Perfect Strangers...

We got the first season of Perfect Strangers from Netflix this week...

When we got it, we had to do the dance of joy:



So, yeah - that is what we have been doing...

Paging Mr. Ayala...

Mom and I went out on Friday night. First we went to Carraba's and had a nice meal (except that the evil sun kept trying to blind me). As we were finishing up, a woman that was in Cindy's class all while we were growing up came by with her daughter. She sat down at our table and started talking to us.

Remember, I've known this person (although not as well) for as long as Cindy has. When her 10 year old daughter came over, the lady introduced us to her as Cindy and Tom Ayala...

I mean I know I LOOK hispanic, but c'mon....

Btw, we loved Zombieland - it was really a lot of fun.

On Saturday, we took Jefe and Dude to the farm and let them run around with Tomlin. It was great fun. Got the washer and dryer hooked up, so no more laundromat...

Kinda cool...

So, the other day I'm sitting at my desk at work and Rob sends me an email asking if the name Jim Wohlford means anything to me. I (being a sports nerd - especially Kansas City Royals) replied:

You mean former Kansas City Royal left fielder, Jim Wohlford?

Rob quickly emailed back that he thought I would remember him.

I replied with a paragraph full of useless information detailing his career.

Rob replied that Jim worked for his company (in the California branch) and that he had met him...

About 15 minutes later, my phone rang. I answered and the voice on the phone said:

"Tom, this is Jim Wohlford!"

Evidently Rob had forwarded my email to him and he was so pleased that someone knew who he was that he called me (my phone number was in the email).

We had a nice 15 minute conversation and he told me some stories from his playing days. It was awesome...

Made me feel 12 years old again.

Here's a picture of my new friend (btw, I have this card):

A Dale moment...

Teams allow player with Down Syndrome to score a touchdown...



Here is the story:

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1451.html

Okay, sometimes people don't suck...

So. . . . last night we took a load of garage sale items (blue recliner, over the toilet cabinet, chest of drawers, Sam's old black, red and white dresser, stereo) to Grandma Janice's for the garage sale Aunt Gayle was having.  Of course it was dark by the time we got there to unload and we had to do it with flashlights.  I guess we sold all but the toilet cabinet and the dresser, but Layne & Amy might take the dresser.  This morning we got up bright and early to go to Sedgwick to help the little brown ladies set up for their Fall Festival booth.  When Dad opened the shower curtain he hurt his shoulder.  He doesn't know how.  He couldn't even drive to Sedgwick.  Anyway, he faked it well while we were unloading everything for them and then we went to the American Legion breakfast.  We came back home, switched vehicles and took off for Oklahoma City, OK.  Dad was able to drive, but it rained the whole way and traffic was bad due to some dumb college football game (OU vs OSU, I think).  We did our shopping at Camping World and got some lunch and headed back home.  We stopped at some gas station to take a potty break and I ran into a cousin in the bathroom.  She is Uncle Sergio's daughter, Stephanie.  (Elena was a flower girl in her wedding.) I haven't seen her for years!  It was very weird.  She was on her way home from the Brittany Spears concert in Dallas, TX.  We got home and Dad camped on the couch with a heat pack and lots of ibuprofen.  I did some packing and laundry.  Oh yeah, Jefe had a sleep-over at Sam's!  We were going to have Sam come by to let him out Saturday to go potty, but he just decided to take him home with him on Friday evening and then bring him home when he went to work.  He took Jefe's bed and put it in his closet.  Sam said Jefe sniffed around for about 10 minutes and then got in his bed and went to sleep.  He woke Sam up around 8 and got in Sam's bed with him.  So I guess he did alright over there!

So I hope to get a lot of packing done tomorrow, as well as the laundry.  We are going to Grandma's for Carly's birthday in the evening.

Sorry I don't put cool pix on here, like Dad.  I'm just not as much of a geek as he is, I guess.

Oh, yeah . . . AARRGGHHH!  (It was talk like a pirate day!)

At the Fair...

Mama and I went to the Fair on Tuesday night. We figured out that the last time we went to the fair as a family, Joel was in a stroller (so it had to be at least 5 years ago).

We had a good time (they had RV's!!!). We wandered around for about 3 hours, ate some really delicious (but very bad for us) food - pronto pups, funnel cakes, etc...

Here are some pics:

Does anything say "State Fair" like a good fatball?


Scarecrows (kinda blurry, but one of them is supposed to be Spock).


Fair people make me feel smart and skinny...


Butter Sculpture...



Giant Cow...

Dad thoughts...

Written by Joe Posnanski (writer for KC Star and Sports Illustrated) - made me laugh...

These are simply … Dad Thoughts:

– Dad thought: Any and all Dad activities related to building, repairing, restoring or renovating something for a child will take at least one hour longer than expected. It may take several days longer.

– Dad thought: You spend an hour or more driving an air-conditioned car to an amusement park. You then spend all day wandering the park and looking for a ride like an air-conditioned car.

– Dad thought: A birthday party for 8-year-old girls is high pitched enough to be heard by dogs six states over.

– Dad thought: A 2-door car may look cooler and it may spark something from your youth and you may justify it in your mind (“Hey, this is MY car”) … but, in the end, it just ain’t worth it.

– Dad thought: Little kids really can’t spell.

– Dad thought: Two young daughters are an excellent excuse to lower the driveway basketball goal as low as it can go. And since it’s that low anyway … might as well dunk.

– Dad thought: People really have stopped waving when you let them cut into your lane, haven’t they?

– Dad thought: When I was young, Dads wore shorts and black socks which made them look utterly out of touch. I don’t wear shorts and black socks, but I am no doubt doing something that makes me look utterly out of touch. What is it?

– Dad thought: I don’t dislike the new music or find it to be corrupting — so I can at least cling to that bit of youth. But I must admit not being able to tell much of it apart.

– Dad thought: I have been wearing the same sneakers for about three years now. They are green from lawn mowing and dirty from overuse. And yet, I haven’t replaced them and am not especially eager to replace them. I used to want new sneakers every three months … what happened to me?

– Dad thought: The older my daughters get, the easier it seemed when they were babies.

– Dad thought: People ask me how my life has changed since I became a Dad. There are too many ways to explain, but perhaps the most telling is that I get up at 7 a.m. now, even when I’m on the road.

– Dad thought: Why can’t I fix a car? I always thought that when I became a Dad and turned 40, I would just naturally and instantly be able to fix cars. I just thought that file would be uploaded, like in The Matrix.

– Dad thought: Sneezing hurts. That’s just not right.

– Dad thought: There are still three big leaguers — Jamie Moyer, Tim Wakefield and Randy Johnson — who are older than I am. I’m just not sure how I’ll handle it when that number is zero.

– Dad thought: I am not sure if I am more amused or ticked off when one of my daughters tries to pull off a get-out-of-trouble trick I tried to pull as a child. It depends how well they pull the trick, I suppose.