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There are a ton of things I want to be working on this evening but it's been a long week. Hell, it's been a long month. I'm tired. I've overslept the last two mornings and the rest of my day reflects it.

Oversleeping to me is when I wake up around 6am and have to immediately start getting ready for work and leave. I don't go in to work late. It has happened on occasion but the last time I actually overslept that much was so many years ago I can't remember it.

My normal daily routine starts at around 4:30 to 4:45. I start a pot of coffee and read a few blogs, check the weather and news and balance the checkbook. I try and get a bit of blogging done if I have any time left. I usually start getting ready for work between 5:30 and 6:00 depending on when I crawled out of bed.

Work lasts from 6:30 until whenever the fuck I can get out of there. Sometimes thats 2:05PM and some days I work straight through until after the 9PM drawer change or later. The majority of the time I manage to get out of my stores at a decent time though.

After various running around and picking up of children, blogging, making dinner if the wife isn't going to be home, making lunches and other assorted and sundry crap I hit the sack between 11PM and midnight. Like I said, sleep is just a cheap caffeine substitute. It's easer on days when the wife is at home because she does dinner and bath time and whatnot, but this school year she's been pretty busy in classes or at the gym during the evening.

Guess that's about it for tonight. I have seven or eight tabs open with stories I want to write about but maybe I can get up early enough to do it tomorrow. Don't want any more 6am days. They suck.

One of the things that I guess just comes with age is taking responsibility for your actions as well as other aspects of your life. That's one of the reasons I am so proud of the Boy for joining the Marine Corps. He's still learning of course. He and some guys went to Texas on leave a couple of weeks ago and I guess they were so broke that on the way back he overdrew his account by a couple hundred bucks even after I sent three hundred bucks. It was a bit irritating but it's just one of those lessons he's going to have to learn.

Back when he graduated boot camp one of his first purchases was an xbox 360 and shortly after he picked up a PS3 as well. I think he figured out he didn't need both but did need the money so he sold thePS3 to a buddy of his and just kept the xbox.

Now he's got a car. Hopefully things are going well for him with it but the payments have to be killing him. I know he's not making a ton of money as a PFC but if he manages it well he should be able to afford the car as well as save money for when he either gets out or retires...

I now that I used to have a hard managing my money. I figured anything after I paid bills was discretionary income to be spent. When you are young it's hard to envision needing to do anything else with it. Now things are a bit different and while paying bills is always at the top of my list, saving for my retirement comes a close second. THEN I want to spend everything else :)

I'm running short on time this morning but wanted to get a post up prior to going to work. I mentioned a little while earlier that I had a pretty busy weekend. It wasn't so much busy as it was just staying away from the computer and doing other stuff.

I posted a bit about the barbecue Thursday night. We actually got to bed at a decent time, prior to midnight, so I didn't sleep to terribly late on Friday. Originally I was going to take Pete to Six Flags but decided to save that trip for another day since the wife had to leave somewhat early to go see the Braves play. The girls made sure to watch and look for her on TV :) There was actually a reasonable chance since they were sitting behind home plate. On at least two occasions they would run in and tell me they saw their mom. Who knows, maybe they did...

Prior to the evening though we took the girls to the movies. Going to the movie theater just isn't something that's a high priority on my list. It is prohibitively expensive and between tickets, drinks and snacks you can just about go to the fucking amusement park. There are maybe one or two movies a year that I am willing to spend money on. The rest of the time there's Netflix. I would rather wait for the DVD release than waste money at the theater. That having been said, Pete and I went to see the Dark Knight and the wife took RePete to see Space Chimps. I think that I most likely got the better end of the deal on that one...

Saturday I worked briefly in the yard and then just hung with the wife. We sat down and watched Sweeney Todd on DVD and then the Sixth Sense on cable. Talk about creepy movie weekend...I was pleasantly surprised at Sweeney Todd. Not that I would like a musical, I knew that. It was more the fact that Johnny Depp and musical just don't go together. Pretty good movie though...

Yesterday I spend planting some more trees and stuff and then basically did nothing. I intended to at least write a bit but don't think I managed to accomplish a damn thing. Should have gone to the gym after work. I do plan on going today though. My store manager in Temple is on vacation for the next ten days and that's pretty much where I'll be living for the next week and a half. Another week with one day off. What a pisser. It will give me the chance to go work out in the afternoons though since the gym is right behind my restaurant.

Hopefully I will have something interesting to post for Odd Shots Monday before the day is out. I always carry my camera so there is no telling what will come up...

We had a pretty good time cooking out last night. I enjoy cooking out for folks and could do it every week. There was a ton of food as usual and most of it was pretty darned good. Cooking after two or three beers made the burgers a bit more well done that I usually prefer but the brauts and ribs were great, as was the company.

Denny and Zonker (he of the defunct blog) stopped in as did some of my neighbors and a couple of our co-workers. Since it was on a work night not quite as many folks dropped in and several of our friends are on vacation as well.

It wasn't too terribly late when we finished up considering how late we have talked into the night on other occasions. Great conversation and Denny broke out the guitar for a while.

It's always an interesting mix when bloggers and "normal" people get together at one of our cookouts and this was no exception...

So today is the day. Although we had that party a little over a week ago, that was mostly due to time constraints. The lovely wife and I have been attached to each other for twenty years today.

We've had our ups and downs but each passing year our relationship just seems to go stronger.

We also leave for vacation today as well, which is our anniversary gift to each other. It's only fitting that the girls go on our anniversary trip since the Marine was already with us (at least in utero) during our honeymoon twenty years ago. Besides, we decided that this trip needed to be kid friendly since the last couple have been for us.

That picture I posted earlier was from our last trip to Disney in 2005 when the Marine went with us. That's he and Pete in the bug climbing thing at MGM studios (It's a Bug's Life).

The wife has to work today and we have several errands to run this morning prior to loading up the car. Once she arrives home this afternoon I think we are going to drive about two thirds of the way there. We should be enjoying a nice anniversary dinner of fast food somewhere on I-75 tonight :)

So we had a great time at the party yesterday. I grilled ribs, burgers, dogs and brauts and there were some great side dishes. Conch salad minus the conch (clams instead) that was terrific, corn salad and several other nice dishes. Plenty of chips and refreshments as well. I was a bit under the weather when I crawled out of bed this morning as a result but I think that might be more of the effects of staying up too late than alcohol.

When I went shopping Friday I stopped at the liquor store to pick up beer and a couple of other items as well, rum and vodka included. While there I noticed they had chocolate vodka and although I'm not a huge vodka drinker that stuff kicks some serious butt. I grabbed a bottle.

Elisson and his lovely wife showed up with dessert, a rum lemon rose cake. It was delicious. He also had thought to bring along a bottle of chocolate vodka as well.

Then Zonker showed up and along with a Key Lime pie he brought...Chocolate vodka AND cherry vodka. Holy crap!

Did you know that when you mix chocolate and cherry vodka it tastes eerily like a chocolate covered cherry, with a bite? I only had one of those. Since I knew I had to work today I refrained from the hard stuff and imbibed enough beer to feel good but not get ugly. I'll save that for Oktoberfest. Speaking of which, we need to set a date. I have a week's vacation in October but I don't remember which week I picked. I'll have to ask my boss about that one.

You know it's going to be fun with the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy pouring!

Believe it or not but children are always welcome at our parties/barbecue. We don't get THAT trashed. Everyone is usually well behaved and as usual there was a trickle of children wandering around playing and generally having a good time getting to stay up well past their bed times.

...and if they misbehave there is always the dumpster behind RePete to toss 'em into and a roll of duct tape to keep them quiet. If you missed the party we are sorry you couldn't make it...cough...vman...cough...Perhaps next time!

Twenty years. Damn but time flies when you are having fun.

BTW, I only took a few pictures but they are all up at Flickr.

Updated 9:06 PM. The below raw video is of the San Angelo coliseum where lab workers are taking DNA samples from the children held in state custody there.

More than 400 kids are supposed to undergo DNA testing today to help figure out whose kids they really are. The bottom line is that they are trying to find out which ones belong to statutory rape victims so they can charge the men. Not only that but the government doesn't want anyone around that hasn't been numbered and cataloged.

Now the damnable ACLU has gotten itself involved. You know, the ACLU that is about socialism and Marxism, was founded by socialists and hates success and capitalism. There I was starting to feel sorry for these folks in Texas and the ACLU comes along and gets involved.

They are claiming as others have that taking away the children from their families is unconstitutional but don't list any specific instances of human rights or constitutional violations and won't comment any further on the story.

Texas Child Protective Services keeps sounding like a broken record. "This is not about religion - this is about keeping children safe from abuse".

No, it is about religion. AND child abuse. They certainly don't need to keep lying about that part. If you are trying to get the polygamy (which I could care less about) and the child-sex to stop in a society that accepts it, how as a government do you get it to stop? Is there some education you can provide them or deprogramming you can put them through? Heck, no. You do what governments have been doing for thousands of years. If you want to stop people from doing something that is at the core of their beliefs then you stamp out the society until it no longer exists and make it even more illegal than before.

That's the rub here. Spiritual marriages to kids as young as thirteen and polygamy are at the core of the beliefs of the FLDS and has been since before they splintered off from the Mormons back in the late 1800's. This isn't some lame brained idea that Warren Jeffs pulled out of his ass a few years ago. He was but the latest in a line of self-proclaimed prophets that subjugate women and children and promote the idea of rape, wife beating, forced marriages and white slavery.

I've read the comments a few times that "if they can do this why aren't they removing pregnant 15-year-olds from their homes" around the country. Perhaps they should. Obviously there is something that isn't being taught to their children. Sure, there will always be the occasional teenager that gets pregnant because they are having sex and if they do they don't use a damned rubber but that should be the exception to the rule. What do you expect though. How can parents teach their children anything when a large portion of them are stupid and can barely read themselves?

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So we're sitting at dinner and the discussion gets weird. Actually it rarely ever leaves weirdness but I like to pretend we have some semblance of sanity.

RePete's chin is green from magic marker or something so Pete tells her that if she eats too much broccoli she'll turn green. The discussion goes to carrots and other vegetables and then we talk about Flamingos and how they are actually white and how it's their diet that turns them pink.

I'm not real clear on how the conversation devolved from there. The wife said something about Flamingos eating microscopic fish.

Pete - the 10-year-old: Like body crabs on CSI.

The Wife: ?

Pete: Body crabs are microscopic.

The Wife: Body Louse. Not "crabs"

Pete: Do I have crabs?

Me: Let's hope not.

I couldn't participate in the conversation any more after that as I though I was going to spew my dinner on the table from laughter.

I think that Pete got my dumbass crazy airhead genes while the other two kids received the ones from my wife and what few good ones I have. The poor child...

So the girls are officially on spring break for the next nine days, including the wife. Unfortunately I will only have one of those days off :(

I think they are planning on going to the Atlanta Zoo tomorrow and then Sunday they are driving back down to Hilton Head to spend a few days with our friend Niqui before she moves. I wish that I could go down but I am unfortunately going to be stuck at work all week. As a matter of fact I am going to have to work doubles on Sunday and Thursday. I'm not particularly looking forward to that. I hate working doubles but unfortunately sometimes this business calls for it. My profits haven't been all they could be and I need to make sure I have plenty of money when it comes time to go to Disney, and that's the money I am making now.

...I was looking at the local wally world when I was picking up some supplies for work on Wednesday and I came across a pair of skate shoes. Pete was dying for a pair of these toward the end of the school year last year and I almost got them but I don't know if she wants them anymore. I think I will wait. Don't really want to spend any money right now as it is.

I think I will surf the web for a while and then shower. I want to hit the sack at a decent time tonight. We are doing a benefit

Talk about crushing your hopes and aspirations. I was nuking a burrito for lunch after I got home from the gym when I noticed the box of ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and decided to have one while waiting for the main course :)

I picked up the ice cream sandwiches earlier this week while at the grocery trying to decide what I wanted for dinner. I saw the box and it just called out to me to pick up. Ice cream sandwiches bring back a bit of nostalgia for my childhood. Occasionally the ice cream man would come by and the ice cream sandwich was my sin of choice. Even more rarely Daddy would stop at the store and get a box of fudgesicles and another of ice cream sandwiches. Six in each. Not just any old ice cream sandwiches either by god. Vanilla. None of this Neapolitan or chocolate, just good old plain ice cream sandwiches.

So I go to reach in the freezer and get the thing, salivating all the while I am thinking about the creamy vanilla goodness about to hit my stomach.

The fucking box was empty. One of my boneheaded children put an empty box of ice cream sandwiches back in the freezer, no doubt purposefully in order to depress me even farther since I'm not smoking.

Little bastards.

See if they get to eat tonight!

I feel as if someone beat me all over with a padded stick. No bruises or anything, just a dull ache.

I was already sore before I ever made it to the gym this afternoon, but I did go for my second trip there. I used several of the weight machines and ended up on the elliptical for awhile to stretch out the leg muscles a bit. I managed to get there at 2:30 today and it was much less crowded than yesterday evening, so that was nice. I am going to try and start going daily, at least three or four times a week. It really just depends on what is going on.

Yesterday I felt like I was going to blow chunks when I got finished. I guess there is all sorts of nasty crap stored up in my fat and muscles that doesn't belong there that's moving around now. Next thing you know I'm going to have to start eating healthy. Fuck that. Maybe later.

Of course as soon as I drove out of the parking lot of the gym I lit up. Last smoke. I had a couple in my car from the other day and what the hell do you need more after a good workout than a hot cup of coffee and a Winston? I've been home for a while now and don't have the slightest urge to go smoke though. That last one as I was driving home wasn't too good. Tasted like dogshit actually.

I have a bit of web surfing to do and then I have to go pick the girls up. I would have gotten them on the way home but today is chorus and I don't think it finishes until 4:30 anyway. Besides, Pete and RePete get angry when I pick them up too early from late stay. The really enjoy hanging out there with their friends.

I think that next Thursday I am going to try and drive in to Atlanta to visit my Great Aunt and Grandmother. I have been wanting to and I have to take my car in to be serviced Thursday morning anyhow. I don't know if my aunt is back at home or not. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she was in a nursing home but due to her medicare insurance rules if she didn't sign over access to her checking account to my aunt they were going to kick her out of the nursing home.

As far as I know she was balking at that. My Grandmother cannot take care of her like she wants to but my Great Aunt is stubborn enough to make her do it.