Wednesday, May 30, 2012

For All The Men Out There In Reader Land






     


       All relationships need work.  And in a relationship with kids it can be very hard to have the energy to show you care.   Add in extra stressors and the fact that I was born a male, at least last time I checked--  which mostly means that I am romantically challenged to the 9nth degree,  and I have an incredibly hard time showing my new wife, that she is the best prize in the World.  And beyond perfect!      We have been going down a very rocky road right now---rocky enough that I thought I might be part of the shortest weeding ever, this side of Vegas, I thought this just recently actually.   But as I was deep in the dog house, I realized that I can not live with out her.  I also realized that we took a commitment in front of others and God, and everything possible should be done to keep us an us.   We are both working on this.   And I hope to keep her looking like in the above picture, every day!  We will soon have three major anniversary's in our lives, and it is easy to recognize those days.  But many times it's the little things that work the best.   
    On that note-------this is dedicated to all those men out there, that would like help in the romance area.  It's also dedicated to my beautiful wife, who is my life.    I just forget to show it even half enough!      The rest of this post is stolen-----My apologies   and thanks to the writer!



50 Ways to Be Romantic on the 



Cheap

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter .
Often my articles on family are about spending time with your kids, but today we’ll talk about another important aspect of families: couples. If you’ve got a significant other, I highly recommend you keep the spark of your relationship alive and find ways to show you appreciate each other, every week and every day, if possible.
Look for little, inexpensive ways to be romantic, and it will pay off for your relationship in innumerable ways.
Why inexpensive? Well, you could rent a limo and take your love to a snooty French restaurant, or whisk him or her off to a trip to the snow-capped Alps, or rent a stadium and have the Three Tenors sing love songs for you while the New York Philharmonic plays in the background. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to do that kind of stuff more than a few times a month. The rest of the time, I have to resort to cheaposity.
Before we get into the list, let’s look at a few notes on how to use the list:
  1. Weekly dates. I recommend you have a date at least once a week with your partner. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one, but at least find some way to spend a couple hours time together. If you’ve got kids, like I do, find a babysitter.
  2. Communicate. Romantic gestures don’t take the place of real communication. Take time to talk about your goals, your dreams, your plans for the future, your current lives, things you’re happy about, things you love about the other person, things you’d like to work on, things you’re grateful for.
  3. Inspiration. This list contains a lot of obvious stuff — you could probably come up with twice as many good ideas yourself. But the list doesn’t aim for originality — it aims to be an inspiration. Pick and choose some good ideas, or use it to spark some of your own. Sometimes we just need a little reminder.
  4. Forget Valentines. Boycott Valentine’s Day, as it makes people think they should be romantic on special occasions. Instead, pick one of these ideas and do it any day of the week — no need for a special occasion.
OK, enough talk. Let’s look at some ways to be romantic without breaking your budget (note to my mom: don’t read this, as there are a couple of sexy-time things later on):
  1. Write a poem.
  2. Cook a romantic dinner.
  3. Give a full-body massage.
  4. Pack a sunset picnic.
  5. Pick wildflowers on the way home.
  6. Burn a CD with love songs.
  7. Give dark chocolates.
  8. Read poetry together.
  9. Prepare strawberries with fondue chocolate.
  10. Snuggle together on a rainy day.
  11. Leave little love notes everywhere.
  12. Send a love email every day.
  13. Take a moonlit walk on the beach.
  14. Snuggle together while watching romantic movies (Casablanca, Audrey Hepburn are my favs).
  15. Get good wine, watch shooting stars.
  16. Take a bath together (use bubbles!).
  17. Bring home good coffee or a decadent sweet.
  18. Take a walk down memory lane — visit some of the special places from your early days of dating.
  19. Make warm chocolate cake for dessert.
  20. Make a scrapbook with photos, mementos, and little notes from you lives together.
  21. Kiss in the rain.
  22. Ride a ferris wheel.
  23. Sneak away from a party and make out.
  24. Bring home great take-out, and light some candles.
  25. Fix something or fix up the house just to make your partner happy.
  26. Slow dance to romantic music.
  27. Take a nap together.
  28. Kiss slowly, touching his or her back and neck and nape — slowly.
  29. Make a list of everything you love about him or her.
  30. Write a love letter.
  31. Clip or email things that make you think of him or her, every day.
  32. Go to a movie, ignore the movie, and make out like teen-agers.
  33. Groom yourself, and try to look good for your partner.
  34. Take some quiet time and talk about your day.
  35. Write little notes, one for each way he or she drives you crazy.
  36. Feed each other grapes.
  37. Recreate your partner’s favorite romantic movie scene.
  38. Pretend you’re going on a first date — show up at the door with flowers, all dressed up, with your car washed and cleaned, looking spiffy. Recreate the first time.
  39. Create a little box with a bunch of your partner’s favorite things inside.
  40. Paint each other with flavored body paint. Be creative!
  41. Try some sexy role-playing. Get dressed up, be daring, have fun.
  42. Give a little token to your partner to wear, and say it’s to remind him or her all day that you love them.
  43. Sing a favorite song to him or her. Only do this if you can sing fairly well.
  44. Have dinner on the roof, with some candles. This doesn’t work if your roof slopes sharply.
  45. Hold hands, and walk somewhere with lots of pretty lights.
  46. Say I love you. In a different way, every day.
  47. Blindfold your partner. Use a feather. Slowly.
  48. Declare your love, very publicly.
  49. Fruit or berries and freshly made whipped cream.
  50. Play Sade. Do what comes naturally. Slowly.

Read more about simple productivity, focus and getting great things done in Leo’s book, The Power of Less










Monday, May 28, 2012

Western WWU Carnival




First off on this Memorial Monday--Thank you!   Thank you for all that have served, are serving, and those that gave your lives for us and give us all of our freedoms daily!   This was a great float in the Ski to Sea parade Saturday.   More on that great weekend, in the works.   Today a little about last weekends Red Square carnival on Western campus.




      Many events were happening on this sun filled day.  And I think the parents were happiest that the sun was out!  This friendly viking was part of the welcoming committee.  Back To Bellingham was also going on, to welcome new students, returning students, and alumni alike.  




 The Race for A Cure, was also going on at the track on the other side of campus.  An all weekend event to raise cash and awareness to breast cancer.   You can just see some of the many tents just beyond this great statue on campus.    Music also continually blasted from the track, for further entertainment for all. 






  Another very welcoming sight as the day grew warmer.   As you sat on the fountains rim, the wind randomly covered you in a mist of cooling water.  Instantly frigid but wonderful at the same time. 






    The entire area is patterned with red bricks.   Weaving a wide walkway around many of the campus buildings including the gym were the Vikings get many of there wins.   Many of the bricks offer artwork.   These also lead you past many of the great sculptures with a permanent home here.  While we were at the carnival, we found a  book of all of the sculptures complete with a map to were they were all located.  I was not aware there were so many, in fact I think I counted at least 27 in the book.   So another blog post in the works is finding and getting a picture of every work of art.  This also seems like a great way to wear out the kiddos.  Although it could easily back-fire and leave me much more worn out then the kids.  
                    Follow the yellow brick road to some great adventures and sights!




     One of the many great sculptures.  This one is hidden on the ground.  Water trickles through the entire piece.   I would not have spotted the art, if we had not gotten lost during the carnivals scavenger hunt.   The hunt took us all through campus, into many of the main learning buildings, in search of passport stamps.    In the end some nice campus prizes were offered for the kids. 


     



Today's drink of choice.
Some how an ice cold soda just tastes better out of a glass bottle or a Styrofoam cup with crushed ice. 

Now on to the games!

For only $10.00 your child could enjoy the games all day.  And if they did the scavenger hunt, receive a kool prize.  
Prices were the same for the kids at heart.  But on this day we just watched.





This was defiantly the ride of the day.   With constant full lines.
Once strapped in you could bounce and somersault until the timer sounded.





At one point, a worker slipped a dry ice "bomb" into the fountain.
The explosion echoed off all of the buildings and certainly got the mans full attention.
He soon got more attention than he wanted, as campus security was not aware of his crowd drawer for his next "trick."


In these post 911 days, something like this could cause much more panic than planned for.
And although it was not the concept at all, made me think how
easily we could all meet the end of days.   
No one saw the man slip the pop bottle bomb into the fountain.  But everyone heard the explosion.
This was his segway into blowing up another bottle  weighted down in a large bucket of water. 
Quite a sight, as the water gushed high in the air!



Several bands also performed through the day.  
This was a great, very affordable way to spend the day.


One of the concept cars also on display.


  I can not forget the seal life petting zoo.  They had some of the largest star fish I have ever seen on display.


Lastly this shot of the sky.  As in many cases it was much more magnificent in person.  
But the clouds were beyond fun to enjoy.   



As always I hope you enjoyed this post even half as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Please also check out my newest blog series at

And 

**Happy Trails!**



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Hello Readers





     I am so far behind on new posts.We have been out enjoying the suns return the last few weekends!  Many exploring posts in the works! Filled with pictures of Ski to Sea and beyond of course! Please enjoy some of my old blog posts while I catch up.  Also my newest blog series --Just about Bellingham and Whatcom county always needs more readers.   http://exploreb-ham.blogspot.com/


   
        **"How many exercise/workout videos does a person have to buy before seeing results?"**






   **"If you took a Facebook IQ Test and it determined you’re a Genius, the fact that you participated in a Facebook test negates the results."**



       With my new drivers licence and a lame brush with the law last night, in my next blog I will have some of my top police stories.   Also with the two month mark coming very close--to me being on an actual rental lease, something that has not happened for a long time!  I am going to post a list of the worse places I have stayed, briefly, in my single years.
       Yesterday was a long day at the parade and carnival. Lots of sun. Got cussed out, the police called on me, for drinking water, and 2 rednecks that wanted to beat me down. But the kiddos had fun, and I won my wife a stuffed animal--so a great day! Tomorrow night we watch them tear down the carnival.   Full report on all that coming very soon in yet another exploring blog.  




    **"If one is late for their speciel ed class—is it proper for the teacher to call the student tardy?"**
   " If one spells special different every time---does that make them extra spceial?"

        **"The guy that discovered milk—What was he doing to that poor cow?"**

   **"No one gives a sh*t about all the things your cell phone does. You didn’t even it, you just bought it. And anybody can do that!"**-----Sh*t my dad says web sight.


        **"He was madder than an albino hitchhiking in a snow storm!"**----Larry The Cable Guy

                                    **"How did Mr. Crabs have a baby whale?"**

      **"I’m going to open a liquor store and call it the 13th step. And then open a topless coffee shop called Perkies right beside it."**


        **"Lets all take a moment and be thankful spiders can't fly!"**-----
     There has only been one spider that scared me, so far in my life.   Snakes on the other hand --of any kind, make me scream like a little girl!   This spider appeared in my shower one day.  It was very large.  I must note here.  I turned the full stream of the shower water on the spider.  And I swear, it started swimming up the stream --towards me.    I decided my shower was now over, and got out of the shower and the apartment to search for some bug spray. 




    I only share the above picture, because my birthday is coming up, and I enjoy a great BBQ.




    **"Maybe, just once, someone will call me "Sir" without adding, "You're making a scene."**






    **"I opened up a bottle of pop and it said, "Sorry, you didn't win". I didn't even know I was playing, but I was still disappointed."**-----   Last weekend we were chilling at mini carnival on WWU Campus.  The great Red Square fountain was on and the backdrop for this picture.  Full on sun shine added to the great day.   Full blog post coming about all this fun. 




     The west wishes they were seeing our sun!  This is the view near the top of the Big Horn Mountains, in Wyoming---Friday.   They predicted three feet of snow, but I never heard if that happened or not.   It seems like before June hits, Wyoming/Montana always gets one last major winter storm.   Two, three months later, if you are lucky--- summer is over.  






     Back to our summer with today's picture of the day.  With summer officially starting less than a month from now, it is time to get out and explore!   This was while I was roaming just past Teddy Bear Cove.  This lone dried out star fish offers a great picture, it's fate not fully over, since it's resting spot is high above the bay, on the rail road tracks.  






      In closing, I ask the following question.  This has been a weekly occurrence, and I am hoping someone out there has an answer to my pondering.  


                                                          **Help me ponder this:**
          Why do single people with jobs keep asking us for money???? At the moment I have no job, three kids, and a wife. You should be asking for budgeting/saving tips from me!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A Day To Vent---Or Are You A Durp!






      Hello all!   As I watch it pour rain outside and fuel up on coffee, a few thoughts.

   First-- these few days of rain are really not that bad, after 14 daze in a row of complete sunshine and summer weather.   Although the next few days I need to work out in the soggy-ness. 
     Many changes and blog posts are in the works for both of my blogs.   So please keep checking back and share the links, if you like what you see.   This blog has 270+ posts to roam through now.   So you are sure to find at least one of them amusing!  


    And as of Sunday--I can post 8,000+ blog views so far this year.   Thank you all for that!  I am at 24 posts in my newest blog just about Bellingham and Whatcom county.   Please check out my newest Facebook page for links to everything.
Wyoming Jack/Bobble Head's Blogs Exploring Bellingham & Whatcom county


                              And now on to the deep quotes and random rambling!



                        **"Anything is pocket sized if your ass is big enough!"**


          **"I say, don't go where the path leads, go where there is no path and leave a trail."**---Anna Daniels-----  Perfect for my exploring posts!   I find trails overly boring anyway, because people have already been were the trail leads.  Of course going off trail also leads to many fails.com



       **"I love when people say I look just like my wife's kids. I wasn't involved in there births in any way."** lol





      **"Did you know that when you lose one sense you're other senses improve... that's why if you lose your sense of humor your sense of asshole is enhanced."**

      **"If my doctor ever tells me I’m not healthy enough for sexual activity, at least I’ll know how I’m going to die."**



      **"I was laying in bed with my wife last night, and i asked her what she would most like to do with my body. she said, identify it...."**





    **"Do not try to win over the Hater's...You are not the Jerk Whisperer!"**


      I know I know---just because you keep repeating and telling others something---it does not make it true.    Possibly my favorite part of having my own blog---is that I can write whatever I wish!   If you don't like what you see---click to another blog.   Most of the time I have stayed away from to many direct insults.   And have only published two apology blogs out of nearly 300!  Although I hope some of my "mini rants" are read by more Bellingham residents.   I usually seem to tick off more people on my Facebook page ;)  And have gained many a DURP follower.   If you only have one hater---you aren't having enough fun!   
      OK, back to DURP.   This was arrived from to much free time at work, and an annoying gent, also with to much free time.   This person was not on my friends list, but would go to my profile page, just to get angered about my posts.   So of course I had to make posts he would not enjoy.   None mentioned his name, and could have been about anyone.   Anyways, he happened to be the husband of one of my  bosses.  And would send me messages, mainly about kicking my a@@!   This all started inocently enough....

      The manager/wife was posting about her husband going through a mid-life crisis and wishing to buy a convertible.  Always a great idea, when you reside in sun-filled, Wyoming.  I simply mentioned that she should save some cash---and buy him a pink moped.  He quickly responded by telling me I should park the moped up my A@@!  At least this is the cliff notes of what he said.   Have I mentioned the husband had anger problems and was on parole?   Sure signs of someone to mess with.  In my eyes, this all meant---game on!

     **Side note:   I have often thought about buying a pink moped and heading to Sturgis during the big motorcycle rally.  The pink would bring out my eyes, until the riders decided it was time to beat me up.  There bikes each, worth more than the coffee shop I am at right now.   This paragraph just adds another glimpse into my head.

     After about a month of my postings, and angry responses from the DURP.   He showed up at work.  Ready to kick my butt.   He first responded with "I'm here punk!"  Which he kept repeating.  I said "I'm here to, I work here!"   He soon wanted to meet me out back of the restaurant.  I did not have a death wish, that day, and proceeded to edge him on--without going outside.  I did move in front of the security camera though.  I knew that one punch from him, would hurt--but also land him back in jail.   Have I mentioned the DURP was on parole?  Several of the workers ran back to find our boss that night.   Nothing exciting happened, but the experience led to my new phrase or acronym ---DURP!   And it is amazignly fun to yell.  Try it now!  Especially if you are in a very busy place.  Do it now!
      What does it mean--------   Dim-Witted, Urban, Redneck, Parole!   I have meet a few in my travels.   Many have worked or shopped at Wally World.  But Kudos to this "man"---he is there king!


                   In the same spirit.....

     **"Did you know bragging about getting free stuff & talking about how your boyfriend can't pass there upcoming UA is a bad idea in front of the boyfriends boss? You did?? Than your ahead of our friend!!"**----

      So- as I have mentioned in past posts, we have been by the carnival several times lately.  The mother-in-law and several family members work there.   We make it a point to visit quickly or during breaks.  Say howdy, bring food and move on.  During our last visit, a friend was making the rounds.   She is dating one of the workers and was making it very clear that this gained her free rides.  It was also soon clear that this was her 3rd day of free rides, in a row.   As she was explaining the above quote----she was telling all this, in front of her boy friends boss.  In all fairness, I do not believe she knew the man was her mans boss----but on the same note, I knew fully well.
    I had thought everyone beyond the age of 19--- knew to stay away from there mate at work.   This causes problems beyond suspicions of managers of giving away free product.  But apparently not.   This all gives me the urge to follow this person around her work all day.   Giving advice and telling everyone we are friends---so I should receive some free milk before I go home.   Maybe unknowingly to everyone, buy a carton of milk, and start to chug out of the carton in front of the worker---making it look like I was entitled to the milk, because I knew the worker. 
      My wife and I did work at the same Wally World several times in out past.  But we never did anything that would cause suspicion from management, or get the other fired.  When I was a cashier--- she would never even think about coming through my line to purchase anything.  
           Maybe I am wrong in my thinking here??    Please comment and let me know.




                             And now onto some pictures my wife recently took......


     Sheep are safe!!     I noticed a whole heard of these lawn ornaments for sale right up the street from our house at a nursery.   And we jumped in the car and got some shots.   Those of you that have not grown up in Wyoming, do not fully understand all of this.   I tried to explain it all in a past blog----but it is hard to type with Velcro gloves on!   And I believe I just made the topic as clear as mud.      A "find" while in a porn shop in Montana---for those of you that missed the sheep post



     We are still trying to finger out why the sheep is holding a beer.  If any of you that have never left Wyoming, have the answer.....



                                                               Thats baaaaaaaaad!

        More campus art around WWU.   I just acquired a book of all of the statues complete with a map to locate them all.   So a post in the works ---has me finding them all.  I figure if nothing else it is a great way to wear out the kiddos!


  A very rare picture she took of Max wore out!    My next "mini rant" is going to be about another form of animal abuse, at least in my eyes----owners that neglect there pets.    If you leave them tied outside 90% of the time, you shouldn't have a pet.......
     If you take your pet out-  so that you can add posed pictures to your Facebook profile---- you shouldn't be a pet owner.....
      More on Friday!   

                                              Another rarity--- a good picture of me. 
    Notice the sign is only have finished-----   "A Great...   Bobble Head?"  


    Me hard at work in my "office."   It is not really an office until it makes us money  I suppose.  And if summer ever comes back, I am taking my laptop outside to write my next blog.  I sometimes feel my blogs write themselves.  

Max heard the W word and is making a V -line to the door!    Wait, I can say it out loud on here, Walk.    he knows walk and ride and treat for sure!    Max knows my passion for exploring and does not let me out of his sight any time I get up.  

    Speaking of ride.    Here is Max again, always the back seat driver.  Offering his driving advice and bad breath!