Great Dads are GREAT

I had a great dad. 

His favorite color was green. 

My mother says when she got pregnant with me my father thought he wanted a boy.

Somewhere between my delivery and her recovery he saw me and he changed his mind. He did not give up on his dream of having a son but he went all out becoming the great dad of a baby girl.

He insisted on cloth diapers among other things my mother tells me.

He was a quiet man with those he did not know. To his family he became known, eventually as the man who could talk your ear off but many who did not live in our houses have a hard time believing that.

My daughter grew to know and love my father as both a grandfather as well as a place holder for the father she barely knew and who has never quite risen up to be the leadership figure she needs in her life.

My dad was a simple guy. Hard working and good natured he enjoyed spending time with his family. I think our youth brought him joy. He was so patient with me and then my daughter.

Sadly I think the role my dad played in my life was a tad understated such that it took a few years of being out on my own to really appreciate him. 

It doesn’t hurt that I see so many men failing to step up to the plate and be good fathers to the children they bring into the world. It hurts my heart. My dad made it look so easy.

He showed up

He took an interest and responsibility

He did not nag and fuss

He knew how to have fun

He showed me things

He helped me if I needed or asked him to

He challenged my thinking
He exposed me to new things

He talked to me listened with a caring ear

When I felt threatened he protected me

My dad did not know everything neither did he ever claim to. Still there was a lot of knowledge he had to share with me along the way while I was growing up.

It was my father who showed me how to cook. Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast was the first meal he instructed me in. This is as much about cooking the proteins as it is about timing each element so they can be served together hot.

One year we planted a garden. Another year he cut a panel out of the wall in my parents’ bedroom and installed a sliding glass door.

One day I came home I guess from school and he was painting my room…pink without me even having to ask. 

DREAMY 

I loved that.

He had a wild adventure of a life, seeing the world courtesy of the US military, marrying an island girl and owning a home in California, two kids and a granddaughter. 

Who could have asked for much more?

RIP Filder L Johnson 3/12/2006

Get Out and About with Someone

Spring is the dating and mating season right? Whether you are mated, dating or thinking about spicing up the calendar with hot dates and events summer is right around the corner and here are two lists.

Ten where and how to meet ideas

Online dating

Volunteering (Habitat for Humanity)

Coaching (kids) sports teams

Playing Sports

Active groups like hikers or bicycle lovers

Bookstores/Game Shops/Groups(hobby,geek stuff)

Gym or Fitness

College courses

Non college classes: Dancing, Woodworking, Auto mechanics, Computers, Photography, Cooking, Art etc.

Dog Parks

Vacations and Singles Cruises

Coffee Shops

If you are single it can be hard to meet quality people in the modern day. Some of us have never been the bar fly type and others have simply tried and out grown it. Enter the coffee shop and book store but now we are all on our mobile devices connected all across the globe and oblivious to our seatmates and neighbors.

Enter the idea of things like online dating. I have always loved in theory the idea of online dating. Instead of falling for someone because you have decent chemistry and then trying to make things work when you are literarily not really a match, select and deselect important options and save time.

Sadly there are some singles who will never give online dating a serious try. Some who are social adept feel it to be beneath them. There are questions swirling around about how online selections might be teaching people to focus too much on things they might otherwise over look in person. Balance is needed.

I have been talking to single women online. They seem to not understand balance. “I avoided this guy because of a line or a word in his profile. Weeks/Months later there we still are and I reconsidered. Met him, he is pretty cool.” I have heard a variation of that more than a few times now. 

I see an on line dating profile like a speed dating prerequisite. Once you isolate the stats then you have to give the person a chance. It is not the time to over analyze their post.

I also don’t believe in allowing one’s self to be CatFished. Meet them for real or the relationship probably is not.

Some places to go and things to do. How About We style.

Roller Skating
Ice Skating

Movie Watching
Cook out BBQ

Picnic

MeetUp events: Bike, Hike, Kayak, Wine Taste

Sporting events

Arts/Theater/Fine Dining

Bowling

Indoor Rock Climbing

Ice cream or frozen yogurt

Live music

Once you have a partner in crime you don’t want to get stuck in a rut or close yourself off from the rest of the world. Keep active and continue to try new things. 

Just do some of them together to deepen the bonds between you.

National Doughnut Day

Oh what a day to be broke as a bad joke!

Who does not like doughnuts? Raised or cake, glazed or sprinkled, doughnut holes, fritters etc.

The only thing better might be ice cream. Something many of us locals might need by the end of this weekend if not today.

The temps are heating up. Thankfully for bakers their jobs start early. They fire up their ovens in the wee hours of the morning so that pastries and carb filled delights are ready for the morning rush.

I live right across the street from a doughnut shop. Between self control and a tight budget I can keep my other wise addiction in check.

The best deal they have is for a bag of three doughnuts one day old for $1.50. I love that. I do not like warm pastry for the most part. Krispy Kreme never charmed my heart in anyway.

My favorite is a bear claw with apple filling. Other old time favorites include raised glazed or chocolate, also jelly filled except for the lemon ones.

What kind of doughnuts do you like?

Where I go skating twice a week here in town the rink provides us free morning coffee. One of the other attendees I guess it is usually brings in a bag or two of doughnut holes.

A nice pop of sugar without as much guilt.

This week we were spoiled.



We had biscotti one day, brownie bites another and I think it was a birthday which brought in cup cakes and an edible arrangement of yummy fruit.

A Mother's Day Perk

Last weekend was Mother’s day weekend. Things around here were busy as usual. Saturday morning I was rushing out the door to roller derby practice and noticed a box had been left behind the bush near my doorstep. 

I threw it in the house and all but forgot about it. Still I had a pretty good idea what it was. I had not ordered a recent Miche (purses and bags) shipment to augment my collection or stash of cash and carry. 

My recent Melalueca order had come in previous days. Vista print materials came last month.  

No, this box was something very special and all for me as a mom. A rare treat especially because it was FREE. 

Weeks if not months before I had gotten the now rather familiar notice in my inbox saying I was eligible for a Klout Perk. 

I posted about a few of our previous Perks. Klout is a web site that strives to reveal where we all stand in terms of social media influence. If you are reading this message and on at least two other social networks you have Klout. 

The more your content is seen, shared and reacted with the higher your Klout score. To honor the work that we do being busy online keeping the internet abuzz, Klout at times offers items or discounts based on our levels of influence and at times our interests. 

The latest offering that I had accepted was for fair trade goodies. Chocolate, Coffee, Tea and Coupons! It was a delightful box to open on a day when the budget was squeezed tight and the kitchen a mess. 

My first thought upon entering it was that I wanted to run across the street to the doughnut shop for a mocha. I was lumping around feeling sorry for myself when I remembered, the box! 

I opened it and dived right in. I tried both chocolate bars and made myself a mug of hot tea. 

It was later that I cleaned the water pot and French Press for a nice bold smooth java kick. I have not quite come forth with a post on fair trade but it is an issue present in my consciousness. 

You have probably been hearing about it, maybe even trying to make better choices in product purchasing but it can be a challenge. When I posted that I was hosting a Miche event the other day and inviting my friends and contact to participate one of the first questions was about issues concerning environmental consciousness and fair trade if you will. 

It would be nice if all companies prominently posted their stance on these issues along with all of their other contact and biographical information. It would be great if they all cared and worked to deal only with eco-friendly fair trade products and procedures. This reminds me of the post I need to make about the UnJunk candy I tried. 

For now I am still enjoying my Mothers Day goodies:

Concert Fun (PT 2)

Continued...

We shuffled a little closer to the stage past some really tall fellows. They laughed at us shorties saying as long as we did not block their view they were happy to make room for us. 

Then two men only about 5ft6 to 5ft8 shuffled to right in front of us.

I am 5ft2 or there about and so was the MeetUp gal. The men did not speak to us or even to each other but after they stopped moving and looked around they silently shuffled to be behind us instead of blocking our view from the front.

Finally the band came out and the crowd went wild. As predicted as soon as music started the crowd, with us in it, moved. We swayed to and fro. It was almost hypnotic and a little stifling. Then there was jumping and wiggling. 

A couple of times I was worried that I might fall down but the group was not violent. There seemed to be a cohesion to what we were doing. 

I lost my buddy in the crowd. I was about three rows from stage as the performance went on. I am glad we pushed our way into the crowd.

I would not have known what I was missing from way back in the corner of the establishment.

People did not seem to mind my sweater. It was after all, soft to the touch. 

At the end of the night as the crowd dissipated I started looking for my buddy so I could at least say goodbye to her as well as make sure she got out of the grip of the conga guy who had grabbed her around the waist.

I found her quickly as people thinned out. I happened to glance down and see someone had lost a shoe in all the melee. I thought this was funny. 

Looking up I looked around and a guy was hobbling on one foot saying he had lost his shoe. I thought oh great looks like he’ll get it back quick. 

Then I looked at the foot he was standing on and back at the shoe near me. They were not a match. I thought this was hilarious!

I had not seen any other shoes and I kept walking. I came home on a high and with a small crush on the bands lead singer. What am I a teenager all over? 

Current day television viewers seem to think that Dancing With the Stars is all the rage. My women counter parts want to try and get their significant others to take dance classes. 

There are even some singles groups that host adult dance events. None of that interests me. I like music and I even have rhythm there is just something about these tame events that just did never seemed grab me.

Now I know I like modified moshing and or pogoing.

Get in the pit and try to love someone...Kid Rock

Concert Fun (PT1)

During a short cold snap we had this winter I went to a local concert almost on a whim.

A gal in one of my MeetUp groups wanted to see the Canadian rock band Sum41 play at Ace of Spades downtown. I went looking for the band on YouTube because their name sounded familiar. I discovered I did remember their music so I was in.

It was due to the cold snap that I happened to be wearing a pastel BIG fuzzy sweater. So there I was looking like a suburb dweller amidst a sea of urban youth. 

It was one of the only times I felt I was showing my age. The club was warm but I was dressed to avoid carrying a coat for my travels to and from the buildings etc.

The MeetUp gal did not seem to notice that I felt conspicuous. She had on a thin black tank with her hair in pigtail braids although we looked to be closer in age than to the median of the crowd. She had a beer. 

I abstained. Then she said she wanted to get closer to the stage. I was happy hanging out in a far corner by the bar. Feeling emboldened by her we headed into the less than standing room only crowd. She forged ahead and I stayed close to her. Everyone was everywhere. 

There had been warm ups before the band I was there to see. I was arriving late due to an evening class. Now that I am surrounded by a sea of young humans with barely room to breathe I begin to hear what all is going on or about to.

One teen guy says “When the music starts we are gonna go crazy wild.”

I am thinking there is NO room for that. As it is people are putting their hands on you and already pressed up against you like a bad date. If they are going somewhere they shuffle by but not usually very quickly. 

A random girl grabbed my hips and swished me so we were dancing like a conga line. Then she was gone. Next a random guy came near me and did the same. He moved over to the gal I was with and he stayed with her. He went from holding her at her hips I think to holding her around the waist. 

Still we were waiting for the band to perform. The crowd shuffled a bit and us in it. Suddenly the guy in front of us who we were thus obliged to touch and be pressed against was all sweaty from head to waist.

We shuffled away from him but my gal pal did not lose her escort. I asked her if he was getting a little too friendly and if she needed my help. 

We could have always grabbed each other and pretended to be a serious couple if we felt we were being preyed upon. She told me keeping the one lone guy in check was better than having a host of random guys pressing on her from behind so things seemed ok. 

 To be continued...