Well, I am back on dry land after spending the last 4 or 5 days down in the Lake of the Ozarks. With attempts at water skiiing, water tubing, and just general swimming in deep water alot, I am happy to say the only thing that sunk was my sunglasses. And they were only $5, so I was not out too much. A good time was had by all, but now Reagan is back at work and I am back doing 6 loads of laundry, feeding a tarantula, feeding the kids (notice I feed the tarantula first...he is nastier than Abby when hungry!), mowing the lawn, attempting to sell the house, and planning out each day of the final 30 days I have left before school starts up again. With all this work to be done and realization that my job(s) and night classes will again be up and running soon, I would like to take some time to reflect on the vacation to the Lake with our family and Reagan's family....
Before I get to far, let me explain the picture of the stairs that you see just above. There were 149 stairs between our cabin and the dock/lake. This meant that some small news crews interviewed and got video of anybody that made it up the stairs just as if you had climbed Mt. Everest. Apparently, they are very similar climbs. I only needed to call 911 once and that was likely due to the large meal I had before attempting to climb up the steps. In all seriousness, I think the climb is over 500 feet up to the cabin and as long as you only did it once a day, it wasn't too bad. The worst thing? The first time I went up the stairs and had to stop to rest twice and was so proud when I finally made it, I turned to look at my son who was following me. He did the stairs all by himself and didn't even breathe hard when he talked about how fun the stairs were. OK, I will start working out tomorrow and eating less....
Secondly, wow, what a lake and what a rich place to live. We took a pontoon boat around parts of the lake on Saturday and almost every portion of the shore was filled with mansions, houses with perfect landscaping, or sometimes simple houses with houseboats and yachts bigger than our current house. It must be rough to live the type of life where your biggest daily decision is which boat to take out on the lake (speed, yacht, or ski boat) and who will tell the landscapers what to do while you are gone. Fortunately for us, we had three kids under 4 and one pregnant lady, so our bathroom breaks were often and we chose only the best houses to pee on, I mean go inside and ask politely to use the restroom. The owners always seemed confused why all 14 of us had to go in each time when only one person needed to use the restroom!
But the trip wasn't all fun and games. The King/Caldwell family was on a mission: see Ben attempt to water ski. Now, those on the boat saw the event live and have been sworn to secrecy, but I will give you a couple analogies that may give you the appropriate visuals to understand how it went. Imagine putting a big strip of scotch tape on our 18-pound cat Jangles and her then trying to get that tape off at all costs. That was what I looked like putting on my skis. If I were to get up on the skis for any length of time, my guess is that I would have looked like a giraffe walking on mouse traps, but sadly, I could not even get out of the water. Actually, I think I invented a new, more challenging sport: Underwater Skiing! If I managed to keep my eyes open under water (that was traveling at my face at speeds near 20 mph!), I probably would have noticed the many schools of fish that I was splitting in half. But, I gave it three attempts, never close to getting up out of the water. Reagan, attempting skiing for the first time since her pre-Ben years (the 80s??), faired better, but never quite got to the point where she was skiing on top of the water. As I perfect the underwater version, I will invite her to try my sport. Fortunately, people like Dave and Christy and even beginner Keri showed us how it should be done. And fortunatley for others, my skiing could provide some daily humor.
And if that sounded like tons of fun, I also got my yearly sunburn. My doctor/dermatologist was not happy at all that I had decided to go outside during daylight again this summer, but I told him that I would try not to stay out longer than the 8 minutes maximum time limit that my fair skin can handle. Well, after applying the SPF gigapower (somewhere above 100?) sun armour, I felt comfortable to swim with the kids all day. But, I forgot about that stupid "re-apply" rule and was soon burned to a point that likely shortened my life by a couple years. Couple that with my ample chest and back hair (that the Kings and Caldwells were impressed with!), and I was a dead ringer for Elmo. That actually helps as now Jack and Abby believe my Elmo impression even more. Actually, my sunburn wasn't as bad as I just stated and it was mainly located on my shoulders and chest, but last night was the first night where I did not wake up with every movement in bed or every time a sheet touched me above my belly button. But in just one short week, I am sure my red will turn back to a color comparable to Albino white and I will again attempt to avoid the sun and heat until October hits again. Ahh, the life of the fair-skinned family...
Well, that is it from good ol' Des Moines, Iowa this week. If you are yearning for more updates on my life, let me help you out: Still haven't sold house, still not ready for school and grad school to start up again, still no clue what sort of Guidance curriculum I will be teaching to 6th graders, still attempting to organize 3 back to school parties, and still trying to figure out how my Royals can lose so many extra-inning games or 1-run games. Also, getting ready for a big weekend as it is our annivserary weekend, but also the weekend of the Bowling for Apes fundraiser and the opening of Batman, The Dark Knight...the first movie that I have purchased tickets online a week in advance just to be sure I get seats. Also, more donations are needed and welcomed for the Bowling for Apes. So far, some of you have donated a total of $165, but Reagan and I have agreed to match up to $200, so you still have another $35 you can milk us for! Have a great week all!
Love&Prayers,
Ben
Things to ponder this week:
1. I referenced my anxiety this week as I await the sequel to Batman Begins, a top 50 movie of mine. I never try to tell people "how good a movie is", but rather direct them to a site that has been named #1 in movie sites 3 years in a row now. Anyway, this site takes all the movie reviews from around the country for a certain movie and puts them in one place and shows you the approval rating. The Dark Knight currently ranks as one of the highest reviewed movies of the year. Click here to see the reviews...
2. Doug forwarded this site on to me. Watch the video and read Boone Picken's bio. He is an oil guy that is on CNBC a lot sharing his thoughts about oil. But as you can see, he has turned to the "dark side" (or is it the "light side"??). Makes you think...
3. Remember, my blogs that are now up and running. I have one for my EmuEmails and now one for my school students/parents. If you get a chance, look around both. I have added over 30 Emus to the Email blogspot....kind of fun going back to see what I was thinking in 2000 and 2001!
1 comment:
Funny stuff, Benny. Maybe you need to hit the gym as many hours as you hit the keyboard?? There is a challenge for you... are you man enough to take it on? I'm sure it would make for a good EMU down the road.
Doug
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