Has it gone too far ?

None of my children have ever lived in a world where the internet and cell phones DID NOT exist.

I worry this is where we're headed ...

 ... sigh ...

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Did I Imagine It ?!

Today was my oldest son's 12th birthday ...

Happy Birthday Josh Jr.

So while Karen was away at a "girl's night" event, Josh Jr and I watched the original Karate Kid (starring Ralph Macchio ... with Elisabeth Shue as the love interest).  It was fun to watch with my son and see his reactions to a film that was pretty cool back in my day.

But the ending left me asking "WHAT?!"

There is all this build up and then the fight with the "bad guy" is over in just a matter of minutes.  And the "bad guy" brings the trophy over to Daniel-san and says "Hey Larusso, you're all right" and then ... it ... just ... ends.

What happened to the scene in the parking lot with the evil Sensei who berates the Cobra Kai from his dojo only to be stopped short of doing something terrible by, none other than, Mr Miyagi?!

Did I just imagine that ending?!  Or did we get some crappy copy of the movie that cut out what ended up being my favorite part?!

The "birthday" boy young man

My wife said that she thinks that is the opening scene in the second movie ... which might be true ... but darnit if that wasn't the "cool ending" I had kinda been prepping Josh Jr for during our watching of this film.  And then when it just ended I was appalled ... and I'm afraid I ruined the "happy ending" for my son by shouting at the TV saying "Where's the rest?!"

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Remember "Deep Thoughts" ?

I used to love Saturday Night Live back when I was in middle school and junior high.  Hans and Frans.  The Church Lady.  Simon and his drawrings.  But my favorite was always the Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

There is an official website if you'd like more quotes, but I am going to just post an early one that has always been one of my favorites.

“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.  That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.” ― Jack Handey ―


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Where's the Pacifier ?!

My youngest daughter Myra (only 15 months old) still goes to sleep with a pacifier.  That's not a problem really ... except when you can't find one !!!

Myra, with her pacifier, playing one-person Musical Chairs

Any parent with experience knows that you'd better have more than just one pacifier (or you'd better know where the ONE you have is at all times!)  We have three pacifiers for Myra.  This evening ... we couldn't find any of them!

If it hadn't been well past our older kids' bedtimes, we'd have employed the same tactic we've used to find them before: offer a quarter for each pacifier found.  It has worked (a few times) surprisingly well before.



But alas, I was left to search the house myself (Karen would have helped but I didn't tell her I was looking so she knew nothing of my one-man search party).  I found all three pacifiers ... ONE in Myra's bedroom (under her bed and under a blanket) ... ONE in the "office" (under the kids' computer chair) ... and the last ONE was on the sink in the front bathroom (not under anything!)

Only other parents can truly appreciate the joy it was to find each one, especially in the fact that if she wakes up in the middle of the night I'll be able to toss another one into her bed rather than fumble around in the dark amidst her blankets trying to find one!

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One or Two? Three or Four?

This morning, Karen and I had eye doctor appointments.  I remembered this as we were falling asleep in bed, after having just outlined how busy our day today was going to be.  These appointments threw everything into disarray, but so did Savannah having to stay home from school with her fever and cough.

Anyway, the first lady that was helping me (can't for the life of me remember her name) had me cracking up all throughout my appointment.  She was scanning my chart and just started laughing.  I asked why and she said "You answered the question 'How often do your change your contacts?' with the response 'When they hurt.'  That's just funny ... but it's not funny."  And then she kinda wagged her finger at me in a you-should-know-better kind of way.  A few minutes later, while she was doing some other eye test, my phone rang with my "I love daddy!" voice recording (it's Catalina saying that phrase and I set that as my text message alert sound).  She asked me what that was and I explained the above.  She chuckled.  Then I looked at the text and it was from ... Karen!  That was amusing because she was right there in the eye doctor's office with me (just a few doors down).  I read the text and then joked about how it was odd that she would text me from the other room, which took us down a conversation about how quickly pagers came and went.

A short while later, after Donna (the assistant doctor?) checked my contacts, this first lady said "Okay let's just move you in with Karen" to which I replied jokingly "I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of commitment."  She laughed and then suggested that I text her to see if she wants me to "move in" or if that was moving too fast.  We chuckled about it all the way to Karen's appointment room and then I recited the whole experience to Karen.

It made me think two things:
First, I just love it when people can enjoy themselves at work.  I don't care what your "job" is.  If you can smile and laugh and joke around with people while you're doing it, then that's a big WIN in my book.

Second, it reminded me of the stand-up comedy that Brian Regan does about eye doctor visits (which is the inspiration for this blog post title!)  I shared some of his material with that first lady and she wrote it down to youtube later because I was making her laugh so hard.

So here's a link to Brian Regan doing his eye doctor appointment routine.  I think it's hilarious, but beware!  Once you watch it, you'll never be able to look serious at an eye doctor appointment again!  :)

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A Timeless Classic ?

I remember reading Calvin and Hobbes comics when I was just a trouble-making kid myself.  Now I have 6 trouble-making kids (not all of them all of the time, but ALL of them SOME of the time!) and the oldest three are getting a hoot out of reading this 10th Anniversary Edition book (which Josh Jr got from the school library).

I have ALL of the Calvin and Hobbes collection ... except this book.  So I have enjoyed reading about the artist's experiences related to creating, writing, and producing this classic cartoon.

I was sad when he decided to stop making new comic strips, but I am very glad that MY children are enjoying the humor of these comics.  I still side more with Calvin (especially regarding his crazy antics with Hobbes), but I understand the experience of his parents more now and find those cartoons even more amusing than ever before.  But my favorite are still the snowman comics!  I'll NEVER stop laughing at those!  :)

So my recommendation is that you bust out your old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip book collection and enjoy some family-friendly chuckles!  :)

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Isn't She Lovely ?!

That's a great song by Stevie Wonder, but last Saturday that is what I was thinking about my lovely oldest daughter Brooklyn Rose Case!

She was baptized that day, by me, and the spirit was very strong at that special event.  I was, and am, so proud of her for deciding to be baptized and follow her Savior Jesus Christ's example.



Her mother did her hair the following day in a "crown" which, you can see, covers her whole head and makes her look even more beautiful!

Congratulations Brooklyn on your special day and thank you for letting me play such a special role as your father in this historic occasion!

You'll always be my little girl!  :)

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