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We're heading out to a belated birthday party today with a Halloween theme, so Riley wanted to go through his costumes. Once his put on his Flash outfit from last year, he couldn't stop running all over the house. I attempted to document this for posterity.

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

In less than 24 hours we will be heading off on our first family vacation in a LONG while. When littleface and I first got together, she told me about going to Tybee Island, GA, so for our 5th anniversary I surprised her with an impromptu trip. We had a great extended weekend in a Bed & Breakfast, so good we ended up making ole Riley Ben while we were down there. ;) A couple of months back we decided we should go back and take the lads this time. I found a nice house a couple of blocks from the beach that we could rent for not too much, so plans were made.

Well, the time is almost upon us. WIth littleface's recent health issues and work stress for both of us, we are in need of some down time. A full week away, a whole house to ourselves, beach within close view... This is going to be good times.

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

This weekend I decided that Riley's golden curly locks just HAD to go, so I hacked them off with our shears. littleface did a good job of cleaning them up and now he looks like quite the handsome little man!

Once again I've become disgusted with my body. I've been running 1-2 times a week at work, but this isn't doing enough. My first big change is my eating. No more sodas, tea will be a suitable replacement. Also, I'm forcing myself to eat a big breakfast every day with a small lunch and smaller dinner. NO MORE LATE NIGHT SNACKING, as much as I enjoy it. On the exercise front I'm making myself use the chin-up bar I've had since before I met littleface, pretty much any time I walk by it in the kitchen. Trying to fit in sessions of crunches when I can, and I'm going to up my running schedule to AT LEAST every weekday. Any new twists I can add later will be explored, though I think for a first big leap this is good enough. I'm contemplating posting picture of me on some 'blog, or at least keep them for my reference so I can hopefully use them as motivation and to gauge my progress.

Not giving up smoking yet. Don't think that will come for a while. @_@

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

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Riley's much less of a grouch after he's had his morning coffee.

Taken with my fancy new camera, a gift from Sherri for my 33rd birthday. Jaden's in first grade, Ashland's started High School, and now Riley's going to Starbucks: Damn, I'm old.

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

My parents and sister were pestering us to let them take the kids to Alabama for a weekend trip, and we decided to let them do it. Usually we have a hard and fast "no kids out of state without at least one parent along" rule, but since summer is almost over we thought the lads would enjoy running down to my grandparents' lake house for a quick trip.

Of course, this gave Sherri and I a full-day with no kids and nothing else to do. Awesome!

Photo 14

After some errands and yard work, we decided to have a date night. We found that Sunshine was showing in Green Hills, so we trekked down to Nashville for the day. Before the movie started we had a little time to kill, so I took Sherri by the Apple Store (as expected, not very impressed) and was able to pick up my new glasses at the mall LensCrafters. (see picture to right) I lost my glasses last summer and haven't been able to get a replacement until recently. Glad to be able to read from afar once again!

The movie itself was very enjoyable, though at the end I'd wished there was a little more exposition into the "why?" of the plot. After that we met up with Jenny and Chris, I got to see their new apartment, and we went to Casa Fiesta for margaritas and mexican food. Delish!

I worked another long Sunday, and the kids didn't get home 'til late. Yesterday I took off from work as we had multiple doctors appointments for the lads. For dinner I grilled some filets for Sherri and I, and the boys had hot dogs. Mmm mmm, good!

Today? Back at work.

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

I think I've done this one before...

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Midland. The Midland (please don't confuse with "Midwest") itself is the neutral zone between the North and South. But just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from there. Since it is considered a neutral, default, "non-regional" accent you could easily be from someplace without its own accent, like Florida, or a big city in the South like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta.

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

Find out which Transformer you are at LiquidGeneration!

But at least I'm a repaint of my childhood favorite, Sideswipe.

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

I'm lousy with invites, and know only the usual suspects who are using the Alpha version of this new fangled social networking service... Anyone want in?

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

Ah, the Fourth of July: a time when we celebrate this great country of ours by trying to blow a little bit of it up! Good times.

We decided kinda last minute to see if anyone wanting to come over, and got a few takers: Thee Dickens, Jenny, Brandy, Kate (briefly), Justin (also briefly), and a surprise visit by half the Moses clan. Grilled up some sausage, burgers, and dogs (not too many, as I was saddened by Takeru Kobayashi's upset to Joey Fucking Chestnut at Nathan's this year... I mean C'MON! How can I get behind an "athlete" with a stupid name like Chestnut?! I'm still rooting for the Tsunami!!!), drank some beers, and waited for dusk to start the conflagration. I picked up a couple small fireworks the boys picked out, but the main event was a "Barely Legal" mortar set: 4 tubes packaged with 8 shells each. They did not disappoint. Of course, we had to up the ante by doing double, triple, and even quadruple salvos. After that, we enjoyed our neighborhood display, hung out, and had a great, low-key time. Next time we'll have to pre-plan so more people can make it out.

Back to work yesterday wasn't too bad, but my stomach rebelled after my cookout-leftover lunch. I think my old age is not agreeing with my carnivorous lifestyle... Sad, it may be the end of me. Today looks to be fairly slow, but we'll see. Off tonight and tomorrow, and I believe we're going swimming with Kate and some others out in the Cool Springs area, which should be fun.

I got invited into the Pownce alpha this morning. Anyone want an invite? I got six!

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com

Awesome. It was just cheesy enough that you didn't think they were taking themselves too seriously. CG was fantastic, action was great, and there was PLENTY of fan-service. I remember quite a while back they were doing a web-poll for what old school Optimus Prime quotes should they put into the script, and I caught several. ("Autobots, Roll Out!", "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings", etc.) Peter Cullen was great, though I'd wished Scatman Crothers was still alive to voice Jazz and when Bumblebee finally spoke at the end I wished they would have brought back Dan Gilvezan.

All-in-all, excellent translation. I loved how wide open they left it in the end for sequels (which I think I've read is the plan), and if I don't get to see it again in the theaters I will surely be first in line to pick up the DVD.

Originally posted on kaijuu.vox.com