Thanksgiving 2006, with more RPG!

Mood: chilled
Listening to: Chillcast Cocktail Party Mix
Reading: The Magic of Thinking Big
Eating: ham, eggs, and biscuits, with low acid orange juice and black Folger's coffee
Watching: (last night) Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy

(It's interesting to note, as I was filling out the status info above, the potential for links and affiliate links. I should definitely look into that stuff.)

Jennie had to work Wednesday night and last night, so yesterday Keisha and I went to a Thanksgiving dinner at church. We brought some honey bbq wings and some hot chicken tenders. After eating a few of us guys went upstairs to the auditorium and played Halo 2 using an Xbox 360 hooked up to the projector screen. I can understand why role-playing games (RPG) are so popular now. I was the newbie of the group, but I still had fun learning my way around the game.

Related tags:

journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson thanksgiving2006 thanksgiving chillcast ugly+betty grey's+anatomy xbox+360 rpg halo+2

Happy Thanksgiving 2005

Mood: thankful
Listening to: JIMM 24 - It's Time to Give Thanks

It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and I've put together a special podcast for the occasion. Check it out: http://jimmpodcast.blogspot.com/2005/11/jimm-24-its-time-to-give-thanks.html

Thanksgiving Harmony

Mood: content
Listening to: Rob Costlow, pianist extraordiaire
Eating: too much


This is a great example of the kind of harmony we should expect to see during the holidays

Units begin to return from Kosovo

I received the following e-mail from my aunt and uncle in Cincinnati about my cousin. I've abbreviated the names to protect their privacy:

B. is coming home MONDAY!!!!!! (2/28/05) Please join us in prayers of
thanksgiving for his safe return. Praise God!
M.K. and D.K.
See press release below:

News Release
LOG # 05-10

February 25, 2005

Units begin to return from Kosovo

Columbus, Ohio – This week the Ohio Army National Guard welcomes home several units that mobilized in June 2004 in support of NATO peace operations in Kosovo. Public ceremonies are planned for the following units.

Times are based on anticipated arrival times from the unit’s demobilization station.

Monday, Feb. 28, 2005

2-107th Cavalry:

A Troop (Cincinnati): Approximately 75 Soldiers at 10:30 a.m., Union Terminal, 1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203.

Some Holiday Lip

On the Friday after Thanksgiving the city of Dayton has a big festival to light up the Christmas tree at Courthouse Square.

Carnival rides, music, food, and a Holiday (Scavenger) Hunt around the businesses of downtown for the kids.

Keisha and I arrived downtown at 5 PM. After parking behind the public library, I put 1-hour's worth of fare in the parking meter - since the meter maids stop enforcing at 6 PM. We stopped inside the library for a bathroom break, and headed toward the festivities at Main and Third.

Upon arriving, we walked to the tent the Junior League had set up. They gave us a bag and a map so that we could go on the Holiday Hunt around downtown. Keisha and I strolled from business to business downtown, and at each stop, someone stamped our map and gave Keisha a goodie for her bag.

One of the places is the Dayton Church Supply store, which, ironically, is sandwiched between two adult bookstores. Keisha saw a mannequin "dressed up" for the holidays in one their store windows and said, "I want to get an outfit like THAT one!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" I said, as we continued walking.

We turned around to get our last two stamps. Then, all of a sudden, Keisha tripped and fell face forward on the concrete. She hit her forehead and lips. As I helped her up, I saw that she was bleeding.

In between wails, I heard her say, "I need to go to a doctor!"

"Let me see it," I said, wiping off a little of the blood. I made the sensitive decision to skip these places so that we could find a restroom where I could help her get cleaned up.

Special thanks to the folks at Skolganik's, for letting us use their restroom to help Keisha get cleaned up. I put some cold water on a paper towel and wiped Keisha's mouth. After awhile, Keisha had calmed down and felt much better.

So much better that she was up for a ride on the ferris wheel. The family in line behind us, it turns out, has a 15-year old who is hard of hearing as well. Talking with the mom and the teen about sign language and other deaf/hard of hearing stuff helped the time in the line pass by quickly.

Finally, it was Keisha's turn. It was a great ride. The lights were lit. A chill descended on the air. We were hungry and needed to pee. So we went home.

Smells Like Dog Poop

Yesterday we spent Thanksgiving with some friends from church who live in Springfield, Ohio. I'd taken Jake our dog outside before we left so that he could relieve himself, but he didn't poop.

I knew that we would be gone a long time, and I didn't want Jake to have an accident in our apartment, so I put him in his cage (what we call his 'bed').

Fast forward seven hours... we return and find that he had gotten out of his bed. Did I fasten the door securely? I guess not. I inspected our apartment. Fortunately, Jake hadn't left us any "presents".

I took him outside for a walk, and he pooped, to my relief. I brought him back inside, and we got ready for bed. Since one of the local radio stations has changed their format to all Christmas music for the season, Keisha kept her hearing aids on so that she could listen to it while she fell asleep.

About an hour later, I got up to take Keisha's hearing aids out so that her ears could get some rest. I thought she'd taken them out and put them on the floor, and I bent down to pick it up.

It wasn't a hearing aid. As I walked down the hall to the main bathroom, I realized
that I had a piece of dog poop in my hand! I flushed it down the toilet and washed my hands really well with antibacterial soap. Then I returned to Keisha's room, this time turning her light on. I saw that there were other pieces on the floor. I was so upset.

I took Keisha's hearing aids out and placed them on the window sill next to her bed. Then I went to our bedroom, where Jake was laying in his cage. I grabbed him by his collar and drug him to Keisha's room, showing him that he'd been a bad dog.

I then grabbed a wad of toilet paper from the bathroom to pick up the rest of the poop. I flushed it down the toilet and got some carpet cleaner for the floor. After all of this, I returned to our bedroom, and I made certain to lock Jake in his cage for the night.

The next morning, as I let him out of his cage, I told him I wanted him to be a good dog. And I let him outside to go poop. Which he did.

The Good Napkins

Note: I'm definitely a guy because it took me a couple of times worth of reading and re-reading this before I figured out why this was so funny. BTW, I got this from mom, who picked this up via email, too:

The moral of this story: Always take time to explain. REMEMBER THIS COULD BE YOU!

My mother taught me to read when I was four years old (the first mistake). One day I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet doors was ajar. I read the box in the cabinet, I then asked my mother why she kept napkins in the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen? Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she told me that those were for "SPECIAL OCCASIONS".

Now fast forward a few months. It's Thanksgiving day and my folks were leaving to pick up the pastor and his wife for dinner. Mom had assignments for all of us while they were gone. Mine was to set the table. When they returned, the pastor came in first and immediately burst into laughter. Next came his wife who gasped, the began giggling. Next came my father, who roared with laughter! Then came Mom who almost died of embarrassment when she saw each place setting on the table with A "SPECIAL OCCASIONS" napkin at each plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge.

My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my response sent the other adults into further fits of laughter. "But Mom, you SAID they were for special occasions!!!"

Take time to laugh, it's the music of the soul. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dirt the bones . Proverbs 17:22

Halloween Costume Ideas

The October 14, 2002 edition of the Dayton Business Journal has a great editorial that contains some ideas for Halloween costumes this year. Here's an excerpt:

It seems every week brings news of executives tricking and treating themselves to gobs of money while shareholders watch their goody bags dry up. As a result, many people will have less money to spend this winter on holiday gifts and Thanksgiving feasts.

But let's not allow them to ruin Halloween. If nothing else, the corporate and political scandals segway right into a holiday that celebrates gluttony and greed. So this year, forget about dressing little Johnny as a wolfman or little Suzie as a witch, and try something in keeping with the times.

For some other Halloween ideas, please check out John Ludwig's Halloween blog.