Birthday Girl.

Today is Steph's birthday...I screwed up the past few years, and either missed it completely or when she said she didn't want any big celebration I listened. NOTE TO SELF: when wife says no party needed...it means at least do something special.

Tonight, we are going to eat at the Hangar, its a restraunt at the Huron Regional Airport...they have a limo and they will pick you up and drop you off for free. So neither of us have ever ridden in a limo, but tonight is the night.

Crazy, I had to move back to Huron to get in a limo?

Anyway, I think from past blogs you know how much I adore my bride, and without her our family would be a mess. She is the Liquid Nails that holds the Glanzer Universe together.

I got waaaaaaay lucky when I snatched this Kansas City girl. I often wonder what I would be doing now if Dana would not have "set us up". I would not be the person I am, and would not have the joy in this world that I have.

I found someone that I love to share life with. Not many people in the world get that anymore...like 50% maybe from the stats. Even then, how many people do you know that are not exactly happy about the situation they are in?

I am the luckiest man alive...JayMo who I work with constantly says that I "over-married" when I landed Steph. I agree, totally.

Happy Birthday, Steph.

PS-this picture is the look I get a lot...it means a lot of things...for the most part it means...would you give me some help around here and with the boys...other days it just says, "I'm sassy", and she is.

Fruit Stripe Gum

Brecken got some new PJ's for Christmas, and we laugh at them because he looks like a pack of Fruit Stripe Gum!

Do you remember this stuff...it was my favorite.

Tasted super good right away then like 3 minutes later it tasted like you were eating an eraser.

They had the market on cool gum for 10 year old kids.






I still love the Fruit Stripe Gum.

Visitor #1,000....Uncle Skipper?

If you visit the Living On Liquid website often you might have noticed the "hit counter" at the bottom of the page. On some computers it won't show up, but on some it will...anyway, on Jan. 21, 2007 it rolled over to 1,000.

Part of the program that logs the hits also keeps a record of the location of the server from which computer generated the hit. Meaning...I can pretty much see where people who visit my website are from. There are a handful of pretty regular visitors to the LOL blog, 2 from California, my father-in-law from Indiana who's server lists him as a visitor from MLPS, and about 3 regulars from Kansas...one of those in the Garden City area...that would be Uncle Skip.

I think he hits the site almost every day. When I checked the counter and found out that number 1,000 was from Garden City I was pretty sure that either it was Skipper or my cousin Kent that was visitor number 1,000...I gotta believe that during the time of day that it was hit it was Skipper, because most people with lives don't surf the Internet at 3:41 pm...only retired dudes who wear sweatpants all day long have the ability to hold Internet surfing hours like that!

I am pretty hard on Skipper, cause he raised me that way. You see, Uncle Skipper was the inventor of the BARN BURNER. Every birthday Uncle Skip would journey to your house to deliver your birthday spankings...the last one was the Barn Burner. Don't remember if they hurt, but I think we all remember fearing the Skipper.

He terrorized us as kids, teenagers and now as grown adults! Any visit of his to this day, I have to stay on my toes.

I have got him good a couple times, once on a camping trip I put a whole bunch of big pine cones under his sleeping bag, and the other was the best...he was a foreman at a plant in Huron and got to park his new Chevy pick-up right by the door. One morning I snuck out to the plant and put a For Sale sign on it that said, "$5,500 or best offer call Skip at ....". It worked out pretty good too, because several people came into the plant asking why he was selling his pick-up for so little.

A few years ago, Skipper turned 60, and I was going to place an ad in the Garden City newspaper to sell his truck once again, but Skipper got sick and ended up in the hospital for a few months. He is a fighter and is still alive and kicking. Lesser men would have died.

We are extremely happy to have The Skipper around every now and then in the Beadle County area, and he eats our food, messes with my boys and heads back to G.City.

If Skipper was number 1,000 it is fitting that he be honored on this website with a posting all about his influence in my life.

By the way Skip, the 4th of July is fast approaching, and I have big plans for you! You need to be on your toes!

Learning To Walk...

Our boys are almost exactly 4 years apart, and both of them are dealing with the same problem...staying on their feet.

Brecken has taken those "first steps", the ones that look like what Andy Capp might have, after another long night at the pub.

It happened a few days ago, Steph helped him stand...and weeble, wobble...gravity. He has been trying a lot lately, but yesterday we were playing on the floor while watching Da Bears, and Brecken pulled himself up next to the coffee table and took 3 solid steps to me...it didn't even dawn on me that he walked until he got to my arms.

Maxim has been picking himself up a lot more as well, but picking yourself up off the ice is way more work.

Mini-mite hockey is winding down, and I am so proud of my team...they went from not knowing how to skate, to all being able to skate forward and backwards, and some can even stop.

Maxim is one of the youngest on the ice, but is doing great. Some days he isn't as excited about going to the rink as I am, but that goes away when he gets into the locker room with his buddies. After his skating progression took away the need to skate with a chair, it was time to introduce the hockey stick/cane.

Mini-mites have a tendency to use the stick as a crutch, which is fine, but when they fall the yard sale ensues. If they only loose their stick it takes about 2 minutes for them to pick it back up, but if they loose a glove or 2, or a mouthpiece (I've even had a kid loose a shin pad!) it could take the remainder of practice to gather all the equipment and get the kid back on their feet.

Maxim was one of those kids for about 3 practices. Then last week something clicked and he started jumping back up and usually held on to his stick. It is fun to see progression in your children.

I know both of them are frustrated right now at times while learning their new skills, but to tell you the truth, I don't remember not knowing how to walk, and all I remember about skating, is that we only did it during winter, I loved it back then, and still do.

I did some quick math and I bet on average I spend between 12 to 18 hours a week at the rink or on the ice.

I guess that's why Steph is looking forward to spring...Brecken should be walking by then...she will need some help.

Superheroes.

The Superheros...we were in Sioux Falls on Sunday, and hung with the crew. Here are the Superheroes.

SuperDavy.
BatMaxim.
SpiderMeyer.

Good times...the best times. The only real thing we miss about Sioux Falls, besides Caribou Coffee, Qudoba, Johnny Carino's, Target and I-29 construction.

Friends like this only come around once in life...we were blessed, and still are blessed by them.

My 2006 Music Review.

If you have ever clicked on the red rectangles on the sidebar you have been taken to my last.fm account. The program "scrobbles" all the music I listen to while I am logged on to my computers.

A buddy of mine and fellow blogger was using it as well, and as a gatherer of statistics I wanted to know MY top 10 of musical tastes for 2006.

I understand and fully embrace that my choice of music is a bit skewed, but that's what makes me, me. Chris LeDoux right next to Blink-182 on a playlist!

So here is the top 10 artists I have played since September of 2006...

1. Nodes of Ranvier (232 songs played)
-Screamy, hard core group from Sioux Falls, super talented if you like your music this loud. they played a show at our church that was the most real (musically speaking) concert I have been to in a while. The coolest thing was that most of the band member's parents were in attendance and they introduced each of them. Great guys on top of it.

2. mewithoutYou (194 songs played)
-My best musical find of 2006, the lyrics are deep, and the style is like nothing else you have ever heard.

3. Rise Against (165 songs played)
-Straight punk one of the best to come out in the last 3 years.

4. Taking Back Sunday (115 songs played)
-It suprised me to find I listened to them as much as I do.

5. Arctic Monkeys (114 songs played)
-Brilliant new raw band from England...Good stuff.

6. Jack Johnson (109 songs played + 40 more plays from the Curious George Soundtrack that scrobbled wrong)
-Jack as we call him at our house is a family and crew favorite...any road trip or session in a boat must include Jack. Singer, songwriter, guitar player and world champion surfer. My mom even likes Jack!

7. MxPx (103 songs played)
-If my MP3 player scrobbled to the site, MxPx would be my number one band by far. Left Coast Punk. Everyone should know these guys, except my Uncle Skipper, he still thinks Roger Miller is "new" music.

8. Hawthorne Heights (99 songs played)
-On my computer alone I listened to "Ohio is for Lovers" 21 times. HH is simply a great pop-punk-alt group.

9. Showbread (96 songs played)
-RAW MUSIC ROCKS is this bands motto, and they stick to it. Energy for your ears.

10. Fall Out Boy (93 songs played)
-Dance, Dance...Sugar, we're going down...ect. Chicago band with Indie roots.

Honorable Mentions...
11. Pedro The Lion - They broke up this year, but still are one of the best emo's of all time.
12. Roper - Bear + Skull and Crossbones = Roper. The best lyrics come from Roper, sarcastic or serious, this guy is solid. His other band Brave Saint Saturn comes in at #18 on my played list.
14. Nada Surf - Another band from my college days that I can't stop listening to.
15. Beck - Beck, enough said.
19. blink-182 - Travis Barker on the drums...let's just say I idolize his skills.
20. The Spill Canvas - Sioux Falls band that is one of my favorites of all times, if I would have started scrobbling earlier in the year, they would have hands down been the number one band.
25. Kanye West - Amazingly enough this is the first hip-hop artist on my list.
33. John Denver - Me and the mountain man share of love of nature and good country music.

Not on the list, but listened to on a regular basis:
Kenny Chesney: country music's Jack Johnson without the surfing ability.
Johnny Cash: The King (elvis who?)
Dixie Chicks: Pretty standard for me...if Nashville hates them, I love 'em.
Relient K: I need a new album from you
Spoken: The remake of Time After Time was perferct.
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: The name says it all.
AC/DC: A guilty pleasure of mine...truth be told I listen to these guys all winter long in hockey rinks across the Midwest. Can't start a game without Thunderstruck or You Shook Me All Night Long.

So that is the list, most of you were confused after band number 1, that's ok.

Snowbound

So during a winter of warm weather and no snow, we get snowbound on our way home from Sioux Falls.

The 50 mph wind gusts and snow made it super sketchy, so we called it a night rented a hotel and watched the Gators dominate Ohio State.

Then Maxim wanted to watch the Steve Irwin's Super Gator special on Animal Planet.

We swam in the hotel pool, Maxim did so good, he is finally putting together all the swimming lessons instruction.

I haven't been home for 4 days...I wanted to drive through anything for my own bed, but your ideas on winter weather driving changes when you are with your family.

It was an unplanned fun night at the hotel that is if Brecken goes to bed!

Jesus Camp.

I was reading a story by a friend of mine who writes the entertainment portion of the Argus Leader, and he mentioned a few movies, one of them which I had never heard of called Jesus Camp.

So I googled it and found the movie's web page. It was the brain child of the co-director team of Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady who produced the Boys of Baraka, a brilliant PBS docu that I watched one night mostly out of boredom, but was engulfed by the end of it.

Anyway, I started reading about this Jesus Camp movie, and I watched the trailer only, but I think it is no wonder why the mainstream media, and most of the world is confused about Christianity and what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't seen the movie, and I think it's great these kids are on fire, I just hope and pray it is their faith, not that of parents or that it is something that is being brain-washed into formable minds.

Also note: Rev. Ted Haggard was involved with Jesus Camp.



I have to include John Stewart's knock on Haggard, because as much as some of it hurts the feelings of "evangelicals" it is funny, and is a good check yourself test of your own lifestyle.



I will be interested to see the movie, and hope you will as well. If nothing else it brings a good discussion for all people who fall under the label Christian.

Oh, Seven

2007

Thanks to Paul Coffey my life as a non-obsessive person changed forever. I have only one real OCD and that is a strange allegiance to the number 7.

When I looked at the calendar and realized that this would be the year of '07 I was super excited. You see, when I was a Pee-Wee in hockey, which is the first real time you get to pick out a number, I chose number 7.

At the time, the early '80s, the Edmonton Oilers were the NHL's dynasty franchise, and with players like Gretzky, Kurri, Moog, Fuhr, Messier, Lowe, Huddy, Anderson and Coffey to name a few, every aspiring hockey player watched the Oilers, and had a favorite on the team.

Gretz and Mess obviously had the most fans, but as a defensemen, I was drawn to Paul Coffey. Don't ask me why, I just liked him. He was number 7, so I was number 7. From that day on.

Now some 25+ years later, I am still number 7 in everything I can be. My closet is full of adult league hockey jerseys, co-ed soccer jerseys, and my old official playing uniforms all with the same number.

You might think, "Oh I have a buddy that is the same way." I have actually met a few people with the same obsession. Only one other with the 7 obsession, and he took it as far as I do. Everything...passwords, logins, pin numbers, my youngest son's name has 7 letters, Steph and I were married on March 7th, my oldest son was born on the 17th (it has a 7 in there!!! Thanks God), my snowboard and wakeboard are both marked with my number of ownership, the bill of hats, my tools, my next tattoo, my climbing gear, in fact, Steph has bought 3 shirts that have the number 7 on them not so much because they were cool, but because she knew I would love the number thing.

Obsessive you think? I haven't told you the crazy part of this 7 obesssion. During my sophomore year at SDSU while filling up with gas I needed just a litte bit to top off the tank. I just let it run and it shut off automatically at $7.77. Since then I would always try to have a 7 somewhere in the amount when I bought gas. Be it in the amount or in the volume of gallons, it didn't matter...just had to have a 7. I'm still doing that today! Every time, but now it has to be in the actual price. Steph loves the game and encourages me to keep the streak alive everytime we fill up with gas. No, not really.

So you can see this 7 thing is a problem, or a blessing whichever way you look at it. I'm just excited that the whole year is now the year of '07.

Happy New Year.

Spreading Some Holiday Cheer.

Ok...I "advertised" it. I put the address to the blog in our family Christmas letter.

This was originally supposed to be a little private blog for the parents, sister and the crew in Sioux Falls...but in the back of my mind I knew that if you put something on the web it was for the world to see. If I wanted it private I would have e-mailed it, right?

Well, it seems that the little link drop in the letter worked. I have a "hit counter" on the website and it has been rolling up like the national debt in the last 3 weeks.

We had a great Christmas...we were a bit depressed on Friday, it didn't seem like we had any big plans and none of our family was coming into town, but that mood changed quickly.

Saturday was a great laid back day. Maxim and I went out on the ice and it was perfect weather for making snowballs and snow angels. We had an epic battle that ended with me getting a snowball shoved down my sweatshirt! Maxim won. It was cool, last night you could still see our footprints on the snow covering the ice from that battle royale.

Sunday was the church play, Maxim and I both remember our lines...I was the Mayor. After we partied with Eric and the Gross crew for a while and closed the night out up the gravel road at Steph's family's party. The boys basically passed out that night from exhaustion.

Monday, we hung around the house in the AM and went into my folks for lunch and supper. Brent, Vicky, Aaron, Sheila, Lynn and Gloria came over to join us and Grandma for supper. Brent and Aaron are the party starters! Never at a loss for stories and they keep everyone laughing.

Jim, Linda and Scott (AKA - Waldo) came over later for dessert and some cowboy quickdraw shooting. My dad is a fastdraw cowboy gunfighter, and he has this range set up in the garage...the neighbors must have

been gone, because it was a loud night! Tons of fun with Scott...he might be the only cowboy gunfighter that holds his .45 pistol like a gangsta.
The boys had a great time opening presents from family, and once again were blessed beyond what we could ever imagine.

We have no plans for New Years, so that should turn into a Festival Con Vaquaros...or something epic like that.

2007...

Merry Christmas!

For those of you that didn't get the mailed version of the Christmas letter and photo...here is the picture. We are standing on the ice on the lake behind our home.

Steph's knee scope went great, the Doctor thought she should be perfect in a few weeks. She started PT yesterday, just easy stuff. I have been juggling work and helping with the boys. Did I ever mention that being a stay at home parent is more work than going to work? It is, and I am so thankful that my wife has given up a great banking career to stay at home with the 2 chipmunks.

Maxim and I have been skating on the lake lately...it is so surreal sometimes...the quiet, the openness, the bond of 2 hockey players enjoying the ice together. Maxim loves it when I chase him and hook him with my hockey stick and then pretend to check him. In 2 more years there will be 3 of us out there.

John Denver's "Country Roads" just came up on my playlist. I think that song sums up the year. With the exception of the West Virginia thing.

It's rain/sleet/snowing outside...things seem perfect in this world.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth.

Here is a couple of links to consider during this time.

www.heifer.org

www.buynothingchristmas.org

Kitchen Progress

The sheetrocking of the kitchen is shaping it up nicely I am over half done and should be finished in theory by Friday. It always amazes me how sheetrock changes the look of a room. Sometimes it makes a big room feel small and a small room feel big, but our kitchen with sheetrock still looks huge.

576 square feet of kitchen/dining area. Most people in the world have about half that to call home! We are spoiled in America.

The sunrises at the lake have been super beautiful lately...I could use a blanket of snow to make things a bit more wintery, but that will come soon enough.

The boys have been great, with the exception of Maxim and I loosing our PlayStation 2 playing rights for a while. Seems when it was time to shut it off the other day, Maxim threw a bit of a fit and Steph put it away. She is a great mom...I wouldn't have the well-behaved children I do if it wasn't for her.
Brecken is doing some amazing things...standing on his own for 3 or 4 seconds, feeding himself finger food and his bottle, using a little bit of sign language, SOOOOO BIG and bye-bye are super easy now.

Last Saturday was an amazing December day...54 degrees (F)...so we were all outside, Maxim and Brecken drove around in the Jeep, I put up some Christmas lights and Steph made a star out of plywood and then put rope lights on it. Maxim wanted a star, and Steph gave it to him. It looks super cool when you are driving up to the house...you can see it from about 3 miles away! Makes you think about the real Star.


Steph has the house decorated to the hilt. I only wish we could have people over to our kitchen to enjoy some holiday cheer at our new home...maybe for NewYears Day? Or Steph's Birthday? For sure 4th of July!

Christmas Letter Season.

My writing for personal reasons has taken a backseat to work, being a husband, dad, carpenter and hockey coach. My last entry was more than a week ago. May be the newness of the blog thing has worn off.

I couldn't believe it when on November 29th we got our first Christmas Letter/Photo in the mail. It was insane. I wasn't even done with leftover turkey, and Little Miss On Top Of Things (Name Removed To Protect The Properly Planned) had already dressed the gromets up the same, gave the dog a bath and talked her husband into wearing a sweater for a picture.

I think it is funny, and I am guilty of it as well, but our lives all sound so "Leave It To Beaverish" in Christmas letters.

For example:
Joe got a promotion in his company, he is now a Facility Engineer (aka-janitor).

I (the wife speaking here) enjoy my time at home with the kids keeping the house clean, and running them to football, soccer, gymnastics, swimming and piano (aka - I watch a lot of Oprah and Dr. Phil, and then ship the kids off to activities so I don't have to put up with them for a few hours).

Johnny is an 8th grader and loves math, science and is a great athlete (aka - we held Johnny back in 5th grade, because he wasn't starting on the YMCA league basketball team).

Mary is an active sophomore and dad is doing a good job to keep the boys away (aka - Mary is on her cell phone with girl friends all the time, but the boys just aren't calling her).

You get the picture...so I thought, I need to write both versions of the Christmas Letter...I'll send the one that paints the beautiful and then Blog the one that tells the reality of some things.

I'm doing them both in the same format.

January - I worked some crazy long hours at work, and watched a lot of TV. Steph turned 30 on the 30th and I completely missed her birthday. She is still mad about that one. Maxim got into some trouble at day care for hitting and not listening.

February - Steph ran a red light and totaled her brand new Yukon, broke her ankle, banged up her knee, but thank God that her, Maxim and unborn baby were protected. My highlight was that my bonus gets deposited in February...believe me it came in handy for the hospital bills...by the way we met our deductible this year.

March - I looked at some Christmas pictures we had developed and I realized that I was a fat tub of crap, and instantly launched myself into a workout routine...I weighed 228 and had the body of a 38 year old...happy to report that now I am 202 and benching over 260 pounds. Steph was starting to be ready for the baby to be born in March...she did a lot of nesting during this month. She made me start finishing our basement. Maxim went through a spell in March where he would not sleep in his own bed, because it was "nary, nary scary". So instead of fighting it, we let him sleep with us. We are still on occasion trying to break that habit.

April - April was great...Brecken was born, Steph was at home with the boys...the month kind of flew by.

May - My little cousin got married in May...so we all (our family and my mom and dad) packed up and drove to Chi-town together. My dad at times was completely annoying. I think he wanted to punch me about 4 times during the trek. We always end up loving each other.

June - Maxim turned 4 on June 17th. Steph went back to work, and we started to contimplate a move...and on a whim we decided to move to a lake...Lake Byron north of Huron.

July - I do not remember a single thing about July...except it happened, and the 4th of July was during this time...I think we went to Pickstown and wakeboarded a ton.

August - Dad and I went to the Knoxville Nationals...great red neck fun...We put the house on the market and sold it for full asking price in 30 days. Moved our stuff to my parents house and storage in Huron and started on the extremely big project of fixing up the house at the lake we bought.

September - Wake me up when September ends. I think this is when Steph had her gall stone surgery...or was that in August. I can't recall.

October - More house work...Maxim swore 2 times this month...where he heard that from, we have no idea. It is pretty scary hearing a 4 year old use the f-word and s-word properly. (See now that's something every parent would leave out of their fantasy world Christmas letter, but it happened and it was a big deal so I included it on the blogmas letter)

November - Maxim started hockey...to my pride, but he started hockey with tears for the first 5 practices and didn't want to go, and wouldn't skate without someone helping him...he is one of the best 4 year olds on the ice now! Brecken started feeding himself, and standing up...he will be walking in early 2007.

December - Steph is having her knee scoped, and holiday cheer...stuff like that. But for real, things have been great this year, I just need to hurry up and get the kitchen done in the lake house before Steph yells at me again. I guess when you take away a woman's kitchen it's like a man losing his garage.


Happy Holidaze
The Fam



There both versions...if you were not among the people on the list of mailed letters, I apoligize for that, but you were invited to the blogmas letter.

By the way my sister rules. (There Sal, now you have been mentioned like 4 or 5 times on the blog)

Stupid Chain e-mails.

If you are like me you delete most chain e-mails, no matter who they come from...I'll wade through the jokes and funny videos, but if I have to hear one more time about the Free Mason's rule over America based on the markings on the back of a Dollar Bill, I'm gonna puke.

Anyway, my buddy Mike S. sent this one today, and for lack of sending out more crap mail, I copied and pasted.

Participate with me on this. It's actually quite interesting. Ionly sent this to folks whose answers are bound to be clever!This is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be LAME and spoil the fun! Just give in and do it. Copy, not forward, this entire e-mail and paste it into newemail. Change all the answers so that they apply to you then sendthis to a whole bunch of people you know *including* the person who sent it to you. Put your name in the subject. The theory is that you willlearn a lot of little known facts about your friends. It is funand easy questions to answer.

1. FIRST & Middle NAME : Thomas Robert
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER SOMEONE? Doubting Thomas??? I have no clue?
3. Do YOU HAVE A BEST FRIEND? Steph
4. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? During the movie "Luther" (Life of Martin Luther, great movie by the way) I got choked up...full on cry, no idea.
5. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? YUP I WRITE IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME, AND MRS. GROSS, MY H.S. ENGLISH TEACHER HATED IT WITH A PASSION!
7. KIDS? Maxim 4, Brecken 7mo.
8. WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? some days
9. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? www.livingonliquid.blogspot.com yes, I'm a blogger
10. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Whenever I can, I did go to rehab for it one time
11. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes
12. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Peanut Butter Crunch and Smores...on the healthy side "Blueberry Mornings"
14. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? depends on if I tied them when I put them on...most of the time you don't have to untie flip-flops or Tevas...
15. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I can bench 250# 5 times, but I don't feel strong
16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Rocky Road
17. SHOE SIZE? 11 in Teva/tennys and 9 in ice skates
18. RED OR PINK? Red...if you know me you know about the red and black addiction
19. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My ability to be super laid back...but ironically, at times, it's also my favorite thing about me.
20. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My sister, and her family
21. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? kind of, kind of not
22. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? old blue jeans and barefoot
23. LAST THING YOU ATE? Do you eat coffee?
24. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? a mix of Radiohead, mewithoutYou, MxPx, Roper, Beck, Nodes of Ranvier and Showbread (Pretty typical for me) http://www.last.fm/user/glanzer77/? youchartstyle=sideRed you can see for yourself
25. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? BLACK
26. FAVORITE SMELL? Campfire, coffee and when someone smokes a pipe and it is that sweet smelling tobacco...love it.
27. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Steph and Maxim...He calls to ask if he can play with the Playstation 2.
28. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? eyes
29. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Love him, just wish I could see him on the golf course more.
30.FAVORITE DRINK? HOT: any coffee COLD: Coke or room temperature water out of my Nalgene31. FAVORITE SPORT? Hockey, soccer and board sports32. HAIR COLOR? brownish with a smattering of salt
33. EYE COLOR? blue
34. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? since 1986
35. FAVORITE FOOD? Johnny Carino's Spicy Shrimp and Chicken Pasta, and Qudoba's Steak Classica...home grown Steak on my grill
36. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy endings
37. SHOWERS OR BATHS? Showers
38. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING: blue
39. WHICH CELL PHONE COMPANY DO YOU USE? Verzion
40. HUGS OR KISSES?? are we talking Hershey's little chocolate morsels here...if so, I am a hug
41. FAVORITE DESSERT? O'Henry Bars, my mom's recipe
42. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Skipper, he has way to much free time
43. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Skipper...he is a horrible typer
44. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? just finished Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
45. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Napoleon Dynamite picture, a good friend hooked me up with this one.
46. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I haven't watched TV since like Tuesday of last week.
47. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Maxim's feet running around the house, Brecken's cackle laugh, and the sound a boat makes when it pulls a wakeboarder out of the water.
48. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
49. THE FURTHEST YOU BEEN FROM HOME? Chezch Republic
50. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can do the back spin, and the worm...Breakdancing was big for a month or 2 in Huron.
51. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 1972, Wessington Springs, SD

How's this, Dad?

Ok, I realize I'm not solving any of the worlds problems on this blog, in fact, some might read this and think it should be a blah-g instead of a blog. However, my dad is a huge reader of the site. Who knew?

This afternoon I talked my pops into treating me to lunch at the local diner, and he says, "OK I just have to talk to you about something on your blog...". So I am thinking he is in disagreement with my somewhat liberal and progressive Christian mind. NOOOOOO not in the least...he was ticked about this comment in the list of "My Moments" on my birthday entry. "My mom making a pan of O'Henry Bars, "just for me"". (see Nov. 21 post)

He claims I dissed him as a major contributing factor in my life on the blog...well Mr. Father Of Mine...Let me count...not counting this post which is dedicated to your ego. You are leading Ma by a score of 12 mentions to 7 mentions. Hmmmm, I guess I owe MOM a few props to catch her back up.

Mom thanks for:

Teaching me and taking me rock climbing
Building my first go-kart
Taking me ice skating for the first time
Teaching me how to downhill ski
Playing hours of catch and hitting me grounders
etc...

There you guys are all square.

Hey, by the way, dad...check the picture...you would have never let me do that as a kid, let alone taken a picture of it. But it is one of your prized grandsons so it is funny and cute. Man, you held me down...

Kidding as always...nothing but love for ya O-G. (that stands for Original Gangsta in street talk but today it stands for Original Grandpa)

Happy T-Giving.

Maxim's team hockey picture. Can you see my chest swelling with pride?

Birthday Thoughts...by Jack Handy

Theres a difference in living and living well,
You cant have it all, all by yourself
Somethings always missing 'til you share it with someone else,
Theres a difference in living and living well.

-George Strait-

This would have been posted yesterday, but Blogger.com was down.

November 20 was my birthday so I'm gonna get all sappy. I still feel 18, but for the record I'm not. I don't know if it is my Generation X upbringing, but I don't feel like some stuffy 34 year old career-minded only businessman.

I am satisified with my balance of life. Hence the George Strait lyrics up above. Mom and I share the love of music...granted mine is still a bit louder, harder, screamier and faster than she likes, but we find common ground on a lot artists. George is one of them...she heard "Living Well" on the radio the other day and thought of Steph and I and the Lake House. She gave me the CD for my birthday...great gift! You can never go wrong with music.

Anyway, the more I have listened to that song the more I realize that maybe that's why I don't feel all crusty and old. I'm still 18 at heart, a bit to laid back for some people, but I enjoy living and thanks to my family and God I'm living well.

I live for my moments.

What are MY moments you ask?

Brecken's full-cheek smile and cackle-laugh
Maxim and I (Coach Tom) on the same ice at hockey practice
Hugs from both of them
Watching both of them sleeping in their beds after a big day of playing
A good friend and 3 dogs looking for pheasants on the wide open prairie
A good cup of coffee
Baby calves running and bucking in an open field
Looking out my window and seeing a butter-smooth lake
Snow when it falls straight down
When the perfect song comes on at the perfect moment
Steph's eyes, her big smile, pierced nose and perfect feet...when she wears my old SDSU sweatshirt, or any of my clothes for that matter, or those tattered Gap jeans
Sitting on the deck at night with my guitar
The smell of campfire
My mom making a pan of O'Henry Bars "just for me"
The sound of skates on frozen water
Did I mention coffee...stuff like that.

It got me through the first 34 years and will be about the same thing that keeps me young for the next.

About The House...thanks to my dad, the kitchen ceiling is sheetrocked and insulated. After T-Giving, I will finish the walls and make the electric "hot" as long as "ElectricDealer" as he calls himself on Ebay sends my no longer in production Wadsworth brand 15 AMP single pole circuit breakers right away. Otherwise, I have to buy retro versions of the little suckers and they cost like $40 a shot. I need 6. Mr. Ebay is selling me 2 used ones for $.99 but $6 for shipping.

I was just about to give you a timeline on when stuff was going to get done, but I remember a comment from my ever patient wife..."Don't...Don't...Just don't give me anymore timelines that you can't hit...I don't want to hear them." So honestly I CAN'T TELL YOU WHEN WE WILL BE DONE...or Steph will be mad.

Caller: Hey, you guys have a car on one of your power poles...

What?
This actually took talent.
Our stuff is built so tough you can park cars on it.














Vertical Parking.

This is all I have.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8697728961740914069&sourceid=igoogle

This guy would have ruled any college in America.

Back Home

I've been on the road more than home in the last 3 weeks. My travels should be done for a while, and I'm looking forward to the slow down. Steph and the boys did come along on some of my trips. On the way back from Nebraska we stopped at the Fort Randall Dam area where we camped and wakeboarded last year with The Crew. Super nice day and Maxim loved it.

Last night I put up the rest of the siding that I had torn off to put the new windows in, so we are now ready for snow. The siding is temporary, because next spring I will put some brick on the front to dress up the road side of the house a little bit.

I started to connect all of the wiring last night...now I have to call my electrician-in-law to see if I was reading his mind right on a 3-way switch. This electrical system will challenge my abilities, and suck my will to live.

Steph has put a Thanksgiving Day deadline for the sheetrock to be up...I should be able to hit that date. The only think keeping me from it would be my fear of getting shocked AGAIN while messing with the electric.

The geese on the lake have been insane! Every night they honk the night away.