Today was not the first time I've seen Terry Brooks.  My wife has been reading his books for longer than we've been together and has every book he's published signed.  Since he comes into the area once a year to promote his new books, she always makes sure, with few exceptions, that she meets him to get her book(s) signed.  It's quite an impressive collection.  When I was out at the Ft. Lewis AAFES with my Mom a couple weeks back, I saw a promotional flier for the signing that was today.  I let my wife know and she arranged for her Mom, who works there, to take us out.

Now, she's all caught up with her autographs, so it was my turn.  See, my wife has been trying to get me to read his books for a while now, but I've been hesitant to read her copies since they're all signed and the last thing I need is for something bad to happen to them while in my care.  So, I picked two of his first books and his latest to have signed for me.  My Mother-In-Law was kind enough to buy them for me.

Terry was a pleasant man to meet and he seemed genuinely excited that I was a new fan and thanked my wife for referring his work to me.  He told me to come back next year to let him know if I liked the books.  Now, from my experience with getting his stuff signed with my wife, he won't remember me from the guy behind me in line.  It's the nature of the business though.  He meets hundreds of people while on tour, so it won't hurt my feelings if I do as he asked and he doesn't remember me.  Of course, it would be cool if he did.

Afterwards, he was nice enough to pose with me, my wife, and Mother-In-law.

Now, to read the Sword of Shannara.

Yesterday marked the seven year anniversary of tying the knot with my beloved wifey.  So, we made planned to spend the day in Seattle by visiting the Seattle Art Museum.  To save on parking fees, we took the bus up north.  About 20 blocks or so away from the museum, we got off the bus and walked through Pioneer Square where I got to see the place that sells utility kilts, Utilikilts.com is their web site. I've been wanting one of these for a while and to see them in person made me want them even more.  There are some models that can hold 20 beer bottles.  Yeah, that's right, 20 beer bottles, not cans, bottles.  Unfortunately, they range from $200-300.  But, I may get one for Christmas.

As we got to the museum, we couldn't help notice it looked a little dark inside and with good reason.  It seems that SAM is closed on Mondays, except for members from 3pm to 8pm which we ain't.  So, we sat on the steps and brainstormed a new plan.  We started off by getting some Gellato at this cool little place by Pike's Place Market that I forget the name of.  Them for lunch we had a Peroshki.  Afterwards, we went to Golden Gauge Age Collectibles where I saw current Transformers being sold for more than double retail.  Yowch!  Shame too, since there were a couple there I wanted.  Next up, we walked down the waterfront and then made our way to the train station.

The train ride home was a lot more fun than the bus.  See, we had to sit across the aisle from each other on the bus and the seats sucked.  The train was more comfortable, but we had to share most of the trip with a guy hogging the table with his laptop.  He was nice enough, but we were hoping for some semi-private alone time on the way home.  We stopped by Comic Book Ink since they emailed me about a 50% off almost everything sale.  My wife got the hardbound edition of Tales from the Crypt volume 3 an I got me a Shaak Ti mini bust, both for just over $50.  This enabled me to put together my humble Shaak Ti collection in my display case in the living room.

So, all in all we had a great day together and thanks to Mom we had a great dinner at Red Lobster after our stop to the comic shop.  Mmmm, lobster and shrimp.

Next up: What happens when nerds get together at a video game store?  Find out next!

We decided on visiting Mt St Helens (the volcano that erupted on May 18, 1980 and had it's ash travel around the globe in less than three weeks) yesterday since one of the observatories has a new penny-squishing machine and that's one of the things my wife collects (over 800 in her collection so far).  So, after a quick visit to Mom's where I pickced up some groceries she picked up for us and helped he bring he garbage and recycle cans to the curb, we were off.

First stop; the location with the penny machine.  We were lucky with the weather today.  It's been a crappy Summer and we've been blessed with about a week's worth of sun.  This made for great (and not-so great) picture taking today with the new camera.

After smashing the pennies, we decided to head up the the Johnston Observatory where you can get an awesome view of the mountain.  However, why settle for a peak when you can go on a helicopter tour?  Well, it costs money and I have a fear of heights, so we went up by car.

It was a long journey from where we first stopped to our final destination, 47 miles on long, windy roads.  First though, we decided to take a one mile hike through some near-by wet lands that had a dedicated path through it.  We even saw a fish, but I couldn't get the camera out fast enough before it swam away.

Mountain driving always freaks me out on the way up.  It's because you're in the outside lane with nothing but a puny guard rail to keep you from careening off the side of the road like a bad action movie.  So, the misses drove while I caught some shut-eye.  I only had a couple mini-freak-outs as opposed to an hour-long drive worth,

Finally, we reached the top and it was, as Hound once said, "Magnus Spectacular."  You can see right where Mt. St. Helens ripped itself open over 28 years ago and the new dome that's forming within.  That started building up a couple years back if I remember right.

The view was fantastic too.  There's a lake to the right and a beautiful, yet somewhat desert-like valley to the left.

We skirted the outside of the observatory to get a better view of the surrounding landscape and ran into a nice man who we asked to take a picture of us after he generous offered us a smoke from his marijuana pipe.  We declined.

It was while we were on our way back to the car that one of the park rangers came out to give a little infomercial about the mountain.  We noticed him chastising a couple coming down from a hiking trail and a gentleman coming out from where we were in the above photo.  It seems as though they expect you to pay $8 per adult to look at the mountain and hike around the area.  Err... what?  The last time we were up here, the only costs involved were getting into the building.  I guess they weren't making any money, but that's just stupid.  We were more appalled at the Ranger Rude and the way he handled the situation.

Despite that one instance, we had a great time at Mt. St. Helens yesterday.  And with more beautiful weather today, our wedding anniversary should be just as fun.

After a day at the Puyallup Fair with the wife and her mom where we ate too much and walked our feet off, my wife and I had a quiet evening at home.  Then, I had an idea for something we could do together, put together a Lego set.  See, I picked up Mrs. Puff's Driving School from the Lego Spongebob Squarepants line at the local Wal-Mart at $30 less than retail ($20 is what I paid for those keeping score).  She agreed and we went at it.  I organized the pieces and acted as quality control and she was the primary builder.  A couple hours later, we were done:

And just in time too.  My friend Jimmy, a regular on the TFW2005 boards, found the Wal-Mart exclusive Fracture for me yesterday and stopped by our apartment tonight to drop him off and visit for an hour before visiting another friend of his.  He actually found a few, but can't seem to find too many locals interested, so he'll return them if no one bites.

Good family, friends, times, and new toys made for a great day (listed in order of importance).

It's coming up on four months since my Dad passed away and while I find myself easily distracted by work and hobbies, things just haven't gotten a lot better.  I know it will take time, a lot of time, for the pain to subside, but there are still times when I can't believe he's gone.  He should still be sitting in his favorite chair in his home, reading his books, and he isn't and there are times when nothing seems to help.

I am especially worried about my Mom.  She's having an even harder time, especially with their anniversary coming up on the 26th.  She's not been sleeping well and has constant headaches which I believe are caused by stress.  She keeps going over the night he fell and the day he passed away in her mind, asking questions that no one can answer.  She's also isolated herself from the rest of the family as they have disappointed, and in some cases abandoned, her during this time.  Mom doesn't want to seek counselling, insisting she work things out on her own, so I don't press the issue.

With the anniversary and, later, the holidays coming up, I just wish this year would end already.  I feel as though I don't have anything to look forward to the rest of the year, not that I expect next year to be any better.  After all, we've been going through pain and death since 2006.

I apologize for the negative nature of this post, but it's how I'm feeling at the moment.  Hopefully, tomorrow will bring positive energy and hope.

1.) We had a good time at the Tulalip Casino on Tuesday, in memory of my Dad, who would have been 78 that day.  We even won a little bit on the slot machines thanks to a combined effort of my Wife and Mother with a little luck from Dad, shining down on us.  Thanks for a great day, Dad.

2.) I often wonder what it's like in Heaven.  What do you do?  I'm sure they don't just watch us all day long.  I think that would get boring after a while.  Maybe they have volleyball or checkers up there.  Regardless what they do, I'm sure it's good fun.

3.) I just finished watching an episode of Family Guy, where Tom Tucker becomes Peter's step-dad for a brief time.  At one point in the episode, Tom and Peter go out for milkshakes.  Now, I want a milkshake.  But, it's only 7:30 in the morning and far too early for one.  Maybe I'll have one at lunch today.

After my wife got in town from work on Friday, we went to Salem, Oregon to visit one of her brothers since his birthday was earlier in the week.  The only problem I had with that was the Midnight Madness Toys R Us was having for the release of all the new Star Wars toys coming out for the Clone Wars movie next month.  I know, family is more important, but I was looking forward to this event and was just a little bummed that I was going to miss out.

But, I'm glad I did miss it.  We had a great time.  We got in a little late, but got to visit with my BIL, his wife, daughter (Emily), and a visiting nephew (Lucas).  After a long talk, we got to bed around 2am.  In the morning, we had doughnuts for breakfast and Emily, Zeatha and Lucas played Super Monkey Ball on the Wii.  After a while, me, my wife, my BIL went out with the kids to Northern Lights.  That's a theater that shows movies just out of the regular theater and other shows that serves burgers, Mexican food, pizza and other food to you while the watch the movie.  We saw Horton Hears a Who, a decent flick.

After the movie, we went thrift store hoping and my BIL bought a bunch of stuff he wanted with the money we gave him for his birthday.  I even picked up a Transformers Starscream toy for 99 cents.  After we were done with that, it was time to say our goodbyes and travel up the I-5 corridor to home.

Along the way, we stopped at 2 Wal-Mart stores where I was allotted a decent amount to spend on Star Wars toys.  The first store we stopped at yielded only 2 of the 8 I sought.  Fortunately, the second stop we made had the rest of the figures I was looking for.  See, for all the stuff that was released, I only really wanted 8 figures, a mere fraction of the hundreds of dollars others spent earlier that day.

As a bonus, when we got home, the Captain Rex figure I ordered a while back was waiting for me in the mail.  It was supposed to be a preview figure for the Clone Wars line, but ended up being over-ordered and shipped out later than planned.

He comes in the coolest packaging.  The back part folds down and opens to reveal a diorama.  They haven't done anything like that since 1998 or so when Hasbro released a few figures from the video games and comics before the Expanded Universe became so expanded.

So, the lesson here is, family first - toys second.

1.) I slept in until 9am this morning.

2.) That's extremely late for me.

3.) I loved eating tacos during grade school lunch hours.

4.) I still enjoy tacos.

5.) The blueberry bushes at Mom's house are starting to ripen.

6.) I'm eagerly awaiting Mom's blueberry buckle.

7.) Dad always liked the blueberries and the buckles.

8.) I'm seeing my friend Paul this coming weekend.

9.) We haven't seen each other in about 20 years.

10.) I'm scared and excited at the same time.

1.) We got the DVDs of Dad's Memorial and Honor Guard services this afternoon.

2.) I took them to Mom's after I picked them up, which was after work today.

3.) I was torn if I wanted to watch it.

4.) We did.

5.) It was hard to watch, especially during the eulogy and the playing of Taps.

6.) I'm glad we watched it though.

7.) In the past two days, I've bought three Transformers.

8.) They're all cool in they're own way.

9.) The new Soundwave comes with a guitar that turns into Laserbeak.

10.) I wonder what Dad is doing right now.

1.) Over a month ago, I saw a Father's Day card at Target while Dad was in the hospital. It was a kiddie card with Optimus Prime from the 2007 movie on the front and when you opened it you heard him say, "Autobots, transform and roll out." Dad wasn't a big Transformers fan, but he knew I liked them and I thought it would be a goofy card to give him as a gag. I walked around with it in hand while I shopped, but when I got to the cashier, I decided to put it back. I think on some level I might have known Dad wouldn't see it.  After he passed away, I saw it again and this time I bought it.

This past Sunday, on Father's Day, I wrote in it, thanking him for all he did and how I missed him, and took it with me when we went to the cemetery. I left it by his marker as we stood there in silence. Mom asked if she could take it home with her since they'd likely just throw it out after a while, so I said yes. Now it hangs in his bedroom, still sealed. But, I'd like to think he read it somehow.

2.) Today, I was helping Mom out by cleaning the back gutters of her home.  Two years back, my parents had a new roof installed, but apparently they didn't clean up their mess, so there was a lot of old roof crap in the gutter.  On one side, as she showed me yesterday, two small trees were growing out of the drain pipe.  I pulled them out and tried to dig the stuff out, but it was packed in good.  So, I went from one end to the other, shovelling and grabbing the larger pieces then I went back through with the hose and moved the remaining sludge to the other end and down the good drain pipe.

Mom has a "snake" that she used when Dad would clog the toilet so she wouldn't have to pay a plumber $95 for 15 minutes of work.  I tried using that on the clogged end to no avail.  I felt a sort of whisper in my ear that said to try blasting the crud with the hose.  So, I grabbed the nozzle and slowly began to barrel water into the clog.  Some stuff seeped up and out, so I scooped it away and continued to shoot water into the drain.  Next thing I know, Mom's hollering that water was coming through at the bottom.  I kept going and soon the drain pipe was clear.  I'd like to think that whisper I heard was Dad lending a helping hand.  Thanks, Dad, for continuing to look out for us.

I went over to Mom's house this morning to help her hang up the various certificates and what-not in Dad's bedroom.  See, it used to be my bedroom when I lived there.  After I moved out, it was a guest room or sorts and when Dad's health started to decline about 5 years back, he moved in since it was right across the hall from the bathroom.  Now, it serves as a memorial to the greatest man I've ever known.  God, I miss him.

We started with the flag that was presented to Mom at the Honor Guard service last Friday.  We bought a case for it and hung it in the center of the wall.

Next up came the display case Mom put together using some of Dad's ribbons, the only medal of his he didn't throw away (don't ask, I don't know why and neither does Mom), three of the shells from the 21 gun salute at last Friday's service, and a few decorations Mom's picked up here and there.

After that, we hung Dad's Air Force retirement certificate and Mom's appreciation certificate for, as she put it, "being a good Air Force wife."

Up next came a plaque from the Air Force for outstanding performance in quality control inspection.

Then came the three pieces from the Air Force memorial that Dad was a charter member of with a donation he made a number of years ago before it was built.  They wouldn't photograph to well and my camera is on the way out thanks to our kitty, so I took a group shot of the wall before the final pieces were put up.

And lastly came a variety of certificates thanking Dad for 35 years of military service (both Air Force and Army) and then 40 years, retirement from his civil service in the Army, and appreciation certificates for him and Mom.

It was a fun and somewhat frustrating time since I didn't get the bottom row terribly even.  It was more fun than not and I was more than happy to help Mom out with this.  I can't wait to go back and look at it all again.

1.) Happy birthday, Brandon!

2.) Our cat, Fiona, loves to play with and drop our digital camera.

3.) She finally broke the viewing screen on the back of it yesterday.

4.) The thing still works, but you can't see about 1/2 of what you're taking a picture of.

5.) Thankfully, our new digital video camera takes pics too.

6.) Just have to figure out how that works.

7.) It's June and the mountain passes have been getting snow for the past 10 hours.

8.) I thought this was supposed to be global warming.

9.) This is day 3 of six in a row at work for me.

10.) Gonna help Mom out up some pictures at her home this morning.  Off I go!

From the 6th grade through most of my high school days, I had a best friend named Paul.  Sometime during high school, he moved from Tacoma to Everett with his parents and we slowly drifted apart, but I would visit him occasionally and we talked on the phone often.  A year after we graduated, I got a call that he was getting married and he wanted me in the wedding party.  Here's where things go awry.  I was (and in some ways still am) a momma's boy and Mom didn't like the idea of me driving from Tacoma to Everett so she managed to talked me out of it and I told my best friend in all the world that I wouldn't be there on the most important day of his life.  We would talk on occasion after his wedding, but eventually we lost contact.

Throughout the years, I've tried to get back in contact with Paul, but every time I get close to finding his phone number, it would cost money and usually quite a bit.  It may sound cheap of me, but all I wanted was a phone number and didn't think that I should have to pay $50 or more for what should be free information.  So, every once in a while, I would try only to be blocked by large fees.  Looking back, maybe I should have just coughed up the dough.

Yesterday, I decided to try again and got a lot more information than previous attempts, just no phone number.  I really felt compelled to find him this time around, mainly to let him know about my Dad's passing since he knew my parents so very well.  Then, I remembered his Dad's name and got a phone number!  I jotted the number and called.  His Mom answered and soon we were reminiscing about days gone by almost 20 years past.  She graciously gave me her Son's phone number and after a couple minutes of crying with joy, yet fearful of what I would say and what he would say, I called.  He was taking a nap.  So, I left my name and number and hoped and prayed he would call back.

He did.

We must have talked for almost 3 hours, catching up on things and remembering embarrassing times we shared.  Halfway through the conversation, I brought up the wedding and gave him a long-overdue apology.  He told me that he hadn't thought of that in years and though he was mad at me, and rightfully so, for a long time, he was over it and told me not to hold onto regrets.  For the first time in almost 20 years, I've felt like a great weight was lifted from my shoulders.  My heart feels less heavy now.

We've made tentative plans to see each other during the summer sometime after baseball season is over (he coaches for one of his sons) when they'll be less busy.  I'm really looking forward to seeing him after all these years and meeting his family.  Since he live near his parents and sisters, I'll get to see them again too.

I'd like to think my Dad had a hand in getting my friend and I back together again.  If it weren't for him passing away, I wouldn't have felt the need to contact Paul again after all these years.  Granted, I would still like my Dad to be around.  I miss him terribly so.  But, I am glad to finally be reunited with the best friend I've ever had, not counting my wife of course - that's different.  Thanks, Dad.  It's nice to know you're still looking out for me.

It’s now been two weeks since my Dad passed away.  Each day seems to drag on, but 15 have passed and it doesn't really feel like it’s been that long.  While I seem to be doing a good enough job distracting myself during daylight hours, I still feel a monstrous depression throughout the day, even more so at night when less is going on.  My mind races with questions and doubts.

However, I also feel a fierce desire to better myself, but things feel so overwhelming that I do not know where to begin.  Do I go back to school again?  Do I concentrate on losing weight?  Do I find myself a new line of work?  There are so may things I want to do, but just don’t seem to wrap my noggin around any of them enough to get started.

I also have this sense of purging, as though I want to get rid of all my material possessions.  In fact, I started doing so when I took some of my parent’s books to my store to sell.  I brought along a few DVDs and my own books as well.  I keep looking at all my things and can’t help but wonder why I bother with any of it.  And yet, I find myself compelled to buy more of the same (or different things too).

I started reading a book my wife found for me at Borders on Saturday titled “FatherLoss” which talks about sons losing the fathers at various stages in their lives.  I’ve only gone through the first couple chapters so far, but it’s been very helpful so far.  Also, this coming Thursday, I go to my first counseling appointment.  It’s set up through my work and I get 5 free visits with 30 more for the year with only a $15 co-pay per visit.  I hope it will help.

We picked up the urn this afternoon.  A week from tomorrow we will have Dad interned at Tahoma National Cemetery, with full military honors.  For now, though, the large urn rests with the flower arrangements from the memorial service.

It's been 10 days since my Father's passing.  We have yet to receive the death certificate so we can help Mom get the rest of Dad's affairs in order.  The Air Force, Civil Service, Social Security, the banks, all need the death certificate before any of the money matters can be resolved.  So now, since we're near the end of the month, we face Dad's pay getting deposited and then having to pay it back.

We were told to expect the certificate today, Wednesday, and as of 1:00pm there's been no call.  I talked to Mom a little bit ago and she's very upset over the matter.  I am too.  So, I called the funeral home where I was told it should be available no later than 4pm tomorrow.  What the hell?  It's bad enough that the doctor took 3 days before signing it and Monday's holiday didn't help either, but this is getting rediculous.

Now, Dad was supposed to be cremated today so we could pick up the ashes and the urn tomorrow.  I asked about that as well and they said they would call me right back when I asked if that was still on schedule.  Almost a half hour later and still no return call.

All Mom can think about is that for 10 days, Dad's been laying in a freezer somewhere.  Isn't it bad enough that he's gone?  Why do we have to continue to suffer?