09 Year In Review

Well, it's been a heck of a year with quite a bit of interesting things happening along the way. We started the year off on a somewhat sad note with the Bakery Closing, then we had the quite humorous post about the Attic Incident. I finished my 4th and best poker table as a gift to my buddy Chris. Then to help get our minds off things a bit we had our Trip to Vegas. We got to go see Pauly Shore at the comedy club. Lil Bo joined the boy scouts and is so far enjoying it. Amy started working at the Dollar Store, and we finally got her a car that she loves, but it is currently getting a new clutch and won't be ready till the New Year. The rebuild on the porch didn't quite get finished, and neither did Bo's Tree house, but they are started and it shouldn't take much more to finish them up. The garage is finally cleared of the bakery equipment and the pool table is being repair witch means the "game room" will be ready soon hopefully. This year seems to have been the year for people joining face book. I've re-connected with friends and family that I haven't seen or spoken to in years. It's been nice to just be able to read and see how people are doing. Over all it has been quite an interesting year. I'd probably have more to review had I been a tad more consistent with posting blogs, but maybe that will be part of the thing for 2010, post more blogs. Looking forward I think next year will be a year of change. Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year, and I hope you take a moment to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new possibilities awaiting you in the coming year. Life life to it's fullest, enjoy it while you have it, (my favorite right now) I ain't getting any younger, and all those other clichés LOL.

Been awhile..

Hadn't posted a blog in awhile, so figured I'd sit down and write one up. The past few weeks have been rather interesting, but the future is lookin bright, so bright I gotta wear shades lol. Not sure if its the weather, or just cause things are falling into place, but right now life is good. Got some new projects in the works that I will post about later.. Lil bo wants a tree house (in a pine tree - that should be fun to figure out), going to try and get started on that this weekend.. And since we will be using the wood from the back porch, it will force me to rebuild a bigger and better back porch.. Plus now that the garage is cleaned up got to replace some cousions and re-felt it.. Then it will be like new and ready for some compitition ;).
Here's to the future! Cheers!

6 bucks for a pack!

Damn! Mark your calendars, today is the day I quit purchasing smokes. No more lovely ashtray breath, no more dirty looks to smile at when I light up in public, no more mid-night runs to the store for another pack, no more relaxing 15 min outdoor adventures to soak in nature while inhaling nicotine. Its an end of a smokin hot era! On the plus side I suppose this could mean a few more dollars in my pocket, maybe a few more kisses from the Mrs' s, and quite possibly a healthier life, but who knows, we shall see. I suppose cokes will be the next to go. Crap, what the heck am I going to do now! Damn you healthy people for forcing me to quit!! rofl. And so begins my journey to a smoke free life, sarcastically I say "happy happy joy joy"

6 weeks - 6 months to live

For some odd reason I found myself pondering this question the other day. If I had 6 days, 6 weeks, 6 months, 6 years to live would I do anything differently? Would the answer change depending on the time frame left? There was a time when I would respond emphatically No. But now that I'm getting older it seems if I am honest with myself the answer is a resounding Yes. So then I ask well why? What are the things I would do different? Do I answer now with a yes because I have regrets? Is there something I feel I have missed out on that I would want to experience? Truth is, I am quite happy with how my life is, I don't have very many regrets, and I honestly don't feel I have missed out on anything. So we are back to what is it I would do different? Would I treat others the same? Yes, because I think I treat others pretty good. Would I lose all sense of morality and sleep around? No, because honestly it is not morality that keeps me from doing that. Same goes for many other options. Then what is it? I think it boils down to a balance between happiness and experience. What does that mean? To me I think while it is great to get advice from other people there are some things you simply must experience to know for sure. For example: going partying or to the bar with good friends and having an enjoyable night. Depending on who or where you get the advice from could be from "drinking is a sin punishable by eternal death" or "hell yea, party every night". Truth is it really is going to be determined by the individual and will probably end up being somewhere in the middle. Party with an asshole and your likely to have a bad experience. Party with a fun crowd and its a blast. My point is, whom you have the experience with is often much more important that what you are doing. And the down right fact is, no one can really tell you how that will affect you, no one. I'm not mentioning drinking to start debating on if drinking is good or bad. Its just one example of many where experiencing it yourself determines how you personally view it or feel about it. I still have not got a definitive answer on exactly what I would do different, but the fact that I would means there is probably some consideration that should be made about it. Really didn't write this to get an answer just some food for thought :)

Post test

Yea I know, kinda geeky but I want to make sure how a blog would turn out when I sent an image inside it.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The wife and I found some time to other day to sit down and finally watch this movie. It was not exactly what I was expecting and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought there were some pretty good quotes in it and instead of posting them as my status (since some are too large for my status messages) I figured I'd put the ones I liked together in a quick little blog... It's not a true spoiler alert, but for those who have not yet seen the movie some of these quotes might give away parts of the movie.. so don't read no further if you haven't seen it ;)

Captain Mike: You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

Benjamin Button: Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.

Benjamin Button: For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Benjamin Button: Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance.

Benjamin Button: Sometimes we're on a collision course, and we just don't know it. Whether it's by accident or by design, there's not a thing we can do about it. A woman in Paris was on her way to go shopping, but she had forgotten her coat - went back to get it. When she had gotten her coat, the phone had rung, so she'd stopped to answer it; talked for a couple of minutes. While the woman was on the phone, Daisy was rehearsing for a performance at the Paris Opera House. And while she was rehearsing, the woman, off the phone now, had gone outside to get a taxi. Now a taxi driver had dropped off a fare earlier and had stopped to get a cup of coffee. And all the while, Daisy was rehearsing. And this cab driver, who dropped off the earlier fare; who'd stopped to get the cup of coffee, had picked up the lady who was going to shopping, and had missed getting an earlier cab. The taxi had to stop for a man crossing the street, who had left for work five minutes later than he normally did, because he forgot to set off his alarm. While that man, late for work, was crossing the street, Daisy had finished rehearsing, and was taking a shower. And while Daisy was showering, the taxi was waiting outside a boutique for the woman to pick up a package, which hadn't been wrapped yet, because the girl who was supposed to wrap it had broken up with her boyfriend the night before, and forgot. When the package was wrapped, the woman, who was back in the cab, was blocked by a delivery truck, all the while Daisy was getting dressed. The delivery truck pulled away and the taxi was able to move, while Daisy, the last to be dressed, waited for one of her friends, who had broken a shoelace. While the taxi was stopped, waiting for a traffic light, Daisy and her friend came out the back of the theater. And if only one thing had happened differently: if that shoelace hadn't broken; or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier; or that package had been wrapped and ready, because the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend; or that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier; or that taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee; or that woman had remembered her coat, and got into an earlier cab, Daisy and her friend would've crossed the street, and the taxi would've driven by. But life being what it is - a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control - that taxi did not go by, and that driver was momentarily distracted, and that taxi hit Daisy, and her leg was crushed.

Date Night - Comedy Club

For the first time in what seems like ages the wife and I were able to get out for a bit of fun this past Saturday. As it happens it's usually quite a tad on the short notice side of things, but hey when you get the opportunity most the time you have to sort of take advantage of it. Well, we had to make a delivery up to Tallahassee to drop of some of the tables from closing the shop down. (This is a good thing, cleans up the garage that much more getting me just a nudge closer to being able to set my pool table back up) After that we drove around for a few min.. mainly killing time to meet some friends for dinner. During this time our plan was to check out the Comedy Club in Tallahassee. I've been wanting to go there ever since I noticed the small little building when we drive around town up there. Finally, go our chance. Being somewhat thoughtful I figured hey why don't I just stop in while we are up this way and buy the tickets. It was about 5:30pm.. The show started at 8pm and we were going to be eating at Logan's right around the corner. All went smooth the tickets were about $12 a piece, not bad considering it would cost more to see a movie and this was going to be much funnier lol.. This was only my 3 time going to a comedy club, and later I found out that they "assign" your seats based on when you purchase tickets. This put us right under the microphone. Seriously, we were so close that if I laughed it was broadcast over the whole room.. Anyway, It was a really good time. Some highlights were:

• The feature comic looked down at me and told me I had "Soap Opera" hair. I was like dang, I'm glad I got that hair cut last week!
• Next he asked my name, not wanting to sound professional I used my nick name and replied with Bobby, his reply was "What are you 5? I'll just call ya Big Mike"
  

There were quite a few things that happened, but I must say I completely enjoyed it. The comics were quite funny, and you can never go wrong with a night of laughter. It was a fantastic evening with the wife and some friends that I know will be talking about for years to come. I love making memories like that.

Vegas 2009

We are back home and things are sorta back to normal. I must say though I had an incredible time in Vegas. I'm sitting here trying to recall everything in detail, but since we might have had a total of 16hours of sleep in 5 days everything is a little blurry :) It was well worth it. We left Tampa at around 6am, had a layover in Atlanta, then on wards to Vegas arriving at around 10am'ish. Fortunately, the resort we stayed at allowed us to check-in early. Me and Chris quickly showered and changed then found our way over to Circus Circus while the girls got ready and I watched Chris play some blackjack (he doubled his $20) then we went back got the girls and headed over to the Sahara for some dinner even though we were warned the food was not the greatest.. and btw, when a local tells you not to eat somewhere it is very wise to listen.. About 2 hours later every one of us had Issues and needs bathroom breaks often for the next 2 hours. Right off the bat me and Chris jumped into a small cash game. Chris did great winning quite a bit of cash.. Me not so good.. Thankfully, Chris gave me back the $100 bucks afterwards.. This allowed me to gamble the rest of the time we were there. Vegas is much bigger than it looks when you are there. Things that seem like they are only a few blocks are actually quite further than you would expect. Especially, when someone gives us bad directions and we end up taking the "Scenic" route that took about an hour to reach that should have only taken about 15min.. ouch that was a long walk. It was cool though, we got to see parts of Vegas that most miss out on.. Right Becky? lol... All and all it was a great time, and I'm would love to do it again. Maybe without that first meal at the Sahara though lol.. I'll write more bits as I remember them.. Plus, I'm going to try to post some really funny pics once I get them. Have a Great Easter!!

Poker Table #4

My latest and I think Best Octagon poker table so far. This one I started with the full intention of building it in a kinda old western type style. It was quite different because in order to get put the rail all the way around it, I had to borrow a sewing machine. This was quite an interesting learning experience. But in the end I absolutely love the way the table turned out. Unfortunately, Now I am table less again. That's ok though, my next table is going to be quite contemporary and hopefully will be my own personal table ;)

Here are a few pics of table #4 before it was sold.

The Epidural

Let's begin with a quick brief history. Just about everyday for lunch around 1ish, I leave the office and head into the house to have a nice lunch with the wife and during this 30min to hour time together we usually catch up on some tv shows that we enjoy watching. Since we are caught up on most the shows that we do like, I figured we could take this time to check out a new show that's been out there called "Worst Week". It sounded kinda funny and figured maybe this would be a good change up from the other shows we watch. The title of the most recently aired episode was called "The Epidural". From this one episode it seems to based on this one particular guys unfortunate luck in life and the chain of events that seem to follow. Often with detrimental effects on his well being. During this particular episode he ends up getting beat up by a mail lady, taken to a hospital, given an epidural for his broken tail bone inflicted by the mail lady. During the same time his wife is in labor at a different hospital about to give birth. In his haste to make it to the other hospital he ignores the nurses warning that the effects of the epidural will take about 15min. However, before this time frame is reached he manages to make it out of the hospital, hail a taxi and get within 3 blocks of the correct hospital. At witch point they encounter heavy traffic (of course) and he must exit the taxi and walk the rest of the way. This was pretty funny, because by this time the epidural has taken full effect numbing his lower extremities. Something he has completely forgot about. As he attempts to exit the cab he immediately falls to the ground due to the lack of feeling in his legs.. My wife and I laughed out loud at this together. Now I told you that to reveal just how fun our family can be. Tonight, I came in from work, grabbed the remote and sat down while Amy was over browsing the net. I'm not quite sure how long she had been there, but after about 20min she went to get up to start dinner. She was sitting in the chase lounge and since it practically swallows her up it takes a second or two for her to crawl out of it and almost exactly like the show we had watched earlier as she begins to stand up and walk she immediately does a face plant into the floor. Apparently, due to her vertically challenged legs, and the way the chase elevates her legs while she is sunk in, her legs fell asleep on her. I know, I really should have gotten up and attempted to help her up.. but it was too difficult to move while laughing my ass off. Just so you know she is ok, and she was laughing her ass off too ;) We have such a great time around here.

Just thought I'd share a little piece of what happen on practically a daily bases. I'm shocked we have not needed more medical attention yet.....

Quote for Tonight

"The superior man is slow in his words and earnest in his conduct."
-Confucius

A 2000 year old way to say what your mother always told you. Think before you speak :)

Attack in the Attic...

Sometimes idea's for blogs come in spurts I suppose, but figured I would tell a little story that happen recently. Especially, since now all visible indications that it really happen are now healed :) Since the closing of the shop my "honey do" list has increased dramatically. Actually, this is a good thing. There are lots of stuff I've been wanting to get accomplished around the house, but just have not had the time to get to them. One example was re-arranging the living room and finally getting the speakers to the surround sound hooked up properly. This involved running some speaker wire up in the walls and in the attic. This was a fairly easy task, especially since our attic above the living room is huge. Making it much easier to walk around pulling cable. Well, by the time we had everything straight in the living room it was around 7ish or 8ish at night. The wife being the very enlightened observer told me when I started to head up into the attic to run the wires, "Hey, isn't it going to be too dark to run cables up there?" to witch I responded with "Honey, It's ALWAYS dark in the attic..." ;) Later this would prove more that I should not speak until after a task accomplished. Everything was actually going very smoothly, wires were rather easy to get to, I was getting quite comfortable walking around and dodging the rafters. After spending about 30 min in a sitting position yelling back and forth with Amy with terms coming from her like "Pull it back", and me asking if that was enough.... (yea I know almost worth a blog itself lol) I stood up for a little break leaning against one of the trusses. After stretching a bit, and hearing a few bones crack, and smacking the flash light because it had flickered off again. I quickly, and I mean very quickly turned to my right just like one would do when they were heading through an open door. Forgetting that at my current elevation there was a cross-brace attached between the 2 rafters I was attempting to walk through at exactly the same height as the top of my cheek bone. As much as I would love to be able to actually walk through wood, the old law of physics in addition to Newtons 3rd law of motion would prove to be extremely painful. Very similar to the results of a baseball bat hitting the grand slam. I don't recall if it was the proximity of the pain to my head, or just the shear fact that for about 10 seconds I couldn't think straight, but I found myself crouched over right hand on a rafter, yelling various superlatives as if time would somehow reverse itself so that I might properly duck before beating myself up. Fortunately, these types of incidents are rare (for me), however me swearing like a sailor for unknown reasons is fairly common.. So after a few min I hear Amy ask: "Everything Alright?" and I say sure, except for feeling like my head just got hit with a 2x4. She laughed a bit thinking I was kidding around witch I normally do.. Then once I came down as she was painting the bathroom I go in to make sure my eye ball is still contained within it's socket. As I turn the corner and look into the mirror I some how managed to cut the top layer of skin on the bottom part of my right eye socket with the FLAT part of the 2x4. Due to the impact I had a ever so slight mini black eye for about a week. Good thing I'm a quick healer ;)

What did I learn from this?

• 1) Be careful when picking on the wife, she has voodoo black magic!! lol
  
• 2) Never get comfortable walking around the attic
  
• 3) Avoid all facial contact with 2x4's (always)
  

More Signs...

Well, I debated myself quite a bit before posting this one... However, I finally won the debate and here we have another pretty cool sign to show... I'm not quite sure if it's more odd that I notice these signs, or that I like to take pictures of them. Either way, I thought this was one of the more original ones I've seen.



Just in case you can't make out the words it says

Like Taking Pictures?
Picture where you
Will spend Eternity!

Now, just for the sake of keeping things simple.. I don't often post about pictures like this, but in this case I figured it fitting to post my own little reply.

First, lets take the questing they ask:

Like Taking Pictures?

Of course I do, doesn't everyone? And what about those professional photographers out there? I bet they like taking pictures too! ;)

Reading on:

Picture where you will spend Eternity!

Now my first gut reaction to this was.. Well, Eternity equals Infinity and since from our perspectives our universe is (for the sake of argument) Infinite. So, in picture format here was my initial reply to the question.



That of course was just my initial reaction. After thinking about it, I thought this was one of the more creative and original signs I've seen ;) and I tend to notice quite a few of them.

I'm sure I'll find more as time progresses....

More Signs..

So, recently on our latest trip down to Tampa.  Just as we were driving through Perry, This sign caught Amy's attention and since I try to always have a camera ready I snapped a picture of it cause well, We thought it was pretty darn funny ;)



This of course is not my first encounter with funny church signs.. Another pretty funny one was here. This is why I always like to keep the camera handy.

Almost Ready

Spent the past few day getting things ready, setting up the layout. For now I like this look, but I'll probably change it later.. This was a pre-made up template I found out on the internet. It should do for now. Now just have to get my counter and other stuff setup and should be all good to go. Then begins the migration.. I'm planning on pulling a lot of my old posts from the carrabelle blog over here..

Bakery Closes

An end of an era..or perhaps what just feels like one.
After much thought, debate and a few tears, I have closed the
bakery. There are many reasons why I made this decision.
The dwindling economy played the biggest part.
I have been told that "things will pick up" and
asked "can't you hang on a little longer".
I suppose people are trying to be
supportive, which I greatly appreciate.
I must say, though, until you've been in the situation,
you really have no idea
what it's like. I didn't until opening the shop.
It's not easy giving up on your dream. It's not easy to admit failure,
although I have also been told
that it wasn't really a failure-only horrible circumstances.
I'm not sure I really believe that.
I find it difficult to separate business from personal stuff.
A close friend and I were talking this weekend about the
little cafe outside of Tampa that she bought shortly after
I opened the bakery. Basically, it was an inexpensive
investment that she thought would be a great idea.
Unfortunately, financial issues arose and she sold about
6 months later. The sale of her cafe was a giant relief for
her and there was no looking back. I wish it were that
simple for me. My friend walked into her new cafe with
everything there..right down to the food in the fridge.
I think the cafe was only closed for a couple of days
before she took it over. It was ready to go. I suppose
that's why she didn't have a hard time selling or walking away.
Other than the money and time, there really was no investment
and her heart wasn't attached. If you've been following this
blog -I'm sure you've seen the progression of what was and
what has become and now what has certainly ended. A dream
turned into a reality. That is now over. I am disheartened over
it all mainly because of all the time and effort
( blood, sweat and tears) that my family put into it, too.
I honestly feel like I am somehow letting them down.
Of course, when I say that and tell them I'm sorry that
I just couldn't make it work, they tell me it's alright
and they understand. I'm not quite sure I buy that either.
But, they would never say differently.
They love me too much and know what it all meant to me.
I have threatened to throw myself a big pity party,
but for now I'll put that on hold because I have a year
and half's worth of stuff that I must sort, sell and discard.

I am thankful for the friendships that were made during the
last year and a half. I've met some very nice people that
I otherwise would not have had the privilege of meeting.
I am rather shy at times and this experience has changed
me in that respect. One cannot be shy and introverted
when dealing with the public on a daily basis.
It has also taught me to take control of things and to delegate.
My husband is just loving that new found talent.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement, your business and most of all your friendship.
By the way, if you know of anyone in need of restaurant equipment.... :-)

*** Update this was originally posted by amy, but during the migration it re-did it in my name.