We've got 'em again. A couple of years ago we had a rat in our attic. I'll never forget the call i got at work when Gina was screaming that they were poking their way through the ceiling attacking her and the kids (not exactly, but it makes for good blogging stories). But there was a big one up there. So big that Gina's Grandma's handy-man happened to be over doing some work for us and he set a trap for it. When he caught it, I was told that it filled up a shoe box and it was the biggest rat that the guy had ever seen.

Well it's back. And Grandma no longer has a handy-man around. So now it's my job to step up and take care of business.

This little sucker is smart. I first heard him about a week ago. I was putting Dylan to bed and I thought I heard a little scurrying across the the ceiling in his room. And my kid has the most panic crazed thoughts that I did not want to scare him. Seriously Dylan worries about if there is no such thing as God and Heaven. What if it's only the Devil and Hell and he's just making up the good stuff so people won't be so freaked out that every one will spend eternity in Hell after they die. Seriously! And he's only seven! Too Kafka-esque for me. So do you think I'm gonna acknowledge that I thought I heard a rat above his ceiling as I tuck him in, Hell no!

Then a few days later Gina and I are in bed talking before we go to sleep and we hear it again. At this point i have to fess up that I've heard it before, it didn't go away, and I will have to be the big man and take care of it and protect my family.

So a few days later I find myself at Home Depot staring at the billions of options for killing things that should not be in your house. There are really expensive sonic/electronic devices. There are humane little cage things. There is poison. There are the old fashion traps. But I decide on the glue traps.




A large square of plastic filled with a very gooey sticky stuff that traps them. I thought this would be good, no big spring trap to crush them and possible get blood and guts all over. So I wait til the kids are asleep and put a ladder in our closet to access the attic. I clear a little spot on the rafters and set the trap with a bit of peanut butter for bait.

The next night I look for my prize catch. THAT LITTLE SHIT WAS TOYING WITH ME! There was the trap with fur stuck to it and little nail marks in the glue. It checked it out and got away!

Well no more Mr. Nice Guy! I bought a big ass trap, loaded it with peanut butter and smiled while I set it.




His ass is mine. Nobody mocks me! Who does he think he is. No I wait. Tomorrow night i will one again make the trek up the ladder to see what me efforts will produce...

Ha ha ha ha haha!!!

Am I the only one that has noticed these "I'm a PC" commercials that Microsoft has put out there as a rebuttal to the hip and trendy I'm a Mac & I'm a PC ones?

They are PC user made and they have the WORST video quality ever! Seriously? You are proving the point that Mac is a superior quality product!

There were no good slogans this year. Nothing memorable. Not that there has been for awhile anyway. What happened to those great political slogans of yesteryear? You remember them...

"Tippecanoe and Tyler too"

"A Chicken in every Pot and a Car in every Garage."

"I Like Ike"

"All the Way with L.B.J."

"Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman!"

Or what about those cool phrases that described policy or programs, like...

The Square Deal -Teddy Roosevelt

The New Deal - F.D.R.

The Fair Deal - Truman

The New Frontier - Kennedy

The Great Society - L.B.J.

1000 Points of Light - Bush Sr.

You just don't hear cool stuff like that these days. When's the last time a President made a really memorable quote, the kind they put in history books? Like...

"Speak softly and carry a big stick."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

"And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

"A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself."

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

"If anyone tells you that America's best days are behind her, they're looking the wrong way."

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
(Uhh, what was that?)

When the smoke clears tonight we will have a new President. And while some hope that the next four years will show big change in, health care, the war in Iraq, taxes, immigration, social issues...I just want to not be bored. I want I snappy quote here and there. I want a President that shoots from the hip and does not sound like a Styrofoam cut out regurgitating some speech writers thoughts. This years was so planned out, so scripted

I want someone to tell it like it is, someone with passion. What ever he decides to do in office, be convicted, and do it with your whole heart. Don't do it to please one side or the other. do it because, right or wrong, it's what you believe in. I don't want politics as usual. And may God bless the winner and guide him in his thoughts and choices.

Gina set her alarm for 4:00am this morning.
She and my sister woke up and drove to San Dimas to participate in the 2008 LA Muddy Buddy race. I am so proud of her! She is a kick-ass stud athlete! I'm sure she'll blog about it later, but I couldn't resist posting these pics now that she's home.




BEFORE...

AFTER...

She rocks!

On October 23, 1999 I said "I do". Nine years seems like it flew by. Not every single day has been the romantic ending of a Nicholas Sparks novel or a perfect scene in a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie. But more days have been than have not! In nine years of marriage I have learned several things...

First, I can choose to be right, or I can choose to be happy. If you know me well, you know that I'm usually smiling.

Second, I have learned that after Gina leaves this Earth behind, she will no doubt be eligible for sainthood for the miracle of putting up with me!

And third, in every marriage there are clearly defined roles. To have a great marriage you must know your role and perform it. And gentleman, don't be so naive as to think that you have a say in your role. Your role will be thrust upon you whether you like it or not and whether you are able to perform it or not. Let me share with you my roles...

I get to kill things in our house.

I get to pick up things outside of our house.

I get to answer the door when certain people come to our house.

I get to fix things that break in our house.

I get to make sure that I have unwrinkled clothes when I leave our house.

I get to hang things from our house.

Last night Gina and I had an awesome evening, celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary. It started with wine tasting at the Irvine Hyatt, sponsored by one of the wine vendors from my work. Then we went to The District in Irvine and had a nice dinner at J.T Schmid's. Then we played a couple of games of bowling at Strike. When then walked around, got a coffee and wandered in and out of some shops.

Then it happened...as we walked to our car we saw two gals trying to change a flat tire. We were almost passed them when I thought, I'd better do the gentlemanly thing and offer some assistance. One girl was struggling with the jack and the other girl was standing by her and watching. I said, "Are you girls ok? Do you need some help?" The girl standing watching turned to me and said, "I don't have a tire iron." Then she totally staggered and almost tripped to the ground as she turned to me, to which I replied..."or the ability to walk appearently." It was an innocent wine enduced comment. I was trying to make light of her situation. However her situation happened to be MS, or cerebral palsy, or a wooden leg, or something else that causes her to walk with a ginormaous limp. Just then AAA pulled up and I quickly walked to our car pretending that didn't just happen.

I thought Gina was going to piss herself from laughing at me on the way home.

In the words of my dear friend Kristi, "Jon is an ASS!"

Last weekend Gina, the kids, and I along with seventeen other west coast Michells traveled to Fort Wayne Indiana to celebrate my Grandma Michell's 100th birthday. What an adventure. First of all traveling with twenty-one Michells on one plane was quite an experience! I'll let your mind wander with that one.

We had a great time. All of my aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts & uncles and second cousins were there for the celebration. It started Saturday afternoon in the basement of Forest Park Methodist Church for refreshments and cake. This is the same church that all three of her children got baptized and married in. The same church that most all of my cousins and I were baptized in. The same church that she work at as the church secretary. The same church that most of my cousins were married in. The same church where my dad would sneek in the the boiler room and smoke cigarettes on the nights that grandma would drop him off for youth group. And the same church that we held funeral services for Grandpa Michell in, several years ago.

After that grandmas immediate family (her three children and their descendants) had a big dinner in a banquet room at the hotel where all of the west coast crew was staying. A lot of speeches, wine and tears made for a wonderful night!

While researching 1908, the year of Grandma's birth, I was amazed to find out some of the highlights of that year...

The year began with the first ever ball dropped in Times Square for New Year's Eve...

...the Cubs win the World Series (for the last time)...

...Ford launched his Model T...

...Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts...

...England hosted the IV (that's fourth!) Olympiad...

...and it was the first Mother's Day!



Here are some pictures of all the festivities...

This is Grandma with a beautiful bouquet of 101 red roses. One rose for each of her birthdays and one for next year.

My sister had all of Grandma's twenty great-grandchildren make a square for this quilt by tracing their hand and coloring it. Then she pieced them all together. (That's not a really big quilt, that's a really short woman, under five foot!)

My Aunt Sharon read a proclamation from Indiana Governor, Mitchell Daniels, recognizing Grandma as a distinguished Hoosier. (It's pretty cool when your cousin is the special assistant to the Governor of Indiana!)

We also got to visit with my mom's mom who is a spring chicken at 94.

And no trip Fort Wayne is complete, without a visit to John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman's grave!