Category Archives: Fun

Pictures of my wife in the bathtub

Fun, House,

Hey, what kind of pervert are you anyhow? Did you really think I would put those kind of pictures on my blog? Well, yeah, I see your point. I mean, with a title like that, what should I expect, right?

Just kidding my blog friends. I thought I would share with you what I got Emily for Mother’s day while at the East End yard sale last weekend. Yes, you read that right, I got her Mother’s day present at a yard sale…the day before Mother’s day. I am that kind of guy.

I have mentioned before that our house was built in 1939. A lot of the house is still reminiscent of 1939 but the main bathroom screams 1985. It was a good year, no doubt, but as bathrooms go, it was not a bright age. There is a gawd-awful garden tub that we can’t even fill with our hot water tank (let alone afford to fill it)! There is way too much wood and a good heaping scoop of ugly on top just to tie it all together. We started tearing into the bathroom just because we were sick of looking at the ugly (plus I accidentally drilled a hole in the waste pipe from the upstairs bathroom that ran through this bathroom…but that’s another story). Anyhow, we have plans to modernize our bathroom in an old fashioned style. The garden tub is out of the question. The ugly bits everywhere must go. We hope to make it similar to how it might have looked when it was built. But before I can fix up the bathroom, I need to jack up and level the floors, install new windows and do all sorts of work on the floor below.

Ok, so that’s a long-winded way of saying that the bathroom is on the list but won’t be getting fixed super soon. Imagine my surprise as I walked down Quarrier Street on Charleston’s East End and saw a glorious claw-foot bathtub out in a front yard. I have seen all sorts of claw-foot tubs around with crazy prices and lots of dents and bruises. I was certain that I was going to have to settle for a beater or else spend thousands of dollars to get a new faux-antique tub which sort of ruined my idea of old and cool (and it especially offended my sense of thrift). I tentatively approached this mirage-tub. Surely my eyes were deceiving me. The price…too good to be true. It’s condition…in need of a new finish but without structural blemish. Did I mention the price? I didn’t want to look too desperate, hoping to get a deal. I ran right up to the homeowner and fell at his knees, begging him to let me buy his tub. He smiled and chomped down on his cigar, preparing to deal. We came to an agreement and I came back later with 3 men and two small boys to help me load this widow-maker into the back of my man-van. If it weighs 5 pounds, it weighs 400.

We managed to get the tub back out of the van and into my front lawn (in perfect style!) where it will have to sit until I get the main bathroom in such condition that the floor will support the weight and there is room to install the tub (i.e. we get that garden tub out of the bathroom and into the front yard). In the meantime, we’ll enjoy our front yard tub and rest easy knowing that we scored the coolest claw-foot tub in the United States!

Weekend Update

Fun, Thoughts,

Even though it rained a bunch leading up to this weekend, it seems like we got a bunch done and had a lot of fun this weekend.  Soccer games were cancelled this weekend.  We practiced on Thursday evening and it was a muddy mess.  Mosquitoes swarmed around us as we mucked through the swamp-field.  I am sure I will lose half my team to malaria or yellow fever or something.  Honestly, we would have been better off to play bare-foot so we could at least enjoy the mud squishing through our toes…sort of like playing in the cow pasture.  

Anyhow, games were cancelled so I went to the East End yard sale.  The East End of Charleston is a strange area of the city.  Most of the East End is filled with huge old homes that were probably pretty upscale 75 years ago.  Several streets remain that way, populated mostly by professionals and artists and such.  A few streets back from those however, a rougher element lives.  Anyhow, the East End had a yard sale this weekend and I suppose there were thousands of people in attendance…including me.  More on what I found in another post, but it was great buying other peoples’ junk!  I was able to get part of Emily’s Mother’s Day present at the yard sale!

We planted cushaw squash last year and have stored 4 in our kitchen since we harvested them last August.  They seemed to have kept perfectly, but we verified it this weekend.  Emily made more cushaw squash pie and it was delicious!  It was just as moist and perfect this weekend as it was when we first harvested it.  If you want a good keeper, definitely plant cushaw squash!

Last year we bought a reel mower.  We wanted something that would be environmentally friendly, cheap to operate and sort of fail-proof.  Sure enough, most of it is metal with little to break…that’s little to break, not nothing to break.  The only plastic on the thing is a set of arms that hold the cutting height adjustment (i.e. a roller that holds everything at the right angle/height).  It broke and rendered the mower useless.  Being one to over-engineer/over-build, I bought some angle-iron and built new roller arms.  They are now guaranteed not to break!  I also added a new steel axle so we should be good to mow!  Of course, with all of our rain, the grass was too thick to mow with it so I weed-whacked the entire yard which was such a delight!

Finally, Abigail lost her second tooth on Sunday and had a visit from the tooth fairy.  She had been holding out on pulling the tooth but she bit into a peanut butter sandwich and it hurt enough that she finally let me pull it…and without a fuss!  The tooth fairy again visited and performed her duty as per union rules for tooth-fairy local 107 here in Charleston, WV!

So, all-in-all, it was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun!  What did you get into this weekend?

Mr. Hilton

Fun, Thoughts,

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  We don’t celebrate this holiday with too many presents or special songs, but I think it is interesting to consider the role that some of my teachers played in my future.  I know that the teachers my kids have now (and ones they have had) are making a huge impact on their lives.  Both kids absolutely love their teachers this year and have learned so much under their watch.

I had a few wonderful teachers that shaped me, but probably my all time favorite teacher was Mr. Hilton.  We had some weird transitions and chaos as East Hickory Elementary merged with Tionesta Elementary, but I received a huge benefit as I had Mr. Hilton for both 4th and 5th grades.  He inspired my curiosity.  We did all sorts of interesting projects on physical and earth science.  I remember spending all sorts of time in the science room where there were closets and shelves and shelves full of formaldehyde-filled jars with creatures of every sort.  There were containers of chemicals and bottles of mysteries.  We didn’t recklessly play with stuff but were taught to investigate.  We learned about economics (he used a token system to reward behavior and hard work) and greed and power struggles and how hard work pays off.

Later on in high school, Mr. Hilton became Coach Hilton.  I played soccer in high school and he was my soccer coach.  We weren’t always the best team but he encouraged us to do our best and to have a lot of fun in the meantime.  

Finally, I worked closely with Mr. Hilton’s son and daughter at the bait/sporting goods/grocery/movie/ice cream/general store where we all worked.  His son and I, in particular, had a tremendous amount of fun and a little bit of trouble.  I deer hunted with he and his family and came to enjoy his company apart from school as well.  It’s not common to have a teacher who can also be a friend as well as a mentor, but Mr. Hilton accomplished much of that for me.

So, here’s to you Mr Hilton!  Thanks for being a great teacher!  I still appreciate your hard work!

Ok…I have to stop or he may get a big head if he reads this.  But I do sincerely hope that you had an awesome teacher somewhere in your growing up that inspired you.  If you can, let them know.  I am sure they will appreciate it!

 And now, our next candidate for teacher of the century…

Derby Day

Family, Fun,

We moved to Kentucky right after we got married.  Our first place was a 450 sq ft or so apartment into which we pack 900 sq ft of furniture.  We had no money (but I still had my motorcycle then!),  but were too young to know any better.   Anyhow, we made some really fantastic friends and had a really great time in KY.  One of our favorite things about KY was how everyone turned out for University of Kentucky basketball and for the Kentucky Derby.  It was, somehow, more important than Groundhog Day even.  Emily’s family here in WV also enjoyed watching the KY derby.  

Now that we are back, we get to enjoy the family time and share a few traditions with the gang!  Most importantly, we always eat KFC chicken in anticipation of the Derby.  Someone grabs a huge bucket of chicken and all the sides to boot.  We eat too much and sit around commenting on the different horses.  We place our “bets” and get all the back stories on the jockies or trainers.  Mostly we laugh at the women in their crazy hats in the stands.  I always laugh at their attempts to look elegant while holding one-too-many mint juleps.

Anyhow, to be a part of the party, we also wear hats.  Everyone makes their own hat, the more ridiculous the better.  We recycle lots of things, but we never recycle our hats…every year sees a new creation!  Anyhow, this year I went with the first bright idea I had for my hat!


(We picked Mine that Bird all along, by the way…I even took a picture to prove it!)

Last year we made mint juleps which were interesting.  I think it must help the flavor to get a few of them in you before you comment.  I was not terribly impressed.  Of course, we didn’t use glacial ice or anything special.  Our ice came from the Muddy Elk River and the mint came from my back yard.  Anyhow, this year Emily’s mom made derby pie which, oh my goodness, you have to try…

Derby Pie

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, large
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted
1 unbaked pie shell

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour and sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and melted butter.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Pour into pie shell and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Let cool to set.

We love Derby time and I always feel like it marks an important milestone in spring.  It’s great fun to So did you watch the derby?  Do you have any silly traditions that you hold for some event, Derby or otherwise?

Swedish Fish

Fun, History, Thoughts, ,

When I was a kid, we used to spend every day at the Tionesta beach. It was wonderful basking in the sun, preparing ourselves for skin cancer, learning about swimming and other kids and fish and crawdads.  One of my favorite memories of the beach was the concession stand.  They sold all sorts of junk there and we got a quarter to spend each day.

They sold frozen candy bars and popscicles and fun-dip and wacky wafers.  I love sugary candy.  It’s a terrible weakness that I still carry.  Probably my all time favorite thing to buy was swedish fish.  I guess they were a precursor to gummy-bears?  Anyhow, I like the red ones.  They sold swedish fish at the beach for a penny each….bag included!  Just about every day, I would get a little sandwich bag full of 25 swedish fish…the red ones.  

I have eaten them since then, but it is fairly uncommon for me nowadays.  The other day though, I was passing through a store and saw a bag of swedish fish.  The are significantly more expensive now than the used to be.  I didn’t count, but I suppose they cost at least 2 pennies each now.  Anyhow, I bought a bag…the red ones.  I ate the whole bag by myself the day I bought  them.  That’s right, 1400 calories of red sugary goodness!  I skipped breakfast and lunch and figure I broke even for the day.

I got another bag a few days later and spaced them out a bit.  I figured that buying swedish fish this way wasn’t sustainable though.  I decided to try my hand at a breeding program.  I looked very carefully and choose a male and female swedish fish and put them in a fishbowl I had laying around at the house.  I do have some experience with fish reproduction (a story for another time), so I figure it ought to be a piece of cake.  Anyhow, I expect to be up to my eyes in swedish fish in just a few days.  I’ll be taking orders soon!

Do you have anything from your childhood like in which you still indulge now and then?

Golden

Fun, History,

In 1985, the Boy Scouts celebrated their 75th anniversary.  In 1907, British General Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouting movement in England. Shortly afterwards, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce visited London and learned of the Scouting movement. When he returned to the U.S., Boyce formed the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.

As I have mentioned before, I was big into Boy Scouts and had a lot of fun in the organization. Every February, the month that the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated, every troop has a big celebration dinner. At our 75th anniversary dinner, we decided to make a big production. There is a famous (to scouts anyhow) statue sculpted by Tait McKenzie, of a scout standing at the ready.  The sculpture is titled, “The Ideal Scout”.  The original stand in Philadelphia where scouting really started in the United States.  We decided to trick folks by pretending that we had ordered a replica of the statue for our small town.  I was, of course, a natural for “the ideal scout” (mainly, the uniform fit me).  We painted an old uniform gold and any part of my body not covered by a uniform was also covered in gold dust, just like Goldfinger.  It was really weird to see if all go down the drain later.  Anyhow, I was prepared by scout leaders and stood behind a curtain, waiting to be unveiled.  

Several regional scout leaders were invited and were in attendance and could not believe that we had acquired a replica statue.  The dinner went on and numerous awards were presented.  All the while, the mysterious statue remained behind the cutrain.  Finally, as anticipation built, I was unveiled.  The lights were dim and I stood completely motionless as folks looked on in amazement that scouting was so important in our town.  Fellow scouts recited the scout pledge while looking on the statue tom commemorate the occasion.  At the end, however, as they finished, the “bronze” statue lifted one arm to salute them in response to their pledge.  No one knew I was the statue until I moved to salute.  It was awesome as the trick played out!

You gotta see this…

Fun

I have a few things that I just have to share.  These are, of course, not my creations, but are so cool (I think) that you gotta see them…


We love the Sound of Music so this was too cool not to show. I had no idea the mansion was a public place. How cool is that!


And this guy just amazes me…I don’t know what to say!

  

Umm….ouch…..

  

I have never been much into this stuff, but this is too amazing to ignore I think

Was he ever angelic?

Family, Fun,

We visited my parents a few weeks ago and had a chance to look through some old pictures and talk about stuff. We found one picture of my Dad and some of his friends (sometime in the mid-1950s) as they were dressed to perform their duties as alter boys at the Episcopal church in their hometown.

A few things caught my attention. I don’t know if you do this, but I always get this silly picture in my head of people in little kid bodies, but with their adult heads. I guess it almost is bobble-head-ish, but I always have a hard time imagining people as they were “back then”. So, I see this picture of my Dad and it sort of makes me remember that he is human (though sometimes I wonder…) and that he was a kid once, probably a knucklehead like I was/am and also like my son sometimes is now. He probably even played with toys and had childhood romances and collected boogers like Isaac does now (not really). Isn’t it weird though, how it’s hard to imagine your parents as people (smile) let alone as kids?

Anyhow, my Dad was in the back row, far right near the old man with funny glasses.  That brings me to the other thing that caught my attention.  There is a huge variety of style captured in that one picture.  It’s sort of funny how many different hair-dos there are…from flat tops to greasers to duck’s tails.  It sort of cracks me up but is a neat look back in time…ancient history in fact.  Although, many of those hair styles can still be seen today!

Cow on wheels?

Fun, Thoughts, WV, ,

A coworker of mine (actually, the founder of our company) is an excellent, though atypical skateboarder.  He’s been at it for many years and has a lot of great skills and some really nice scars to show for his efforts.  Recently, he has gotten me into skateboarding too.  After a number of really nasty days here in WV, yesterday was absolutely beautiful.  We cut out of work a couple of hours early and headed to Coonskin Park where there is a great skate park.

We got there and there were a number of teenagers.  It’s funny, as I thought about it.  Skateboarders are typically considered punks and maybe even criminals.  To be sure, I saw kids who needed a shave, kids with tattoos and long hair.  Some of them cussed and most of them were show-offs.  

But I also saw older kids helping younger kids learn new moves, I saw people gather around to help when one boy fell and hurt his leg.  I saw a boy trying to teach his new girlfriend learn to skate.  There was plenty of clowning around and tons of good clean fun. These were really great kids who aren’t much different than I was when I was a teenager.  Really, they are not much different than I am right now when I think of it.

Anyhow, I am gaining a new respect for skaters.  These folks were decent kids who wanted to have a thrill, to show off and to hang out with friends.  They were not stoned or drunk or any of those things that people often associate with skaters.  They were a lot of fun and my pleasure to hang with.

I think the funniest thing I saw was the guy in the cow suit.  He was a great sport and an awesome skater.  One of the younger kids asked him why he was wearing a cow suit.  His reply was, “to get the ladies”.  The younger kid just shrugged and said, “Oh..I get that.”

Cheating

Family, Fun,

Abigail is a talker.  She talks all the time and several of her girl friends in kindergarten are the same way.  Her teacher has fussed at her many times and she has been in time out, had notes sent home and been moved all around the classroom.  She just can’t help herself.  Now, believe it or not, I am not a talker.  I typically don’t say a lot to people face to face.  It’s just not me.  So…that leaves Emily as a talker.  I figure talking of Abigail’s caliber must be genetic and she must have gotten it from Emily’s line!

She didn’t understand why it was such a big deal whether she talked during a test or when the teacher was teaching.  “I was done with the test” or “I already knew that stuff” was the usual response we got.  We finally told her that it might be like cheating…her teacher might think she is telling someone else the answer or that she was getting the asnwer from someone else.

I guess that the cheating talk must have sunken in a little.  This Sunday, Abigail came home from church with this paper.  I am not sure what else to say!