Survivor, lots of summer reading, and HOLY S&%T!!!!

Summer is in full effect around our household with the temperature hovering around triple digits from the last week or so. Our favorite pastime this summer is to pack it up to the in-laws pool and try to beat the heat up there. One of the benefits of hanging by the pool is that I have been getting a bunch of reading in. This summer Dani has been choosing most of my material, which led me to a realization that she has never suggested a bad book to me. Ever. That’s pretty impressive for us being together eight years. Since the last post I have finished two books (told you I’ve been burning the pages) Water for Elephants and Sh*t my Dad Says.

Why is it that you can fly through book in summer so fast?

I was hesitant about Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen at first. I mean how interesting can a depression era circus be?? How wrong I was. The very first words of this grabbed me and I was hooked. I had to know how it was all going to come together and how the hell it came to that anyway. This was an amazing good book, little sappy with the love story and all, but well balanced with lots of violence and tough macho man things. Did a little research on the author and she went out of her way researching for this book and most of the unbelievable parts of the book are things that actually happened at circuses of that time. If you have a chance and are so inclined…I say go ahead.

I find doing the reviews a little tough because I don’t want to give away anything for anyone that might want to go and read it for themselves.

Now Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern has been on my reading list for a while. I ran across the Twitter site (on a friends recommendation) and died laughing. Then I heard about the show coming out on CBS. Dani actually picked this one up for me as part of my Father’s day.

Now something that you should understand about me is that I love to laugh. Some people find this fact hard to believe because othertimes I come off as a hard ass that wouldn’t break a smile if my life depended on it, but I have many sides to my personality and I do have a sense of humor somewhere inside. I love to laugh so much that I have been known to go into fits of laughter that take all other bodily function away. You know that type of laughter where you can’t help but laugh, not because something was funny, but because the person laughing is. I’m that guy. One time I think I actually think I strained an abdominal muscle laughing so hard at a stand up show. How many people do you know that have REALLY busted a gut laughing??

Anyway this book had tears streaming down my face throughout. It was one of the most enjoyable books that I have ever read. The honesty and language is right in your face with nothing held back, a style that I feel I can really relate to. I do have to say that the last chapter caught me off guard, but was a great way to bring the relationship of father and son to a close. READ THIS BOOK!! It is worth the time.

My family is the most important thing to me in the world. Period, end of story. I will do anything for them. And now there is going to be one more member of that family. That’s right. The love of my life is giving me another child.

Holy Crap!!! I'm going to be a father again!!

I am so excited it truly is beyond words. I wish Robby understood a little more that he is going to be a big brother, but I’m ecstatic about this news. So it looks like I’m going to be elbow deep in diapers, spit up and tears for the foreseeable future. Wish us luck!!!

Survivor, you’ve heard of the show right? Of course you have. Everyone has. Well they had a casting call at the Thunder Valley Casino in the Sacramento area last week and I talked Dani into letting me go apply. This was going to be one of the items on my list, but I nixed it because it was on my mom’s list and I felt that I was plagiarizing too many things at the time.

Please call back #78!!

So we went and stayed at the casino for the night and visited with some friends. The next morning I snuck out early and went to get in line…with about 300 others at 6:30 am. I couldn’t believe how long the line was when I got there. So I did what anyone wanting to win that show would do…I cheated and cut into line. Right at the entrance too. I just walked up to some people and started talking like I knew them as friends and then walked right in. Once inside you are assigned a number and when they call it you have a mug shot taken and line up for the video interview. The “interview” is you standing in front of a camera for 60 seconds and spewing forth why you’d be the ultimate survivor. AHHH! I can’t even remember what I said. I know that I asked to be given a chance and that I know I can win the game (I could if given a chance). The people that I met were great. People dressed in business suits taking conference calls and acting as if they were in their offices, a group that created their own tribe, people dressed in crazy costumes and about a hundred Jersey Shore wannabes. I think maybe they were lost on the way to a casting for that show. At the end I was back in the room before Dani and Robby even woke up so we had a full day together. If anyone reading this is a producer or knows a producer please mention that I should be on the next season. Thanks.

That’s it for now. I’m off to go see what other trouble I can get into.

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