My latest

Today's post: Something that I really hate. (shocker, huh?)

Rachel and I have been married for almost 9 years now, so far we've lived at Mom's in Fairfax, in Manassas VA, and Pennsylvania. We've met a good number of people in that time, and made some lasting friendships. We've also made good friends, who turn out to totally snub and forget us once either they or we move. Some history first.

I never was really big on keeping in touch with people, not that it wasn't important to me to do so, but I just didn't think about it. I complained a lot when the house in Fairfax broke up, with Jim moving back to Pittsburgh and I ended up at Mom's again, about friends not keeping in touch with me. I complained all the way up here to Pottstown, as the people I thought were my friends never called/emailed/visited me. I realize now that some of this was my own fault, as I didn't make the effort to keep the lines of communication open with them. That being said, with Rachel's help, I am a ton better at keeping in touch with friends and family than I ever was before.

Which leads me to my current issue. I really hate it when friends move away. No matter if it's the next county, or across the nation, the result is the same. "Let's keep in touch" or "I could never lose you guys" or "You're too special to forget" or some amalgum of these sentiments is invariably uttered by one or both parties. I hate that, because in my own experience, this never happens. I've lost countless friends to the wind, all promising to keep in touch -- but emails go unanswered, phone calls and voice mails ignored, and these people I let into my heart STOMP on it with their callous shoulder turned to me. I would much rather someone tell me, "Look, we had a good run. I like you a lot, but let's be honest, I'm moving away and will never see you again. I'm going to be making other friends, and I really don't have the time or effort to keep in touch with you." That would be honest, and refreshing for once, rather than telling me how much I mean to you, and then completely ignoring when I try to keep in touch. I take that stuff personal. So, to the Edwards, the Ecks, the Smiths, the Abels, and now the Hassels, amongst many others - - goodbye.

EDIT: I wasn't talking about Jim and Jessica in my post about the house breaking up and not staying in touch. They've been solid on that count.

Survivor Ends - Todd Herzog victorious

Okay - in a previous post, I spoke about my love for reality (or not so reality) TV. Sunday was no different, as we were looking forward to seeing how the season ended. Rachel and I run hot and cold with Survivor sometimes, but it's always fun to see how the drama plays out. We were both rooting for Todd or Amanda to emerge as the winner, as they both backstabbed their competitors to get where they ended up. Glad to see that Todd was unapologetic for his actions, and basically said, "I started playing as soon as I got to China" as opposed to Amanda, who was counting on her doe-like eyes, and pushing the "I was following Todd, so I'm not that mean" card on the jury. So, in the end, Todd took everything like a man, and turned at least two votes his way to take the million dollar prize. It was nice to see that James took home the most popular survivor cash, and that multi-billionaire producer Mark Burnett decided to "tip" poor Denise fifty grand to "make your life the way you want it." I'm guessing she'll spend it on Cheez Whiz and scratcher lotto tickets, maybe upgrade to the 1990 Ford Tempo 4-door model. Come on Burnett, fifty grand? I hope that's coming out of your overflowing pockets, and not being charged to the production budget that CBS is footing the bill for.

Now for my annoyance part of the post. What is it about Survivor and making sure that everyone knows that so and so is a Gay Mormon? This is now the second Gay Mormon contestant (that we know of) to compete, and third overall. Raef from Survivor: Guatemala was a Gay Mormon river guide, Neleh was a Mormon student, and now Todd the Gay Mormon flight attendant. All of them did very well in their respective seasons, with two of them making it to the final vote. I mean, what's the deal with bringing that out and sticking it front and center on their nameplate when they do their "aside" interviews? Does it matter? You would think that in the day and age in which we live, that being gay is a non-issue anymore, let along on a freakin' reality game show. I guess they just love to do that kind of thing as a thumb of the nose to a known conservative religious sect for some reason. Just annoying that they don't match a Gay Catholic or Gay Baptist tag on the other contestants who happen to be gay along with holding a job. Just annoys me to a degree, but that's me.

Under the Weather

Being sick sucks. I hate being sick. I woke up on Wednesday morning, with my throat very, very sore, and just knew a doozy of a cold was coming. You know how that is, right? I mean, once you've lived in your body long enough, you know when something isn't right. My tell for sickness is the sore throat. So, Wednesday I knew all day what was coming. I sucked on hard candy, and gargled with salt water, which I knew wouldn't work, but sometimes old wives tales turn out to be true. Thursday, I awoke and was just miserable. My head hurt, coughing my head off, achy, and just altogether a mess. I worked that day, and just knew it was a mistake. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. We got dinner and the kids squared away. Friday morning came, and I was still just out of it, but this time I called out to work. I don't call off from work unless I am a danger to drive, and in my condition, I just didn't feel safe behind the wheel. Saturday, I'm in a little better shape, but still sick. I was supposed to go to a training meeting at the Stake Center, but blew it off so I could rest. I'm sure Dave is going to be pleased with me. So, this is a short one .... take care of your bodies, all !!

I don't get it, Maw

I'm sitting in front of the computer tonight, kinda watching what is on TV right now. It's NASCAR Primetime, some sort of "behind the scenes" summer show filler. So, a commercial comes on, for the umpteenth time tonight, for the DVD release of "Blades of Glory". Now, I love movies. Besides video games, movies are probably my second great hobby. I love going to the theater to watch, I love the home delivery that Blockbuster has now, and I love getting movies for gifts on birthdays, Christmas, Anniversary, or just because. I love all kinds of movies, with the notable exception of the British period pieces (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion,etc) that just annoy me. I must have missed the boat entirely on Will Ferrell, though. I just don't find hardly anything he does funny, as a lead actor. I loved him in Old School, I will admit that, but he wasn't really a lead in that movie. "Elf" - BAD "Anchorman" - Atrocious "Talledega Nights" - hokey and stupid "Zoolander" - weird. One of the newer movies he's tolerable in is "Stranger than Fiction", mostly because he isn't trying to be funny or cheesy. I didn't like him on "Saturday Night Live", either, to be fair. The cheerleader sketch was overplayed, although one of the most well known of his many less than funny parts. I just know that whenever he's in a movie, to avoid wasting money seeing it in the theater, or buying it from the store. I just don't get why people think he's so funny.

Granted, I think a lot of what is considered "potty humor" is funny. I just laugh when someone gets covered in poo in a movie from an exploding port-a-potty. I also love "America's Funniest Videos" because people get hurt on there all the time. I told Rachel a long time ago, that I hate when people fall down in front of me, because my first reaction is never "OMG - are you okay?" it's almost always "BwaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" and then I come to try and pick you up and see if you're okay. Doesn't matter if you're 16 or 60, people falling down is funny to me. We went to Hershey this weekend, and I was standing in line for the virtual tour of the chocolate factory. Rachel took Allison to the bathroom while I stood in line, and held Ryleigh. While in line, I look down to my left and see a woman on the ground who slipped on what looked like a shake of some sort. I had to stifle myself, because I just kept imagining her face while biffing it onto the ground. That in turn made me want to laugh, but I didn't want to appear to be more of a douche than I already do. So, I just kept eyes front and centered and cleared my mind. Just a little insight into my mind. Sick, aren't I ?

*SIGH*

You know it's bad when you sit back, and think "Wow, I am surprised that I am still alive." I only say this, because now that I am a parent, there are times when I just don't know what to do when my kids misbehave. That also causes me to try and remember all the stuff that I did as a child, and also what I got away with that Mom and Dad never found out about. It's just odd being on this side of things now, and seeing your kids try to get away with things.

I grew up on Dad's Mantra "A parent is always right. Even when we're wrong, we're right." I resented Dad for that, and still have some hard feelings towards the way he decided to express that mantra to me. Even as I got older, instead of him letting go, and letting me find my own way in life, he decided to turn the screws even tighter to exert his will upon me. He always said that I reminded him the most of himself, and I think that freaked him out. I have fought against that for all my adult life, with Dad's bad habits and attitudes almost hard-wired into my head on a subliminal level. I remember when Rachel and I were in the Manassas Ward, and one of our friends were blessing their baby. I was asked to be in the blessing circle, and that was an honor. After sacrament meeting, the parents of the mother of the baby came up to me, and said "As long as you walk the Earth, your father will never be truly gone." I thought this was a curious thing to say out of the blue, until they told me that they knew Mom and Dad when all were younger, and from their recollection I was a pretty good copy. I don't mind it anymore, but that used to really frost me when people said those things. I've gotten over most of my hard feelings towards Dad, but there are some things I was to remember to help me do right by my family. Even in our family, each of the siblings have a different opinion on Dad because he treated us all differently. And, get this, there's nothing wrong with that. Don't ever let another person influence your memory.

So, anyway, back to my point. Parents are smart. They've been where the child has been before. All it takes is a little observation of a child, and you can recognize their patterns and their "tells" (to use a poker term.) I was almost always astounded as a child when Mom or Dad would know when I was misbehaving. I thought they were psychic. Now with Allison, and Ryleigh, I watch what they are doing and I know when they're hiding something. This skill has also been refined while Zachary and Daniel have been with us. Not to say that all children are demons, or that they need to be constantly monitored, but you just know when there is something amiss. That's when you look back and try to remember the things parents said to us to get us to fess up and admit to it. Funny how the mind works. Even funnier now that I'm on this side of the table. Maybe I'll have a grilled cheese with my little Aaron ghost I'm looking at, and let the memories glide between us.