills mind you, but they happen to be gas relief medicine.

So yes, inappropriate though it may be, for the past day I’ve had quite a prolific abundance of gas, and quite the shortage of headache relief. As a father and husband, I take a certain amount of vulgar pleasure in being able to clear a room with my methane emissions — but since I was alone in the bedroom with a horrible headache, it wasn’t quite as fulfilling.

I asked Donna to bring me more medicine this morning, at which point we discovered my error. It wasn’t quite as funny at the time as it is now, but needless to say, we got a little laugh out of my pain.

The moral of the story? Read the label. And maybe take both pills, because man did I have a lot of gas.

Skunk!

by

So Tigger got skunked. Yep. Right in the face. When I smelled it, I ran outside to bring him inside, so that he wouldn’t tangle with the skunk I smelled. Too late. When he came running to me, his face was still wet from skunkiness. It was truly disgusting.

So Tigger will be spending the night outdoors, and tomorrow, we’ll be using a bunch of tomato juice on our furry, albeit stinky, buddy.

In a related story, I guess spring is finally here. Snow seems strangely inviting…

Awesome Wife Have I

by

You know what we’re doing this fine Tuesday evening? We’re watching old episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation. That’s right, I said we are watching it!

Donna is the coolest wife in the world. I think that her not being a die hard trekkie, yet still enjoying watching it with me makes her super cool. She’s the woman that isn’t a geek (thus she retains her cool status), but loves ME enough to watch, and even enjoy, Star Trek episodes with me.

You know you’re jealous. 🙂