Happy Father's Day Dad!
Showing posts with label Dad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dad. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day Dad!
Last year I started a blog for my Father and got almost everyone to write on it (or, at least send me an email for me to copy/paste on to it). I had forgotten about the blog until now. For shame!
Anyway, it contains little thoughts and notes we have about our Father. There is one for our Mother too.
But, today is Father's Day and so I wanted to wish my Father, and all Dads everywhere, a happy day. Society doesn't often compliment the men that are important in our lives. They aren't all bad. In fact, the often complain a lot less than women. (-; In fact, I often tell people that I prefer working with men. They are kind of the middle ground and women tend to be extremely cool or ....extremely not.
My thoughts about my Dad are already written here - http://acharles-online.blogspot.com/2009/06/happy-fathers-day-dad-2009.html - and so I won't re-write them here, but I will put a picture or two. No, it is not Jay Leno, it is my Dad. Jay Leno is the miniature version of him.
Happy Father's Day!
Love you, Rebecker
Friday, December 12, 2008
Happy 40th Anniversary Dad and Mom!
Today is my parents 4oth anniversary. Wow. I feel like I can still remember when my grandparents had their 40th, but maybe that was their 50th. Either way, time flies and I'm sure for them it has seemed even faster.
We sent them a MyPublisher book full of pictures from their college years, marriage, and through our 2005 family reunion.
Thought I'd share a few:
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Eight Men and a truck and ...a lady?
Ha. I found another picture as a follow up to the previous post. 
Eight men and a truck?
It never ceases to amaze me the pictures I find going through photos I downloaded from my parents computer a while back.One of my aunts is acting like nothing is happening while my Dad, brothers and a couple of uncles do their part to deflate the back tires. Who knows - there could even be more people in the back seat hidden from camera.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Parents visit Washington
My parents came to visit and we had a great time! On Friday evening we went out to the Old Country Buffet, their favorite restaurant of the year, and ate the "healthy" food on the menu as well as from a selection of basic desserts. Through their extensive market research, my parents have stated that the Ohio chain is far superior to the food offerings provided in the Virginia chain AND at a fraction of the cost. Yes, this is the east coast - you pay more, get less and skimp on the customer service just to ensure you have an inferior experience.
We came home and I suggested we watch Pride and Prejudice - the BBC version. I just told my parents it was a "little long." Ha. Well, it was apparently engaging enough that we watched the entire thing. That's six hours in front of the tv! This would never have been allowed at my house growing up, but things change when parents are too tired to worry about these details and their youngest child is 19 years old. Well, and it is Pride and Prejudice.
Saturday morning was a little drippy outside thanks to Hurricane Hanna and after realizing all of our umbrellas were in the cars, we headed toward the city and actually found a parking spot right by the Library of Congress main building. I love the architecture in DC. It looks amazing from the outside. However, when you get in the building (on the bottom level) and are routed by the information desk to get a library card, you get to see an entirely different side to the exterior grandosity. We had to follow all of these underground walk ways to some abscure place to get our Library of Congress library card. The cards are intended for use, and not as a souvenor. As usual, how are they going to know? We filled out paperwork and got our picture taken before winding our way through the tunnels to another obscure room where my father asked for some help and my mom and I just checked out a poster on the wall containing the tartan plaids of different families as well as the shields for different clans. Interesting stuff.
And, down yet another winding hall to a larger place were my father requested the book he needed and waited for it's delivery to our seat number. We had to get pictures to show that we were there. I read the latest version of "What Color is your parachute?" while my mother found a real estate book and started taking notes and making calculations. My parents are quite the researchers and I'm amazed that we didn't sit there all day. So many libraries are becoming so advanced that they've lost that authentic feel and the old book smell, but this place felt the way you would want a library to feel. Quiet, a little musty, big tables and your own personal lamp.
Of course, we were able to go to the main public part of the Library of Congress as well and see the Thomas Jefferson library and stand in awe of the intricate ceiling and solid marble surrounding us.
We drove home in the pouring rain and to my parents secret happiness, the BYU game was available on my tv.
My mother gets a little excited about sports. I must mention that during this time my parents kept dropping food and popcorn around my house. Goodness. I finally had to say "children, what is going on!" You don't expect to have to clean up messes made by your parents! Especially my parents who are always cleaning, re-arranging, organizing, clean, etc.
On Sunday we did the usual - church, eat, talk - and then went on a walk out in one of the Manassas Battlefields and came back and watched the Les Miserables movie.
Good weekend with my parents. Too bad we didn't have more time, but there is always more to see on another trip.
We came home and I suggested we watch Pride and Prejudice - the BBC version. I just told my parents it was a "little long." Ha. Well, it was apparently engaging enough that we watched the entire thing. That's six hours in front of the tv! This would never have been allowed at my house growing up, but things change when parents are too tired to worry about these details and their youngest child is 19 years old. Well, and it is Pride and Prejudice.
Saturday morning was a little drippy outside thanks to Hurricane Hanna and after realizing all of our umbrellas were in the cars, we headed toward the city and actually found a parking spot right by the Library of Congress main building. I love the architecture in DC. It looks amazing from the outside. However, when you get in the building (on the bottom level) and are routed by the information desk to get a library card, you get to see an entirely different side to the exterior grandosity. We had to follow all of these underground walk ways to some abscure place to get our Library of Congress library card. The cards are intended for use, and not as a souvenor. As usual, how are they going to know? We filled out paperwork and got our picture taken before winding our way through the tunnels to another obscure room where my father asked for some help and my mom and I just checked out a poster on the wall containing the tartan plaids of different families as well as the shields for different clans. Interesting stuff.
 |
| From Parents visit DC - September 2008 |
And, down yet another winding hall to a larger place were my father requested the book he needed and waited for it's delivery to our seat number. We had to get pictures to show that we were there. I read the latest version of "What Color is your parachute?" while my mother found a real estate book and started taking notes and making calculations. My parents are quite the researchers and I'm amazed that we didn't sit there all day. So many libraries are becoming so advanced that they've lost that authentic feel and the old book smell, but this place felt the way you would want a library to feel. Quiet, a little musty, big tables and your own personal lamp.
Of course, we were able to go to the main public part of the Library of Congress as well and see the Thomas Jefferson library and stand in awe of the intricate ceiling and solid marble surrounding us.
 |
| From Parents visit DC - September 2008 |
We drove home in the pouring rain and to my parents secret happiness, the BYU game was available on my tv.
 |
| From Parents visit DC - September 2008 |
 |
| From Parents visit DC - September 2008 |
On Sunday we did the usual - church, eat, talk - and then went on a walk out in one of the Manassas Battlefields and came back and watched the Les Miserables movie.
 |
| From Parents visit DC - September 2008 |
 |
| From Parents visit DC - September 2008 |
Good weekend with my parents. Too bad we didn't have more time, but there is always more to see on another trip.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Knees
My knees are hurting a little bit today and it reminded me of an email that my Dad sent out to the family a week or so ago.
__________
The other night I found myself in a very reflective mood, to the point of a few tears. And what, you might wonder, brought me to this point. Well, it's pretty simple -- my aching knees.
Since my trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to watch Brett play in the U. S. Collegiate Rugby semi-finals. During my trip I read the "South Beach Diet" book and was basically struck with the fact that I needed to do something about weight, and thus about what I eat. At the same time Rebecca was reporting her success in reducing her cookie & cracker intake, so I began to think more seriously about the issues of diet, weight and food intake. And then I heard of Chris' success in reducing his weight & size too. So, after thinking more about the book, and what its basic message is, I decided to try something I had never done before -- diet!
The first step was to realize that the enemy of weight loss can easily be summarized as "5 C's":
Cookies, Cake, Candy, Crackers, Cream (ice)....
There are other culprits too but that is a long list. -- bread and pasta -- are also atop the list. Other key elements of such a program are exercise, portion control, eating regularly, etc......there are others, but you can probably list them all.
I won't ramble more with a poorly organized speech, but you get the idea here --------- IF you, any of you, are over-weight I URGE YOU TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES TO LOSE WEIGHT. If you don't your knees will KILL you when you reach 55, or 60, or 64. I don't know what your age will be, but -- the extra weight you carry today will ruin your knees tomorrow. Take it from a living testimony -- me. Part of the reason for my sobering experience the other night was my imagination running a bit wild with the possibilities for my future. If I have bad knees, how will I finish my temple service? Will I be able to go on a mission? Will I have to use a cane? How about artificial knees? Wheelchair? How am I going to work through the debilitation in my knees that I am suddenly beginning to feel more intensely? etc...
So, that's it ---- for the sake of your mobility and the ease of your future years, P L E A S E do whatever it takes to get your weight under control. It doesn't matter what reason you use in your private mind to justify yourself.
By the way, this is for everyone to think about.....I hope.
This message could probably be better written with more thought, but I need to tell you this before we leave tomorrow morning. Think seriously about it.
Love, Dad
__________
The other night I found myself in a very reflective mood, to the point of a few tears. And what, you might wonder, brought me to this point. Well, it's pretty simple -- my aching knees.
Since my trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to watch Brett play in the U. S. Collegiate Rugby semi-finals. During my trip I read the "South Beach Diet" book and was basically struck with the fact that I needed to do something about weight, and thus about what I eat. At the same time Rebecca was reporting her success in reducing her cookie & cracker intake, so I began to think more seriously about the issues of diet, weight and food intake. And then I heard of Chris' success in reducing his weight & size too. So, after thinking more about the book, and what its basic message is, I decided to try something I had never done before -- diet!
The first step was to realize that the enemy of weight loss can easily be summarized as "5 C's":
Cookies, Cake, Candy, Crackers, Cream (ice)....
There are other culprits too but that is a long list. -- bread and pasta -- are also atop the list. Other key elements of such a program are exercise, portion control, eating regularly, etc......there are others, but you can probably list them all.
I won't ramble more with a poorly organized speech, but you get the idea here --------- IF you, any of you, are over-weight I URGE YOU TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES TO LOSE WEIGHT. If you don't your knees will KILL you when you reach 55, or 60, or 64. I don't know what your age will be, but -- the extra weight you carry today will ruin your knees tomorrow. Take it from a living testimony -- me. Part of the reason for my sobering experience the other night was my imagination running a bit wild with the possibilities for my future. If I have bad knees, how will I finish my temple service? Will I be able to go on a mission? Will I have to use a cane? How about artificial knees? Wheelchair? How am I going to work through the debilitation in my knees that I am suddenly beginning to feel more intensely? etc...
So, that's it ---- for the sake of your mobility and the ease of your future years, P L E A S E do whatever it takes to get your weight under control. It doesn't matter what reason you use in your private mind to justify yourself.
By the way, this is for everyone to think about.....I hope.
This message could probably be better written with more thought, but I need to tell you this before we leave tomorrow morning. Think seriously about it.
Love, Dad
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Hustle - as performed by Dad
So, Mom was caught doing the Napoleon Dynamite dance, but Dad was caught doing "The Hustle."
Scot contributed his unique dance maneuvers in the background.
Scot contributed his unique dance maneuvers in the background.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Kitchen - Before and Middle - still waiting for after
My kitchen is getting a "refacing" from Sears. I used to think that meant that they walked in the door with new door fronts and walked out with my old doors. But, now I'm seeing why I spent quite a few thousand on this effort.
Notice the unclean picture of my kitchen. "Before" photos should always be messy so as to enhance the "after" results. Just like those face photos where they put really bad make-up on people to make them look worse before they glamour-ize them.
Right now it looks like this:
Completely gutted! Kind of cool that this is about $10,000 less than if you have them put in new frames.
This morning my dining and kitchen area looked like this:
Notice the unclean picture of my kitchen. "Before" photos should always be messy so as to enhance the "after" results. Just like those face photos where they put really bad make-up on people to make them look worse before they glamour-ize them.Right now it looks like this:Completely gutted! Kind of cool that this is about $10,000 less than if you have them put in new frames. This posting is primarily for my father's viewing since he has crowded our email with very large attachments showing sheet rock, unfinished deck framing, window sills, door frames, sheet rock, rocks, more unfinished deck framing, tiles, more rocks, more sheet rock, more deck framing and more tiles. (-: The difference is this - he actually does the work and I just prepare the work area for someone else to do the work while I do my job work and post pictures of their efforts to my blog.
Before the end of the week I will have the "after" pictures.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Ode to the Duck Dishes
Ok, so "ode" is probably not the correct word, but I did want to make an entry specifically devoted to my duck dishes. I received these dishes from my parents in the Christmas of 1989. I was home for college (yes, I started college in the 80s) for Christmas and my gifts overwhelmed the lower layer of the Christmas tree. It turns out that most of my gifts were plates, cups, glasses, and bowls that formed a complete set. I think there was a set of silverware provided at the same time. I still have those too. Anyway, these are those dishes that you could earn by purchasing a lot of groceries over a few months or so. You would collect coupon points or something and get a discount. I think all "the girls" ended up getting a different set. Mine were the duck dishes. They aren't really my style (country). However, if one has to have a set of country dishes, this would be the best kind to have.
Anyway, my parents assumed I would get married in my early 2os and got these for me. I never used them through college, but I started to use them when I was in graduate school a few years ago and continued to do so when both my brothers (and sister-in-law) and roommates lived with me.It is now time to move on and sell them on craigslist or donate to Goodwill, but they do deserve a place in my little online notes.
I guess this was an "ode."
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Christmas Moments - 2008
Finally, I've downloaded all the videos and pictures from my excursions around the midwest and east over Christmas. I drove to all locations and so I'm still recovering. Although flying can be a great option, sometimes it's nice to travel with large bags, a personal pillow and blanket and a few extra computers. This way it really does feel like home away from my little home.
In Columbus Ohio I was able to stop at the temple and see my parents. I ended up having the rare opportunity of vacuming since the volunteers hadn't shown up. Here they are sneaking in...I mean...locking it up for the night.
They are still getting use to the interesting combination of leadership and cleaning responsibilities. 
I spent Christmas with my parents and Brett. Very small, but enjoyable.
My parents bought a creche type of statue for the christmas holiday. It was quite beautiful, but then we dropped into a TJMAX, or similiar store, and they discovered multiple wise men hidden in the holiday aisles.
So, long story short...we walked out with three wise men and...the 4th wise man. You kind of had to be there to appreciate all this since my parents are typically practical, but somehow got caught up in a little flashy material.
In fact, driving through part of downtown Indianapolis I caught my mom glancing at a gold angel on some random front porch. Hopefully this is a temporary issue and they will soon recover.
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