Ramblings, Incoherent Thought and Family

So it's my last day as a 44 year old and as I did last year thought I'd relate my thoughts.  - Just as last year...the last 365 days I've become more a part of this amazing family.  All my life I've wanted to be a Dad...and while I've been calling myself a 'pseudo custodial adult' since I got here in 2015...this year I truly called myself "bonus Dad".  Nicholasn and Sandra along with Wendy and I make a great unit really dedicated to these kids.  I call them my kids...and I hope to God they understand that doesn't mean I'm trying to replace anyone...but just that the love and true hope I have for them would be what I'd have for any blood child I could have had.  This family that God has blessed me with has been an amazing part of my life and I can't wait to make it official this year.  - I've now been engaged almost a full year to the best partner anyone could hope for.  It's not totally easy all the time.  We're not ...

IN late July 2011 I met one of the best friends I’d ever know. My cousin’s mother had passed away and he asked me to do the service for him as I was still an Elder in my church and I guess he just wanted someone who knew his Mom to do it.   When I went over to Nate’s to talk about the service I met Bunny.   See his Mom had a few dogs…and I believe even tried breeding for awhile.   One of the dogs…the smallest, had been hard for him to find a home for.   He’d tried our cousin Dawn but she had two big (awesome) dogs and Bunny just didn’t work.   So Dawn had to bring her back to Nate.   Then while talking about the service Nate and Rachel asked if we wanted her.   See at this time…my former wife and I had 5 cats and were living in a house and kinda pondered getting a dog but we really wanted a puppy to avoid the issues that could come from introducing a dog to a pack of cats.   This little pooch seemed perfect for that.   The idea b...

“Tonight’s the Night we’ll make History…honey you and I” Those words. They were the first words sung on a mix tape given to me by a friend of mine when I graduated high school.   A friend I had met three years earlier.   The mix tape was for me to listen to whenever I needed to remember how she felt.   It was full of great ‘friendsy’ type songs.   Best of times by Styx, Friends by Michael W. Smith, Angels by Amy Grant and more.   It was a mainstay in every car that had a tape deck in it until it was eaten in 2005. I didn’t listen to it every day…but when I did I thought of our friendship.   I wish I had it now. I got the news yesterday morning through IM from a mutual friend.   One of the oldest and first friends I’d ever had as an adult…and most likely one of the TRUEST…was gone.   I’d been trying to get home the last month…but things seemed to always get in the way.   One week was kids, the next was finances, the next was miscommunic...

There's a meme/picture out on the web about cousins being your first friends and how they are the only ones who understand our family.  In our case it was true.  In some ways...I didn't learn to make friends until I was older...because I already  had 12 great friends.   And then Thursday happened... “This isn’t supposed to happen to us” It was my first thought hearing the news.  “We’re still the kids…we can’t die…what happened???” At 2:30 on May 26, 2016…the world changed.  The news hit me that one of the original 12 Short Grandkids was gone.  Liz, Michelle, Wendy, Dawn, Betty, Kathy, Billy (Me), Nate, Steve, Chuck, Sara and Beth.  We were the original 12 Short Grandkids.  More came later; Matthew, Mark, Brett, Joey, Roxanne and Danielle…but the original dozen of us spent a lot of our formative years together.  Christmases, weekends, birthdays, "happy because" days...all of us were a unit.   We grew up together.  P...

***WARNING…This will be FILLED with SPOILERS.  I’m going to go into what I liked and didn’t.  It’s going to be filled with plot points and the ending…so you are warned*** Ok…I’ve waited till I’ve seen the movie twice.  One on a small screen (Don’t ask) and one on the big screen.  So this is coming off two complete viewings.  My first reaction was “This movie SUCKS”.  On a second viewing…I’m going to say…it doesn’t suck…but this could have been so much more. Let me say first…I come from a comic geek background.  Most of you know I wear a Green Lantern ring regularly.  I have always been a DC fanboy and like everyone else…I’ve waited for this movie for a LONG time. I’ve read many interpretations of the Batman Vs Superman fight and seeing it on the big screen has always been a childhood dream.  So why am I unhappy? Because I think the suits at Warner Bros. have screwed this up.  In an effort to catch Marvel…it’s obvious t...