Back To The Future, Part Duex

I'm happy to report that Fred and Lamont made it out of that concrete jungle known as Oro Valley.

Meanwhile, back in July of 2012, we were hunkered down at the hotel watching the second monsoon storm roll into town.   This was the view from the front of the resort.

And because I like that wall cloud so much, here's another shot, at closer range.

You would have thought that we were in Hawaii from looking at this shot overlooking the pool area.  

We hung out on this terrace for quite some time, watching the rain continue to pound down. The small child was unsure of being exposed to the thunder and lightning, but that's how we roll, living on the edge.

This is from the second evening of our stay, with the storm clouds passing at sunset.

Stay tuned, I have day three of this trip coming soon.   Yes, I'm milking this for all it's worth.  I no longer own a camera of my own, and I lost the USB cable to my phone. 

Back To The Future

I've managed to only be living seven months in the past now, good for me. 

Here are some pictures from our trip to Tucson last July, during the monsoon season.  As we were driving south, we came across this angry little cloud.

This seemed like a good time to stop at McDonalds to ride the storm out, which we did, and then managed to catch up to it again as we drove to the resort.   Thankfully I had replaced our windshield wipers before we left, so we muddled through the storm just fine, and I'm living proof as I sit and breathe.

There have been no new Brenna pictures on the old blog in 2013 save for the waffle shot back in January, so here are a few more.  Nevermind she was five in these, but close enough.   Here she is inspecting one of the chairs on our back porch at the resort.

 

And here she is, short hair and all, showing off her McDonalds prize from earlier.  I think this is supposed to be that Manny guy from the Ice Age movies.  He's now in a box somewhere taking up space in a closet in our house.

This was the view from our room, after the storm had passed, and before the next one came through (stay tuned for part duex of this post for those pictures).

And finally, and probably most importantly, will Fred and Lamont manage to find their way out of the gritty suburban deathtrap that they unknowlingly stumbled into, looking for parts for their pickup?   Stay tuned, for only the shadow knows.

Where The Wild Things Are

I will hand it to ye old blog site, they maybe got something right with requiring loading photos from Picasa, after all.  The upload speed is mighty fast compared to pulling something off of your hard drive.  That being said, I reserve the right to continue bitching about this site, when it suits me, thank you very much.

Back to Where Tom Has Been, Part 2, now.  After spending a week in sleepy Casper, I spent a week in July overlooking Newark from a Hampton Inn, and as mentioned earlier, spending Independence Day being very dependent upon the safety of my hotel, watching DVDs the entire day.  

For your viewing pleasure, evidence that there is indeed grass in upstate New Jersey.   This was the first time I had been this far north into the sea of humanity, so there you go, a good old fashioned greenbelt.  Nevermind it was behind a gas station.

I liked this bridge enough that I took another picture of it.  Or maybe another dozen or so, there were only so many shots I could take from behind the hotel and the gas station next door.  I was on foot on this trip and wasn't about to stray too far from home base.

I did manage to watch a fireworks display from the hotel room one night.    They were being shot from minor league baseball stadium directly across the cesspool, I mean river.

This was as close to New York City as I got on this trip, as viewed from the tram at the Newark airport.   I would later return to the same area again in September and October, never getting to the Big Apple.   I did manage a decent view of the Statue Of Liberty whilst taking off out of Newark in October.

Your Animal Bones Cry Nature / Reverse

As mentioned previously, I have a LOT of ground to cover, seven months, approximately, since I last carried the torch.   You've probably seen all of the Brenna pictures you care to via Emily's Facebook page, and I don't have many shots of her on my laptop, so I present to you Where Has Tom Been, Part 1.  

When we last saw Brenna, she was sitting on the curb with the Stooges, and I was travelling to the booming metropolis of Casper, Wyoming, for work. 

Upon arrival there, I was greeted by a buffalo draped in what looks like blue cheese dressing.  

 

 

Insert the Red Hot Chili Peppers here.

There were a number of sculptures in downtown Casper, but this one was probably my favorite.  I was stranded there over a weekend, and was able to walk under the aforementioned bridge downtown to see this and the following sites. 

I didn't realize Wells Fargo had invested in orange juicers, this is the biggest one I had ever seen in my life. 

Another favorite of mine, the Indian overlooking progress of the white man from the street corner.  If I had taken a picture of him from the other side, I'm almost sure there'd be a tear streaming down his face.

Here's a shot of one of the small theaters in downtown.

If I could recall anything that Brenna was doing in May, I'd relay it here, but alas, I can't remember what I ate for breakfast this morning, much less dig that far back in my memory.   Should you wish to really relive those days, I again invite you to visit Emily's Facebook page.    Next up, June!  

Waffles, Anyone?

Make me overcome every obstacle possible, blog site, including my anal glaucoma, and now I have to upload photos to Picasa before I can load them here.

Well, ha, I'm not as damn lazy as you thought I might be. 

Coming back with a vengeance in 2013...

Unfortunate Fluke

Back From The Beyond
(Or An Unfortunate Fluke)

...And this is what you get when I'm sleepless in Birmingham, the first blog attempt in eight months.  

A lot has happened since I was last here, and thanks to Facebook, you've probably already seen what our now six year old has been up to since April.   What I do happen to have with me on my work laptop, however, are a few pictures of where we've been, specifically over this past summer, strangely allowing me to pick up where I last left off.

In May I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Casper, Wyoming, including a fun-filled weekend of wandering the town's streets.

In July I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Newark, New Jersey, including watching an Indiana Jones movie marathon on my laptop from a hotel room on the 4th.  

The family took a trip to Tucson in July, where we went to the Air & Space Museum.  

In October and November I got to go back to Newark, spending more time in hotel rooms on the weekend.

In December we celebrated the holidays with family in Arizona, and in Tennessee.

I've concluded by 2012 year in review with no pictures as it would appear that this website has "improved" it's blogging interface, no longer allowing the end user to upload photos from a computer hard drive.   There are other useful options like uploading photos directly from a phone, and from the blog itself (why?), but no option to upload from my laptop's drive.  

With that, and when time permits, unless I can figure out where this necessary option now resides, I'm going to have to find another place to continue on with this effort.  

What Brenna Dreams About



Rollin' in her 6-4.




Mommy growing a goatee like Daddy.

Growing a goatee like Daddy, herself.

Sittin' on the corner with the Stooges.

No wait, that's my dream.

Struggle

Another two weeks have breezed by and nary a blog post from me. My apologies, it's been a tad busy here lately. We're about to head off for a visit with my family, but before we do, I thought I'd post the few pictures I've taken on my phone and/or camera in the last couple.

Catching Brenna jumping into the pool at swim lessons with my slow camera phone continues to be an exercise in futility. This is the closest I've gotten to catching her over the water.




And since that's the only new Brenna picture I have in my possession (I hear Emily has some of a recent school outing on her camera, but I haven't seen them yet), here are a few pictures of our new fish we inherited from a friend of our brother in law. In the first picture below, this fish (apparently called a jewel cichlid) had laid eggs all over the side of this rock, but alas, they were gone/consumed by morning.

If time permits, I'll be posting some pictures of our roses on the gardening blog. With the weather warming up, they're doing very well right now.

Phoning It In

Continuing on with the theme from my last blog, here are a few more pictures taken off of my phone in recent days/weeks/eons.

A few weeks ago Brenna got to jump on Auth Beth and Uncle John's trampoline, with Rachel. My phone camera is so delayed in taking pictures from the time you snap, that Brenna had time to go up, back down and back up again before the picture actually took. Once I figured that out, I was able to get some decent action shots, including the two directly below.

We recently inherited a rather large fishtank from a friend of John's. John was nice enough to spend the better part of last weekend setting this thing up and getting the fish that came with it situated. The tank is about six or so feet long, nearly three feet wide, and holds 120 or so gallons. There are nine African cichlids in there right now (we had ten originally, but one decided to take a trip down the porcelin slide instead).

Here is the tank, and the picture below is where the fish were hanging out, waiting to move back into their home.

Backs To The Wall

My blogging prowess will be slightly impaired today as I'm listening to Saxon whilst typing this. Don't know who they are? Good, that's how I like it. I'm a stallion of the highway.

I'm back for my now weekly blog update, and have recently uploaded some photos here from my phone that illustrate what the small child has been up to recently. Enjoy, if you dare.

A few weekends back we went into Phoenix with Aunt Beth, Uncle John, and Rachel, to a cool fish store. We'll be dragging a donated tank into our house this Saturday, so pray for my underwhelming six inch pythons and sprained/strained/boo-boo'd wrist as I try to assist in the effort.

Here is a shot of Brenna making sure this bizarre looking fish doesn't jump out of the tank after her. Be afraid, be very afraid.







This past Friday whilst Emily's friends were prancing around the house in their pajamas for a Mary Kay party, I took the small child to the local mall to blow off some steam, where she:

- Rode a rabid polar bear (notice she's whipping him/her with some make-believe reigns). I think that's Sasquatch running by in the background




- Went spelunking in an ice cave




- Drove a rally car through the Swiss Alps




Finally, I'd be remiss in not mentioning Brenna's recent school celebration of Dr. Seuss's 1000th (or whatever it was) birthday. Like her recent zoo visit, this event was star-studded. I was unable to attend due to a prior engagement of dwarf basting in the Andes, but Emily caught this shot of Brenna posing with Kim Karhootchie and the ever-present Richard Nixon. I always miss out on the good stuff.

Still fit to boogie, still fit to rock 'n' roll.

Brenna's Clothes

Life needs to slow down a little. I say this every week, but here I am on the other end of having not posted in forever, and it seems like I was just on here a few days ago.

I barely have time before the missus and small child get home to do little more today than upload some pictures of some clothes that Emily bought with a gift from the Grandparents Homans. Then it's off to emptying a dishwasher, reloading it, and coming up with a meal in the next 45 minutes.

Until I can come up with something creative again like my Oscars/zoo blog...

Call In The High Command

Last week I promised some pictures of the small child at the zoo from her school field trip, and I'm finally back to deliver.

One of the areas that she really enjoyed was the petting zoo, where she hung around on this calf. I think it was a handy place to hang out and not have to put her legs to work. I had no complaints, less chasing for me.

In the same area, they had a mock cow that she was able to "milk". This was a popular favorite with all of the school kids.

Over in the sun bear exhibit, cousin Rachel decided to drop by and check out the macaws with Bren. Don't worry, she snuck back to class before anyone missed her. Shhh, keep it on the down low. Shouldn't be a problem since no one reads these blogs. Pow! Self-inflicted diss!

What a star-studded day it turned out to be at the zoo. Angelina Jolie, fresh off her Oscars appearance, went back in time to ride the tractor in the petting zoo with our small child. Brenna, not knowing who Angelina is, threw a fit when the Tomb Raider (I'm dating myself here, sorry) star refused to take turns.

Back over in the sun bear area, Brenna posed for a picture at the faux ticket booth with none other than Sean "P-Diddy" "Puffy" "Afro Puffs" "Cocoa Puffs" Combs.

I can never pronounce this guys name, but even that guy from Borat showed up in the same area to pose on this giant stone toad. I hear he's in a new movie about middle eastern dictators. Who knew.

I thoroughly enjoyed updating you on Brenna's zoo adventures, hopefully I can come up with something else to post in the near future.