So off we go Again

I have a new (old) friend, her name is Kim and she is a true beauty. I met her completely by chance on a church youth group trip when I was a teenager. I grabbed her ass and told her I loved her on a dare from her twin sister. We just clicked. We came home and started dating, maybe dated a year? I don't know, but it was special. The kind of special that can last a lifetime. We have parted ways several times for several reasons, but always seem to find each other again. I was mad at her because she got married and didn't send me an invitation; when we had the conversation a couple months ago, I understood her reasons. She told me that if I had been in the church on her wedding day, she wouldn't have been able to say her vows and mean it. I was mad at her, and because my ex didn't like her, it was easy to walk away. I meant it, I would have never traded my marriage for friendship, regardless of what that friendship meant. However, fate looks out for us, and on a chance, I literally ran into Kim one night. We talked, danced, and I gave her my number and hoped she would call; she did. We talk regularly now, and hang out from time to time; I enjoy her company and the way she is around my kids. The world is a bright new place for me, I look forward to tomorrow.

And More Pics!

C with the Billie Dog at school for his time as "Star of the Week." This was the second day I had been there for his star of the week, he was so proud to sit at the front of the class and answer questions about "Billie" and I. Next is one of the most beautiful pictures of one of the most beautiful kids in the world, Boo at his preschool graduation. He did such a nice job, walked right up, shook hands with his teacher, and grabbed his diploma. Then Ky and friends with their teachers at her elementary school graduation. They are holding their certificates of academic excellence from President Bush. Notice how all of the girls have these certificates, she is a true leader and runs with a good crowd. They all make me so proud!

More Pics!

My kids at Six Flags Elitch Gardens in their "Hair Hats"

Some Pics!

The four of us "on the pitch" at Invesco Field. My three in their Rapids Jerseys at Invesco. My three in the lifeflight helicopter. The four of us at the aquarium in Denver.

So off we go!

Here goes; the second chapter in my book of life! The introduction clearly states that I wanted my family most, I tried everything I could, but for some, everything isn't enough. I have a new friend, her name is Erin and she is a true beauty. I met her completely by chance through my daughter and her desire to get new hair. Ky got her hair done as part of her Christmas present last year, and when she needed something new done, we went back to Erin, the same stylist at the same salon. I had a nice conversation with her as they were getting started, then I left so they could have some "girl time." I have been told I flirt in my normal conversations with women, if I get this from anyone, it's from my Grandad and like anything else I got from him, I am proud of it. He was the best man I ever met and will be my hero forever. I went and had lunch with my brother and went back to check on Ky. They were just rinsing her hair when I got there, Erin and I had another nice visit as she finished Ky's hair. The new hair was done, and it was time to pay the bill, we went to the counter, got the total and I signed the receipt. The last time we were there, Erin gave me a business card with her schedule on it, and this time was no different. She handed me the card, I looked at it, and commented "another business card with no home phone number?" She said "ya, and next time you're late, I expect flowers." We had been late to the appointment because of a soccer game. Sorry. This was all fine, and would have probably just passed as a cute comment, but then she winked at me. I like to wink, and like to be winked at, but the bigger issue here is that I love to buy flowers, and jewelry for that matter, and I have great taste in both. This hair appointment was on a Saturday, so all day Sunday I thought about flowers. By Monday, I figured fuck it, I called my florist, and sent her flowers at work. I was pleased with my decision and was sharing with friends at work, when a girl says "I would love for you to send me flowers too, but my husband wouldn't like it." It was at this point that it hit me, I never bothered to ask her about her relationship status! The flowers are on their way, what can I do now? Again, fuck it, all I can do is wait until I get home to check my answering machine. It was a long wait, but well worth it. I got home, sent my kids outside to play, and pushed the button. "Hi this is Erin, the flowers are beautiful, thank you! My number is 430-2***, call me if you want to." I did, and asked if her husband/boyfriend was going to kill me. She had no husband or boyfriend....Yeah! So we talk some, hang out, she's interested, I'm interested, but still this "mayhem" that I deal with. I live an honest life, so I am very open with her in the fact that I have a wife that I hope will come home. She is honest too (nice change) and agrees with families staying together; she has been completely supportive in all that I do in that part of my life. Recently I have come to realize that the last chapter in this book has closed and will not be re-opened. It was a bad decision; I hate it and I always will, but as I have said many times, it wasn't my choice. I invited Erin to my softball games last night and she came. I was a little uncomfortable when she first got there, but I relaxed as soon as her daughter ran up to me yelling my name and hugged my leg. If I had another daughter, her name would have been Kaycee, and although Erin spelled it different, it is neat to have a little girl around with that name. Coincidence? Anyway, it was nice to have them there, I introduced her to several people and I look forward to her being around more. This is the new chapter so far, moving on. Thanks S for the push, I guess maybe you were right, I hope you and I are still ok. I look forward to the future and all it holds. Smile kids, the sun will rise tomorrow on another beautiful day!!

I'm their Dad!

The weekend is behind us and it was another wonderful time. Friday night there was a benefit for a little girl at my kids’ school; she is very sick, and having been through the financial ruin that medical bills can cause, I wanted to contribute. They had supper, a silent auction, a raffle, a live auction, and bingo. We went and had supper first, then looked around at the silent auction stuff. There were lots of things that the kids and I were interested in so I put bids in and waited to learn the outcome. I bought raffle tickets for the kids and myself, then went to the bingo table for cards. There was a good turnout, and they had the life flight helicopter and a fire truck there as well. The kids and I went out to look at the emergency vehicles, the helicopter was first. They had the pilot there as well as a flight nurse. I had a nice talk with them and got to share stories about my mom being a transport nurse from way-back. They let my kids get in the helicopter and explained what everything was, very cool! Then it was off to the fire truck. Those guys were awesome as well, they let the kids play in the truck and even got out their thermal camera and let the kids look around for things with different temperatures. Eventually it started to rain, so we went back inside to play bingo. Collin ended up winning a game but two other people won at the same time so we divided the prized between the winners. They announced the close of the silent auction and I was high bidder on several items. Then it was time for the live auction. Kylee wanted to bid on stuff, so I let her and we ended up with two boxes of beanie babies. We decided that we really don’t need that many beanie babies, so we will try to sell some on ebay. The party started winding down and they seemed short handed so I offered to help. The said they could use me, so I ended up working at the benefit as well. I am glad I could be a part of it, and the total money raised was about $7,000.00!

Saturday Colt had his last soccer game of the season; he is so fun to watch! He loves to score goals, but is best at making sure the other team doesn’t score any. He played keeper for one quarter and was only scored on once, saving at least 10 other shots. His team lost, but they played a great game and had fun doing it. I also got to visit with some people and heard some nice comments about me and my children. We went home, played outside and Kylee helped me mow the lawn. It was fun to watch her as she looked back over her finished lawn, she did a great job. Colt wanted to mow too and didn’t like my explanation of Kylee being three years older and that when he was ten, he could mow the lawn. I let him spray the weeds instead and he was satisfied with that. We had lunch, and laid down for naps; I love naps! Kylee had a birthday party sleepover, so we dropped her off, and the boys and I went out for supper, stopped and saw UA, and went home to bed.

Sunday we got up early and went fishing. The boys were really looking forward to it and even though we didn’t catch anything, we had a great time. We picked up Kylee at 9:30, went and got some breakfast, and went back to the lake and fished for a couple more hours. There weren’t any fish biting, so we went home and watched movies. I did some housework and laundry (imagine that) while the kids took naps and when they woke up, we went to the theatre and saw “Over the Hedge.” It was cute; I enjoyed my kids’ comments as much as the movie. I got to bed early last night, so I was up before 5 this morning. I got up and went to the kitchen table for a glass of juice. I went out on my deck and watched the sunrise and remembered back to when I was looking at lots to build this house on. At my old house you could see the sunrise from the front porch. When I worked nights, I used to get Kylee up when I got home; we would watch the sunrise and then go in the house and make breakfast. One of the reasons I liked this lot was because it had a clear view to the East, and this morning, it paid off. It was a beautiful morning and a beautiful sunrise. I need to wake my kids up early one of these mornings so they can see it with me. There are so many of these things I look forward to sharing with my kids, I’m so glad I’m their Dad!

Denver Trip Conclusion

So Sunday (05/07) we went to Six Flags! It was brilliant! We got there about an hour after they opened and the parking lot was almost empty. We walked through the gates, and the park was nearly empty as well. We started with the carousel horses which is almost required since it is right inside the park gates; it was good to get new pictures of the kids there to update the ones from several years ago when we were there last. Then it was off to the big rides! You might say that I have been "cautious" about the rides I have gone on in the past, or you might just call me a chicken. I am ok with this previous experience, but this trip was as much about replacing old memories as anything else. The first big ride we got to was the "Mind Eraser" which is the biggest steel coaster in the park. Kylee, Colt, Travis, and I got in line, waited one trip, and it was our turn. What a blast! The only down side to this ride is that because of how the seats and safety restraints are, we couldn't see the kids' faces in the pictures that they took while we were on the ride. We then tried to go on the "Batman" ride, we waited in line for a couple turns, and just when it was out turn, they decided it was too windy and shut the ride down. We went all over the park taking turns between the big rides, little rides, and kiddie rides for Boo. We got to the new "Flying Coaster" which took some talking to get Colt on. It was a great ride, and Colt, Travis and I ended up getting right back in line to go again (Kylee said it was too rough to go again right away) Then it was back across the park, more kids rides, then on to the "Twister II" the wooden coaster. I couldn't put it in the right words to get Colt on this one, but I took Kylee 4 or 5 times in a row! I already mentioned that the park was nearly empty when we got there, but I was surprised that it stayed that way all day, we went on a ride, and if we wanted to go again, we got back in line, waited one or two turns and went again. Fabulous! Back through the park, more kids rides then it was time for the "Boomerang" the big steel coaster that goes all the way through, then goes all the way through again, backwards! Kylee wanted no part of this one, but regretting saying no to the Twister, Colt was in for sure! We got in line, waited one turn, and got on. I wasn't expecting the first drop to be so fast, or for it to be so fun going backwards, but it was really my favorite ride of the day. We got pictures of Kylee on the Twister, and Colt on the Boomerang, I bought my required souvenir shot glass, and just as were walking past it, they opened Batman again. We were first in line, rode the ride, and closed our day at the park. As we were leaving, Tiff wanted to stop at the fudge shop. On the topic of Tiff, if anyone has noticed her lack of being on any rides with us, its' because she is pregnant. Congratulations to them and a big thanks to her for keeping Boo while we all went on the big rides. So the fudge shop, I am not really a fan of sweets, but it was really good stuff, so we got the special, buy six, get 3 free. I had been fighting thoughts of the kids' mom all day, but this was the real deal closer, she has a huge sweet tooth, and would have loved it. I wished several times over the weekend that she had been with us, but as discussed earlier, she made her choice and we will make new memories and go on without her. We went to Champ's for supper, the food was great and the service was perfect. We got up Monday morning and came home. We had good roads, stopped in Lusk for lunch with Gram and to pick up Billie, and were home in time for supper. What a great weekend and great little vacation!

We're in Denver!

The kids and I have gone to Denver for a little mini-vaca, and it has been wonderful! We left Friday afternoon and have had a great trip so far. We got to Lusk in just under two hours and had lunch with Gram, ACJ, Dusty, and Dylan, we left Billie with Gram for the weekend and got back on the road. The rest of the drive went well, good weather and we made good time. We got into Denver about 9, and found Trav and Tiff's house without any problem; we visited a little, and put the kids to bed. Travis and I played several games of pool, and drank several bottles of beer, it was a great time and we got most of the world's problems solved. We woke up yesterday, Tiff took the kids to the grocery store while Travis and I got up and around. When everyone got home, I made breakfast. Everyone else got ready for the day, and we went to the Aquarium. It was amazing to see all the different animals, but even better to see my kids' faces as they went around every corner in complete amazement. "Dad hurry up and come see the........" Colt was the brave one for the day, first he wanted to pan for gold, he ended up finding some "pretty rocks" which he was very pleased with. He also decided he wanted to hand feed the sting rays! 4 little fish for $2.00, you have to put a fish between your fingers and put your hand on the bottom of the pool. The sting rays swim over your hand and take the fish our from between your fingers. Collin thought he wanted to try it too, but changed his mind as soon as the first one touched him. We left there and went to Red Robin for lunch, they have all you can eat steak fries with ranch dressing which Collin loved. It is a fun place for families and really kid friendly. The food was exceptional, and because the waiter was a little too flustered to handle all of his tables, the price ended up quite nice as well. We came back to Trav and Tiff's and all took a nap, then were off to Invesco Field for the soccer game. Colorado Rapids vs DC United. The kids and I had never been to Invesco Field, so that was a treat in itself. It was incredible! The field was huge, and the kids' reaction was priceless! We got there about 5 minutes before they announced the teams coming to the field to warm up. Kylee was impressed to see that even pro soccer players do the same type of warm up exercises that her team does before games. The game was a blast, there were several great plays and even more exceptional saves by the goalie's, especially Joe Cannon, the keeper for Colorado. DC United scored first, but Colorado ended up winning 2-1. Our seats were very good, we got to see all the players up close, Freddy Adu warmed up right in front of us! Incredible! The energy is huge, and all the crowd interaction was fun. What a great day! We left the field and came home to bed, why are vacations so tiring? Today it's off to Six Flags Elitch Gardens; pictures and more later!

I can't wait up anymore

Don't wait up for her tonight
cause she won't be coming home
don't wake up till it gets light
by then she'll be long gone

Postcards and letters
Pictures made to last forever
To be boxed up
And tossed away
Nick-Nacs, Souvenirs
In an afternoon
They’re out of here
They disappear without a trace
What they mean to me can never be replaced

I can’t unthink about you
I can’t unfeel your touch
I can’t unhear all the words
Unsay all the things that used to mean so much

I wish I could unremember everything
My hearts been through

In this dance of old songs
Like time they go on and on
I guess I can learn to do the same
I can wake up without you
These two arms not around you
Tell myself it’s meant to be this way

I wish I could unremember
Everything my hearts been through