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This is my “casual” senior picture, which was taken back in 1993 - I graduated high school in 1994.  I wish I could find the rest of the senior photos - they are a treat.  Especially the one of me draped in some god-awful purple smock, cupping a fake rose under my chin.  Maybe it’s best I cannot find those.  Of course I also took the traditional black, v-neck smocked senior picture as well, but this one was the “casual” one.  What cracks me up about this photo is that I really do not look that different now… seventeen years later… pathetic I know.  What also cracks me up is what I am wearing… do you remember those jumpers that were popular as hell in the early 90’s? - they were empire-waisted and zipped up in the back, they were all one piece and had wide legs that almost made it look like a dress, but it was not, it was a big illusion and it was really pants?  Awww yeah… that is what I was wearing!  I was AWESOME!!!

Monday was my dad’s birthday - he turned 64 years old… DAMN he is getting old.  Anyways, we of course celebrated it at my parent’s house on Sunday night with dinner, cake and presents.  And of course there was a birthday card from my brother Billy.  This time though, instead of a witty short story, he decided to offer up some services for my dad… services he says will be provided by me.  Not a chance in hell!!!

Right near our (Dena and I’s) neighborhood, there is a shopping center that has a couple small dive bars in it.  Dive bars that we LOVE to go to… for several reasons.  First, you cannot beat the entertainment that you find in dive bars, you just can’t, I dare you to try.  Second, cheap drinks that are made strong.  Last, it is walking distance from our house in case we need to walk home after a night of drinking and after we hit up 7-11 for some Go Go Taquitos (our staple drunk food).  I tell you all this because yesterday, at around 1:45pm, Kaiden and I left the house and were heading to my mom’s house.  We were waiting at the light when Kaiden heard a bunch of yelling and said “MOM, oh my gosh, those guys are screaming cuss words at each other and fighting each other.”  So OF COURSE, I had to quickly pull into the parking lot and park near them so that we could watch what was going down!  That was a quality education

entertainment opportunity and we WERE NOT going to miss it!  (Peggy - you should include some field trips like this in your homeschooling curriculum)

It was hilarious!  They were screaming in each other’s faces, stuff like “YOU KNOW DAMN WELL THAT’S MY MONEY YOU SONOFAB*TCH” and kept swinging punches at each other and missing because they were already THAT wasted drunk before 2pm on a Sunday.  Kaiden was all worried and wanted to know if I was going to get out and do something… she is so cute and naive (still in training).  Hell no… I was snapping photos and trying to get Dena on the phone as fast as I could!  Then, as fast as it started - it was done.  They headed back in the bar to continue drinking and we continued our drive to my mom’s house.

Earlier that day, Kaiden had a small meltdown because she could not go run two miles with Dena and Ethan, due to the fact that she left her running shoes at school on Friday… we were talking during our drive and I said “Do you think me letting you watch a bar fight makes up for you not getting to go running this morning?”  She answered “Yes!  That was so AWESOME!”  Yes it was… yes it was!!!

Every year on your birthday, in our family, the one thing that you can count on, without fail, is a birthday card from my brother Billy.  You may not get a gift, if he happens to be broke that month, but you WILL get a card.  And not just any card… no no.  A card that he has taken the time to write some out of this world, heartfelt, personal greeting or “short story” to add to the card’s already included greeting.  We look forward to getting Billy’s card!!!

Last night we celebrated my sister’s birthday while she was in town.  Her birthday is on January 6th, but since she was leaving today to head back to Orlando, FL, we decided to celebrate it with her while she was here.  We all went out to dinner at Max & Erma’s, then headed back to my parent’s house to have cake and open presents.  Of course with Billy’s present was one of his famous birthday cards, that made us all laugh our asses off.  I told her that I was taking the card to scan it and write about how he always does this… so that is what I am doing.

Note:  In this particular “short story” Billy is referencing the time that he pulled a chair out from underneath Kelly at the library while she was getting ready to sit down and she fell, hitting her head on the chair and had to go the the ER and have staples put in her head… a trip that I may add she had to drive alone, holding a towel to her head to stop the bleeding while trying to drive a jeep because my dad said “you’re 18 you can drive yourself…” - which is another story we laugh about.  He is also referencing how we used to call him “Big Haired Rat Boy” due to his out of control afro and messed up teeth growing up.  There was A LOT of love in our family!!!  :D