Make a Quillow

YAY...I MADE A QUILLOW!

I tired to make this once before, for my baby brother Darnell and it was a crying shame. It looked so sad. My wife had made me one for christmas before we were married and it blew my mind. 8 years later, I have finally made a real Quillow and its all MINE!!! (sorry Darnell).

I'm really excited to take it on my mid-winter break trip when i take the YMCA teens snowboarding for a long weekend. Last year i ended up sleeping on the floor in my jacket and i was miserable. This year, i'm going to have my awesome snowboarding quillow.

If you are interested in getting one, it will cost you $35. (and maybe you'll get it in a year...i still have so much stuff to do!)

Decorate your car for Christmas

This one didn't work out so well. : (

I really need to work on doing this quicker if i'm going to be done by 30, so i decided to have my teen center kids decorate my car for Christmas...BIG MISTAKE! well, i'm sure some of my teens would of done a really great job...just not the two 15 year old boys I let destroy my car!

I was working and gave them some instructions and then went back to see how they did. The not only wrote on the windows but on the car itself with the window paint! And the part about Christmas decorations got forgotten (how?!) except for the tag line on my bumper "santa is not real kidz!". I laughed, then drove to the nearest car wash...WHICH WAS BROKEN! I then had to go home with my car looking ridiculous. I then wasn't able to get to a car was until FRIDAY which by this time, had dried pretty hard on my car. Pink Elephant (the car wash place) tried their hardest and got out a lot but not all!!! my car still looks like a coloring page!

You can only imagine the looks (and stares and disapproving finger wags) i got the whole week. The best was driving infront of my wife, who is cracking up because she is seeing all the people laughing and pointing. If i had any self esteem issues before they are now fully in the open. Everywhere i went people laughed and pointed or glared (with their kids in the passenger sit). I did feel bad about the santa comment but i mean, if your kid can read, they should know the truth : )

So, i'm still going to REALLY decorate my car for Christmas but wanted to let everyone on in the fun adventure i've had this week. Oh, and AJ loved my painted car. Good thing he can't read...but he also knows santa is just pretend!

make a cheesecake

I finally did it! I made my own cheesecake. And it wasn't even that hard! This whole time, i've loved cheesecake for so long and its not even that hard to make. This was a eggnog cheesecake care of Martha Stewart (whom really, i'm just going to stick to her) and it tasted delicious. Sorry that the picture is sorta junkie...if i'm going to get through this whole list, sometimes the pictures are going to suck. And martha would be totally disappointed that I'm displaying my work like this (its all about presentation) but sometimes you just gotta "get 'er done".

I'm set for making this again, for thanksgiving sooo, hopefully this wasn't a first timers luck fluke. I did redo the graham cracker crust. The first time i baked it too long and it had a little burnt taste and i knew if i used it, it would ruin it! Felt bad wasting graham cracker crust but it was worth it!

YAY CHEESECAKE!

Wear Suspenders For A Day

I did it! I finally wore the suspenders i bought about 2 years ago! Now, one wouldn't think that wearing suspenders is a big issue, especially in comparison to skinny dipping but you don't know the whole picture.

I had the unfortunate timing of being in elementary school when the show Family Matters was popular. Family Matters might not mean much to you but the name "Steve Erkle" may ring a bell. Being skinny and nerdy like, it was an easy comparison, taunt, constant reference. To strangers, i was Steve Erkle. To children on the bus, to adults in the grocery store, "did i do that?" was requested.

15 years later, I was still unsure of wearing suspenders, lest i bring back the horrible name calling from childhood...good thing i have "make fun of me" tattooed onto my forehead!

A couple of weeks before i decided to wear the suspenders a co-worker thought it would be funny to call me Steve erkle. This has now developed into full out playground flashback, with sometimes, NO LIE, 5 people laughing at me saying, "did i do that" in the YMCA lobby! And I hadn't even put on the suspenders yet! All this time i was afraid people would make fun of me...and they do it anyways!

All that to say, its sad how i let things like people laughing at me stop me from trying out new things, like wearing suspenders. I hope i get better at doing things i like because i like them and not what everyone else thinks or will say. Wasn't i supposed to work through those issues in high school? Amazing...at 29 i still am working that this!

track down the Mr. Men book that best describes you as a child

I thought I was going to be Mr. Forgetful or Mr. Dizzy but it came down to two stories: Mr. Happy and Mr. Messy.

I had some help on this one. Ren came with me to Borders, a US bookstore (that for the record, pales in comparison to Chapters!) to just browse the books. We then try to find a book on trucks for our son (who can’t pronounce truck at all. He’s getting better but still sounds like he’s dropping the F-BOMB) and we stumble across the Mr. Men books! And good thing I remembered that this is on my list. So, we take out a few of them, read through them quickly and narrow it down to Mr. Happy and Mr. Messy.

Mr. Happy won! I would say I’m more Mr. Happy than Mr. Messy. Or I want to be more Mr. Happy then Mr. Messy. Ren thinks I’m 50/50. not to spoil the stories (too bad) but Mr. Messy ends up becoming clean and has two guys (Neat & Tidy) come and clean his house, fix his yard and give him a bath. Then he looks in the mirror and is a completely different looking person, and so has to get a new name. Sorta sad. Yes, I’m messy and so many of Mr. Messy’s problems are things I deal with and inflict on others (sorry anyone who has ever lived with me) but to look completely different and get a new name. Is being messy that bad?

Mr. Happy…grief…who writes these books for kids. Quick breakdown…Mr. happy wakes up happy, lives in happy land, all things are good. Finds a random tree with a door, goes down the stairs and hears someone crying. Finds out its someone that looks exactly like him but is not happy but sad. Dudes’ name is Mr. Miserable. Mr. Happy then brings Mr. Miserable out of the bottom of a tree and makes him stay in his house. After a while, Mr. Miserable beings to smile, then laugh, then totally belly laugh and cry and roll on the floor. Mr. Happy loves it and joins in too! The End!

WHAT?!? THIS IS TOTALLY ME! Those who have spent a Christmas with me, or gone on a retreat with me, or summer camp, or have seen my iPod playlist* know that IN ME there is a Mr. Miserable. And how great is it to bring him up and have him just chill with the happy and wait till he turns happy.and not just a little happy but crying on the floor happy! The picture of Mr. Happy and Mr. Miserable laughing their guts out on the floor (and them being the same person) is me, a range of emotions and hopefully changing others (and myself) just by being myself over a period of time. I LOVE MR. HAPPY!

*I have several “sad song” playlist to just sit and listen and be very sad. I thought this was normal until some teens saw it and informed me it was not normal and I should maybe get some help.

Make a Robert Sabuda Pop Up card

Well, its not the best card around but hey, its pretty pop up like. What did i learn from this experiance...
1) i'm not as crafty as i think i am!
2) Gorilla Super gule DOES NOT work on construction paper
3) the fumes of Gorilla Super Glue sorta makes me sick

I have a friend's birthday coming up and i really wanted this card to get to her on time, but now seeing the picture, and how it looks like crap(Martha stewart would NEVER have glue spots!) i need to make a new one and just deal with the card getting there late! Its the thought that counts!
Thanks Deanna!

sleep outside

Two nights ago, my wife organized a backyard camping party for AJ, Buppa, and Me. Its was pretty stankin' awesome. We had a mini fire pit, roasted marshmallows, my three person tent, the futon mattress and several storybooks. AJ had a blast. Granted, the one thing he really remembers from the evening is that dang flashlight (you go through so much work and they remember and love the WEIRDEST THING), but he was on his best behavior that whole evening. Buppa eventually went home and AJ and I were left to sleep in the tent. You may not know this but i had to rock AJ to sleep for most of his life, so the idea of him just "falling asleep" in a tent didn't seem that possible to me. He told me stories, played with the tent zipper, played with the flashlight, played with my face and then, i fell alseep. I have no clue what happened after that but 3 hours later i woke up, freezing and Aj was sound asleep next to me. It had happened, AJ and I slept in a tent in our backyard. SUCCESS.

The after thought of our little adventure is a tough one for me. The truth is, i'm tired. The American dream isn't really dreamy at all. Its hard. You work darn hard to pay for that house, and cars and babies and stuff and then you come home to work on that house and car. The thing that usually gets left to last of the list is the relationships. And again, being honest (I think i shouldn't write this early...i'm feeling very honest!) i give the kids the last little bit of attention i have and then muster maybe 20 minutes of actual conversation for my wife. This isn't want i want to be.

When i first started this list i had a friend tell me with concern that i might be taking on too much. How am i supposed to do all these things and still take care of my family and work and blah blah blah? And then August came and i did nothing. I became embarrassed and defeated that i couldn't keep my word and felt like there was no way i could do all this stuff.

But i've got to try. This list will give me memories and time with my wife, kids and friends. When i'm so caught up in work, this will refocus me on doing fun things with people!
So here i go, round two and there is a lot left to do!

Go Skinny Dipping or Streaking in a public place

Well, either go big or go home, i pretend to always say! hehehe, which is pretty funny cause i was totally about to chicken out of this one this morning!

Soooo....

My wife and I packed up the kids and headed out to Fraternity Snoqualmie, the nudist colony, to participate in the world record skinny dip. How it works is that aanr is trying to beat its record for the most skinny dippers at a time. This is being done all over the world (i'm guess at noon) and they get the calculations from all the spots. Last year they had 13, 654 or something like that. This colony that we went to had something like 186 last year and due to my baby girl, we made it 187! whoo hoo!

About the colony itself...yeah, it was a lot of weird when we got there but after being in a pool with close to 200 other naked people, you sorta get over it! The park was really nice with a deep pool with a slide and then a huge wading pool. There was a lounge house with a tv, a store, a large lot for camping out and a playground. What really made it special was the people. They were SO NICE! they spoke to us openly and shared their food and stories. For the most part, we had joined a big community and were very welcomed in. Which, when you are buck naked, is a good thing!

After we chilled in the pool for a bit (which was heated...another plus) we laid on the grass and tanned for a bit. I seriously could of done that ALL DAY. unfortunately we didn't know how the whole thing was going to go down and didn't pack for an extended stay. But for reals, if they do it again, i think my whole family is going to make a day of it!

Anyone want to join!?!

Cook a foreign dish you've never prepared before

Yay Martha stankin' Stewart! If you know me, you know i have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with trying to be the next martha stewart. I know, i know the world is not ready for a BLACK MALE martha stewart (and nor will my wife be really please if i receive that title) but i can't let it go! I pass by one of her LIVING MAGAZINES and i'm drawn to the perfection of it! Every craft is perfect, the cakes: perfect, the color schemes: perfect! wait a second...do i have an issue about wanting to be perfect...oh dear...this is more unhealthy than i thought!

Anyhoo...i made Lamb-and-cucumber kebabs with feta sauce...sort of. I really make Pork-and-cucumber kebabs with sour cream! Close enough. Lamb is pretty expensive and feta sauce...i wasn't able to get to the store in time.

Now, you might think, CUCUMBER KEBABS. Yup, ren (my wife) thought the same exact thing. Also, once all the meat was marinating in lemon juice, she informed me that she really doesn't like meat and lemon together. Great, i thought, this meal is going to suck! But SURPRISE, martha never leads me astray! The kebabs were delicious. Grilled cucumber is amazing and i made the best dang Greek tasting kebabs ever! I even have a picture to prove it!

The Back Of The Bus

I love my son! Its interesting seeing him and the different ways he is like me. Yesterday I took my son to get his hair cut. Because my wife needed the car for work, we would have to take the bus. This was a big deal for AJ. He rarely rides but the bus and really likes this idea of it (don't know if he actually likes the bus or just being able to sing the wheels on the bus song on the bus).

So we get on and because i'm paying and AJ is two and a half, he is already running to a seat and i'm upfront paying. My son goes to the very back of the bus and sits among 6 very grumpy looking black guys. I don't want to be stereotypical but i think you know who i'm talking about. They just don't look very friendly. Really, no one on the bus looks friendly. This does not deter my son. He very quickly proceeds to say Hi to everyone one of the guys on the bus, not stopping until they answer and smile back. So, there we were, now 7 black guys and my little light-skinned boy all smiling in the back of the bus. That's my son.

I felt that this story should go here cause its something i'm NOW finally more comfortable with. Going into whatever group of people and being myself. Smiling and being friendly and comfortable with me no matter what other people may look or act like. I pray that i will be able to encourage my son to keep doing the same thing. To not be afraid of anyone and to acknowledge them and wait to see them smile. Imagine, if he keeps that, what HE would be like when HE'S 30.

GRIEF!

I may have bitten off more than i can chew! Good thing i don't have 365! This list is long and i am struggling to do it but i'm not losing hope! I'm actually working on a few things (Russian words for conversation...but GRIEF...Russian is a hard language!) so i'm not completely slacking!

Today i'm supposed to buy a suit so...if that happens, it will be blogged!

Mow your name in grass

Darn you Deanna!

This was my first task with my new (used) lawn mower. If you can tell, my grass is at a pretty ridiculous height. We sometimes lose AJ in it, not to mention all the dog toys!

I mowed my name and then had to climb up on my roof so you can read my name. My housemates were a little nervous seeing me on the roof in my flip flops (i can do almost EVERYTHING in flip flops) and told me not to die.

Once down and feeling ready to tackle the grass, my lawn mower wouldn't start! It took 30 min of me pulling and prodding and poking. But it eventually worked, until it died 2/3's of the way.

Purge Cd Collection

Its been a slow start. Earlier this week, our router died so we didn't have any Internet at home. Also, I took my work teens to cirque du soleil, getting home around 1 am ( by the way , Kooza is a great show...a little on the dirty side but great!) So, on the 1st I purged my cd collection.

I have emptied 69 cd's out of my cd cases. Some were in real need to being tossed. My cd's have survived ( or not ) many trips to Belize and the sand and dirt in a cd player, not to mention my own carelessness. These were easy to get rid off.

Then there were the others. The cds that have memories and dreams attached which have been let go of or need to be let go of. Janet Jackson's the Velvet Rope is most likely the best example of this. I have always wanted to be a background dancer or singer performer and this is largely in part of seeing janet jackson performer for her first time on the American Music Awards. Letting the cd go (and grief, writing this is making me regret my decision!) was sort of like deciding to let go of old dreams and getting ready for my next stage of life. I now have a wife and two kids and my dreams have now morphed into family dreams.

I'm still thinking all this through though...i mean...if janet jackson were to call and say she need a background dancer for her next tour...yeah...i would consider! : )

The List

Here it is everyone; the list! Thank you to all of you who have contributed. Some of the ideas are awesome and some a little concerning. I have put your intials next to the ones you have contributed. Okay...enough talk, here is what i've got to do before i turn 30! a week of Martha Stewart recipes (KW) audition for community theatre (DS) bake cookies for your neighbors (KW) be on time to work, or early (KW) beat your father-in-law at tennis (RJ) buy a suit and tie (RJ) buy the next person in line a coffee etc (KW) Call an emergency meeting at work and turn it into a party (RJ) Carol in the Super mall (PW) change the oil in your car (DL) compliment as many people as possible today (DS) compose a song (DS) Cook a foreign dish you have never prepared before (JK) cook a gourmet meal (DS) create a youtube video (DS) decorate your car for Christmas (DL) deliver a singing telegram (DL) Do 100 push ups w/ out stopping (PW) do a mini-triathlon (pick your own distances) (DL) do a standing back flip (PW) Do a study on the Rock of Gibraltar and report it to a coworker (NS) document a day in your life in photos -1 every 3 hours (RJ) Donate something to the library (RJ) Dont repeat the same color for one whole week in your clothing (maybe underwear and shoes dont count) (AP) eat one pound of cake (PW) Email your grandfather (Tony) once a month and send pics (DP) Experiment with your facial hair (JK) extend your personal underwater breath-holding record by 30 seconds (DL) Find an object, observe it and think of it in terms of its color, shape, through time, its use, its parts, as a whole, its place in the community, its use, its purpose, etc (AP) Find one thing everyday that you really love about yourself (AP) Find out about and say a prayer for the Adivasi people. (NS) Find out where OshKosh, Timbuktu, and Kalamazoo are located. (NS) for one day, ask every new person you meet for an autograph (DL) Forgive your father (DP) get a doctor's physical exam (RJ) get acupuncture (DL) get in a car with a full tank of gas and drive until you run out (DS) get something published: book, article, poem, song, letter to the editor, whatever - see your name in print (DL) get/watch/sing the sing-along version of Mamma Mia! (DL) gigantic. gummy. bears. (http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/project/366/3) (DL) Give $20 worth of food to a foodbank/church to feed a needy family once a month (DP) Give some time to the South Sound Dream Center.(NS) Go a day without dancing or singing (KW) go geocaching (DL) go in a corn/hedge maze/labyrinth (DL) go in one of those ginormous plastic hamster balls (DL) go skinny dipping or streaking in a public place (PW) go to a hot yoga class (DS) go to a poetry bar (DS) go to an improv show (RJ) Go to Farmers Market in Olympia (RJ) go to the library/bookstore cookbook section, close your eyes, open a book randomly >> make that recipe (DL) go to the troll under the bridge in Seattle or the gum wall or both (DS) Grow long dreadlocks (JK) Guess what is at 46 degrees West Longitude, 20 degrees South Lattitude, Watch a film about this place. (NS) have a wine tasting party (DS) Hike through a state park you have yet to visit (JK) host a themed party (RJ) Learn 3 words of Russian and use in conversation (RJ) Learn a Kermit the Frog monologue, and give your best adaptation. (NS) Learn a Latin dance (DP) learn how to say "I love you" in 10 different languages (DS) learn kung fu (PW) Learn the “Shema Yisrael” in Hebrew. (NS) Learn the names of 10 Northwest tribal peoples. (NS) learn to find constellations - other than the dippers (DL) learn to make something new out of origami - preferably something cool, like a penguin (DL) Learn to spin/throw a pizza (RJ) Learn to whistle. Whistle a joyful song unto the LORD. (NS) learn to write your name in kanji (DL) make (and eat) green eggs and ham (DL) z(RJ) make a foreign recipe (KW) make a Jacob's Ladder toy (DL) make a lip sync video (why do I think you've done this before?) (DL) Make a mini traveling museum of things you find around you (eg in nature) and show it to people (i can tell you more if you like). Have little signs saying what each thing is like in a real gallery. Your displays can be cut out cereal boxes, shoe boxes, bottles, etc (AP) make a pie crust from scratch (DL) Make a plan and do it (eg, to explore your neighborhood, gain 1 pound, etc) (AP) make a quillow (RJ) make a Robert Sabuda pop-up card (http://www.wikihow.com/Category:Pop-Up-Cards) (DL) make a sleeveface picture (like this: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/04/captivating-examples-of-sleeveface-photography/) (DL) Make up an extraordinary origin story for an ordinary object (eg a tree, a piece of wood) (AP) make your own Mr. Potato Head - with a potato (DL) memorize a passage of scripture (RJ) mow your name in the lawn (OR plant your name in seeds - longer wait for the pay-off photo though) (DL) never watch Harry Potter again (PW) paint a picture (RJ) perform a monologue (RJ) Plant and grow corn (EJ) Play a Kazoo Duet with someone of your choosing at a special occasion. (NS) Play an instrument everyday (actual or one you made) (AP) play frisbee in the dark (DL) play water basketball without touching the bottom of the pool with your feet (KW) prepare a bunch of hot chocolate, give it out to the homeless (DS) Purge your CD collection of any old or scratched cds (EJ) Randomly give some one 20$ (PW) Read a book a month (EJ) Read one Dallas Willard book (PW) read ZERO magazines for one month (PW) recreate a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk (DL) ride a unicycle (DL) ride bike to work, hitch hike to work (PW) run a mile in under 6 minutes (PW) See a play (RJ) send a paper letter to your mother - on a day other than Mother's Day or her birthday (DL) send an email to your future self (http://www.futureme.org/index.php) (DL) sew a pair of pajama pants (RJ) shave a design into your hair (RJ) shave all of the hair on your body (DS) shave your eyebrows (PW) shoot a gun (PW) sleep outdoors (RJ) Speak to teenagers at the bus station (EJ) spend 30 minutes doing absolutley NOTHING (PW) spend a day in silence (RJ) spend an entire half day watching bloody gory man movies (PW) start reading the Bible at 8am - read until 8pm - see how far you get and what God shows you. (DS) take a fencing class (the kind with an epee) (DL) take a massage class (DS) take a vow of silence for 24 hours (DS) Take a yoga class (RJ) Take an aerial acrobatics class (EJ) Make Ice Cream (EJ) Take two others and feed the homeless. (NS) take your/a couch to a park for the day, people-watch through a frame (like a tv) (DL) tape your thumbs to your palms for a whole day (DL) teach Aj something new (KW) teach someone about your culture (RJ) Tell 12 people about Jesus (PW) Tell everyone in your immediate family your most treasured memory with them (DP) throw a silent party (DL) track down the Mr. Men book that best describes you as a child (DL) Try every class at the Auburn YMCA (EJ) Try playing a new sport for the first time (JK) Try to get to know someone on my side of the family in Trinidad (DP) use a metal detector to hunt for treasure (DL) Visit a close but local town you have yet to explore (JK) Visit Pat and Kay in Moses lake (PW) visit the wonderful and family-friendly city of Calgary, Alberta! ;) (DL) volunteer @ a community garden (KW) wash the outside of your windows (DL) watch a foreign film without subtitles (RJ) wear a child's sticker on your forhead all day (KW) Wear a diaper for a few hours (EJ) wear a superman cape for a day(DL) Wear a Thong for a day (EJ) Wear suspenders for a day (EJ) witness to a sales person (KW) write a family guidebook for your neighbourhood/frequent places - favorite restaurants, best walks, etc (DL) write a letter to your elected representative about an issue you feel strongly about (DL) write a love letter in pig latin - and read it out loud without laughing (DL) write a play (DS) Write an original Haiku, and get it translated into Japanese characters. (NS) Write an original limerick, and recite it for three people. (NS) write and illustrate a children's book (DS) Write in your new blog at least 1/wk (AP) write letters to your children for when they turn 18 or for Ren and children for after you die (DS) write love letters to every one you love (DS) Write one page every week of a story you will one day read to AJ and Brooklyn (AP) Write to me at least every two weeks (i know i'm being selfish) (AP) looks like i'm going to be busy! (so you don't have to count, its 163...i'm a little short for a year!) Peace!