Hey Amy - You Want Duh Wrestle?!

Seeing post-facelift Kenny Rogers on TV day and night promoting "TimeLife.com Superstars of Country" has been fun, because it reminds me of the concerts we went to when I was a wee lad: Barry Manilow, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, B.J. Thomas, Amy Grant. Amy Grant was still just a teenager when I saw her in concert (with Dayna Bridges - aaaaaagh!), and I may still carry guilt from the dark, powerful, adolescent longing I felt for her even while she was singing contemporary Christian songs on stage! John Denver put on the best concert of the group, though I can remember thinking during the Barry Manilow concert "every single song he's singing has been a #1 smash hit in the last 12 months - how is that possible?"

Of course, I loved seeing KISS live the best, even though Dad nearly got into a fight with some stoned loser at the Lloyd Noble Arena which would have ruined everything. At some point I remember him telling me that "all the songs sound the same", which was asinine, of course. Until I had the opportunity to hear those songs years later, when they - needless to say - all sounded the same. I've become my father. Hoo boy...

Father to whom, you might ask? Why, to a 3-year-old whose favorite expressions right now include "zip it", "dat a bad choice", "huh-duh-doc-doc" (helicopter), "dat shark, duh cut you leave baaaaad boo boo, bad boo boo" (always 2 bad boo boos, never just 1) and various obsessive descriptions of "fie hi-dents" and "fie eh-sting-sirs" EVERY TIME we see a fire hydrant or fire extinguisher.

It may sound weird, but one of my favorite B-things right now is how he goes to the bathroom. He stands in front of the toilet/urinal, pulls his pants and underwear all the way down to his ankles, lifts the bottom of his shirt and tucks it under his chin, pushes his belly way out, and then proceeds to pee wildly from left to right, top to bottom all over the inside of the bowl. I think it's the holding his shirt under his chin that tickles me most, though that belly sticking out business is cute, too.

We spent this past weekend alone together while Sheila and Austin went to Ft. Worth to get stuff they had all planned on selling in a father/daughters garage sale but which will be donated to the folks from Louisiana instead. Braden spent much of the weekend asking "da-ee you want duh wrestle?" The answer was almost always 'yes', so we spent a rainy Saturday rough-housing in the living room.

Sheila got her hair professionally done while Austin ran around downtown Ft. Worth with his Uncle Jeff Z. Austin was able to get in a few digs about the Astros sweeping the Phillies last week, (Jeff's team) pushing them out of wild card contention, for now. He also took several photos of Jim and Sheryl's new house in Ft. Worth (the Pecan Plantation is home no longer). Curiously, many of the shots include extremely close-up self-portraits of Austin making bizarre expressions. (Note to self: monitor the 10-year-old when he asks to borrow the camera.)