Teeth, Toilet Talk, Trajectories and Top Form

This morning I received the following text from Kate: She doesn’t know when it fell out, but her tooth is gone. Maybe I need to be checking poop. Samantha has had a front tooth that has been hanging by the roots for a week that she wouldn’t let us touch. She must have swallowed it last night in her sleep. I told Kate that we will leave the searching for the tooth to the tooth fairy, who I am sure will still leave some money for Samantha tonight…

Last week Patrick got himself in trouble for using language that is not appropriate for a soon to be eight year old. The first note I found (both were written on pieces of [unused] toilet paper)was written by Samantha:

In case you can’t read it, it says ‘Whitney is stoopid. So is Patrick.’

Before I could reprimand her for this, I was presented with a note written by Patrick.

Translation: ‘You are a bich You came from hell The girls came from hell.’

While he may be right, I don’t approve of him using the word ‘hell’ in this context. Oh, and ‘bitch’ too…

Whitney is getting old enough that some of her school projects are fun. This week she was to design and build a catapult. Much like the Pinewood Derby cars from my youth, the catapult was designed by Whit and executed by her father. Although she did take care of the paint job (like I did with my cars). There will be a competition this week at school, where one lucky student will have his or her catapult represented at the University of Utah against other schools. I think Whit has a shot. She has to be able to hit a pie tin suspended six feet above the ground and twelve feet away.

Today I have received several messages from people who saw pictures of Kate in a bikini on Facebook wondering why they were not told about the figure competition she competed in last Saturday. Sorry, maybe next time. I have attached a video that shows her progress. This has been a major event. She has been preparing for more than 18 months. I am very proud of her. She did a great job. And yes, the spray tan does wash off…

The ladies’ competiton was first, for which I am grateful. We didn’t stay for the men’s portion of the show. But we did get to see Dennis Wolf, who, I found out, is a former Mr. Olympia contestant and one hell of a large man. He was brought in as a guest ‘poser’. So I have included some pictures of him, if that’s your thing…

Singing, Safety and Sweating

Last week Kate went to see Patrick sing in the Altara 2nd grade program. The theme was “Everyone smiles in the same language”. I asked Patrick if he felt bad that I wouldn’t be able to attend. His response: “What kind of a kid would be mad that his dad had to work and couldn’t come to see singing?” That made me feel a little better about missing it.

His enthusiasm is overwhelming...

Saturday we took the kids to the Safety Fair at the Southtowne Expo Center. The highlight of the day for me was watching two women almost get into a fist fight. We had waited for nearly half an hour in line so the kids could get their faces painted. While waiting for one of the artists to finish with Whitney, we saw a woman walk up, right past the entire line of people waiting, and plop her kid in the chair for a face paint. The woman who was next in line, and whose child should have had the open seat, got really upset, and an unpleasant exchange of words ensued. The best part about it was that the woman who had jumped the line, after apologizing for doing so, left her kid in the chair for the face paint.

Which of the two creeps you out more: the guy in the bow tie who makes balloon animals, or the guy walking around dressed as a crash test dummy?

Not everyone wanted a face painting...

The kids also got to sit in a small helicopter and play with the controls. While waiting in line, I saw a child get tangled in a cord while getting out of the helicopter, falling on his face. The irony of something like that happening at a safety fair rather amuses me.

Last April, after completing the Salt Lake Half Marathon I decided that I wanted to complete the whole marathon in less than 4 hours. In order to do so I had to admit that I have to train for it, instead of just showing up and running like I usually do. The race is on April 17th this year, and I am putting it out there so everyone knows, and I will actually do it. I have been training over the last few months, and I think that I might actually be ready. I have been running 3-4 times a week and I am to the point that I go a minimum of 7 miles when running. I have also been able to complete my runs without walking breaks, something that I had never been able to do before. I have also lost more than 30 pounds, which is good, because my sedentary lifestyle was making me rather fat. It’s hard to admit, really, but I have to say that at almost 34 years of age I am in the best physical shape of my life. I also have to thank some good friends for helping me to get through my runs: Jerry Cantrell, Scott Weiland, Dave Matthews, Chris Cornell, David Gilmour, James Hetfield and Maynard James Keenan.