dave by dave

Today I turned 46 years old. Totally weird. I still think I’m 18 or 25 or maybe even 32, but 46 is just too old for me. I never thought I’d make it past 33, but here I am and still kicking. Thank goodness. I have a lot to live for. And they wished me a happy birthday this morning and asked if they could take me to Starbuck’s for coffee, so I got ready. Before we left, I decided to see if I could do a pushup for every year of my life, so I dropped and gave myself 46. The last ten were tough, but I did it!

I worked all morning and then a few coworkers and I went to eat at my new fave Mexican place. I took JW along, because I wanted my boy with me. It was a nice lunch and I was so glad I could have JW with me. Back to work and then I left work 30 minutes early and JW and I went to Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods and then home to walk Billy. JW rode his new skateboard and I threw the tennis ball for Billy.

Pappy came over and I made Bacon and Eggs for dinner and we ate cake that Dana had made. JW wanted Pappy to hangout for a while, so he did and we watched America’s Funniest Home Videos. Pappy headed home and JW and I did our weight workout and then headed to bed. JW told me that he was sorry that my bday had to end, that he enjoyed spending time with me and that I was the best dad in the world. I love that sweet boy. I am truly blessed!

JW on his new homemade board. Jackson has been asking for a skateboard for a while and the other day he asked if I would help make him one in the workshop. I gave him a Home Depot gift card for Christmas and he wanted to use it to get materials to build his own board, so how could I say no? We made a fun trip to HD and starting working on it on Saturday. We used some plywood that I had and we found some grip tape meant for stairs that we stuck to the top of the board. As I was cutting the wood, Jackson made the comment that he liked the smell of the sawdust and that it reminded him of some good times we had in the workshop when he was little. He said it reminded him of the excitement he felt waiting for me to make him some trains out of wood. That really touched me and I was so glad that he shared that thought with me in such a way. My boy is a special kid! The only ‘wheels’ we could find were like castors, but we tried them just for kicks. They didn’t work very well at all. So Sunday, we went tot a local skate shop and bought real trucks and wheels. Now it works pretty dog gone good for a homemade board.

Jackson and I did our workout and Dana joined in.

After a long week and a long Friday at work, I was ready to go to bed early. Jackson had asked for a sleepover with a friend, but we weren’t up for that. JW hadn’t had a good day — he ran for sergeant at arms again, but didn’t win, so he was a little down. Dana wasn’t feeling good, so she went to bed early. I got down in the floor and decided to just hangout with JW and do whatever he wanted to do. He was playing with some Legos and explaining what they all were doing and there special powers. I love hearing these stories that he sometimes seems to make up as he goes. We hung out in the floor and watched a show on TV that had a sub sandwich shop. JW got hungry and asked to go to Subway, so Billy, Jackson and I got in the car and went to get Subway. It was a nice night playing with my boy.

A few more days and this year is history. It’s gone by at a dizzying pace. This week has gone by just as fast. I’ve been needing to go to school and do some work and I finally got there today. I hung out with JW this morning for a little while. He had a playdate to start at 11 am ,so I headed out about 10. I decided to walk to work and take Billy. I spent about 3 hours and don’t feel like I got all the things done that I wanted to. I’m having a little problem — I’m a little bit burned out.

Yesterday evening Dana, JW and I went to buy Dana her Macbook (finally) and she worked on it today. We took Lael home around 3pm and then came home. I went back out for dinner after JW showed me what he had been playing outside. I love to hear the stuff he makes up. He was playing with stick and making up stuff. That reminds me that he’s been doing to cool new artwork and he explains to me in detail all about the characters and their powers. They all have names and specific stories about them. I love to just sit there and listen to him and watch the wheels turning in his head. I think he makes a lot of it up right on the spot and that is amazing.

After dinner, we played another game of Monopoly. It is really nice to sit around the game board as a family and play and talk. I really enjoy it!

Okay, so I’m not really reflecting too much. Maybe in another post. My brain is a little too tired to reflect too much. Good night.

This is insane. It’s the time thing again. Too fast. Let me explain. Jackson and I have griped about how early “they” start promoting Christmas and this year was even earlier. I even heard that there is a term for it now — Christmas creep. It is when the Christmas season starts creeping into other months or holidays. Well, we saw Christmas stuff at Target before Halloween! That’s nuts! We normally don’t get our tree or decorate before December, but this year we did it Thanksgiving weekend, which I felt was really early. But now I can’t believe Christmas is the day after tomorrow. What gives? I thought it would feel like we were celebrating Christmas forever since we started so early. Nope. It will all be over in two days and I’m a little sad. I used to get mad at the several, yes several, local radio stations that play continuous Christmas music, but once again, I decided to embrace it and go along. So Jacskon and I have been listen as much as we can. This has helped keep me in the spirit. But now that to will be over soon.

We have done a few more Christmasy things this year, like going to see A Christmas Story the musical and the local production of A Christmas Carol and we will go see the Nutcracker tomorrow afternoon. Even though I had to work three days this week, it’s been good to stay home. Our very own Elfie has been finding some good hiding places. Dana brought some really amazing ginger bread house home to add to the festive look of the decor. JW and I had fun going shopping one day too.

Jackson came in to get me up this morning because he likes hanging out with his dad on Saturday mornings. And even though I was wanting to sleep in, I decided to get up, because I like hanging out with my boy too. We sat on the couch and drank coffee and were joined by Billy. After coffee, Billy was ready for his Saturday morning “sniff adventure”! I took him out for about an hour and we stopped by Pappy’s house during the route. Billy loves to visit his Pappy! Back home, it was time to eat some lunch and play with JW some more. He got a big cardboard box from his grandma (she shipped some Christmas presents in it) and we know how JW loves to play with boxes (see also Tipple Time). So we played with the box for a a while. Later, we worked on making a homemade laser blast for a video we want to make. Jackson and I love working on these creative projects together. Lots of duct tape and found objects.

I’m sitting in the kitchen listening to my Steve Hulse Christmas CD — a Hughens family tradition — thanks Steve! I absolutely love his versions of so many of my favorite classic Christmas songs. There is a chicken baking in the oven and green beans on the stove. The Christmas tree is shining bright in the living room and Billy is lying on the rug in the den. Jackson and I went shopping today and had a good time. I love my boy. He is such a sweetheart and he really gets into the spirit of the holidays, so it is fun to go shopping with him.

It was an exhausting week and I was at work until 7pm last night to cap it off. Then I went to pick up food for Dana and JW. Dana wasn’t feeling well, so she went to bed early. JW and stayed up and watched a movie (X-Men, First Class). I got up early and took Billy on his Saturday morning sniff adventure. I swear that dog knows the days of the week. He was ready to go this morning! It was a long one. Almost an hour and a half. He also got a romp with his girlfriend Bonnie this afternoon. Pappy should be joining us for dinner tonight.

Dana and Jackson went to Illinois for Thanksgiving and I stayed here with Billy and Pappy. They left on Monday evening. I worked Tuesday, but spent most of the day at the Middle School. Stopped by Bonnie’s late and then had Red Beans and Rice at Pappy’s. Yesterday, I went grocery shopping early in the morning. Came home and walked Billy. Cleaned up around the house. Went to school for a little work (took Billy). Came home and went to Bonnie’s. Fixed chili for me and Pappy. Made the pumpkin pie. Went to bed around 10pm.

Today, I got up late for me — 9am. Walked Billy over to Pappy’s and back. Worked in the yard for a while. Cooked the rest of the Thanksgiving meal. Pappy came over and we ate around 1pm. Walked over to Bonnie’s and let her and Billy play in the field. Walked around our block and back to Bonnie’s. Billy and I came home and I finished in the yard and then took a shower. Billy and I drover by Pappy’s and back home to have dinner. Pappy joined us. Did a little MSR work and now it is off to bed. I’m thankful for so much!

I’ve been looking for a day off for a while and Jackson has been asking if we could have a day off together. Once I finally decided on a day, JW asked if we could go somewhere special. At first, I thought we’d stay in Raleigh and maybe go to the Lego event, but JW asked if we could go to DC. I was surprised, but I didn’t want to squelch his interest or enthusiasm. We thought it would be nice to invite Pappy since he had never been to DC and wanted to see the WW II memorial.

We came up on Friday, checked into our hotel and went to the Spy museum. After that we walked to go see the White House. Then it was back to the hotel to eat dinner. JW and I went for a night time swim. After our swim we chilled in the room.

Today, we headed out to the WW II memorial. We spent a nice amount of time at the memorial and then walked down to see the Lincoln, Korean and Vietnam memorials. We were able to find one Hughens on the whole Vietnam wall.

One month later and I’m trying to finish this post. Not exactly sure what we did after the Vietnam wall. We might have gone to eat at a Mexican restaurant. Then to the Air and Space museum where we saw John Glenn walking around with some people and Jackson had enough nerve to walk up and ask him for his autograph and I took their picture. It was pretty amazing. Pappy was so proud of Jackson! Then the security guards came through telling everyone to evacuate. We made our way downstairs and toward the door when a lot of people started coughing. It was quite scary. Turns out the guards had pepper sprayed some protestor that was trying to hang a banner.

After that we made our way back to the hotel I believe. Jackson and I swam again, I went out for some dinner and we watched the Alabama game. Sunday we packed up and then went out for a few more museums. First the aquarium and then a couple of Smithsonians. It was an exciting and fun time that Jackson and Pappy have reminisced about several times since.