Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Just a post....no theme...nothin' special
I don't have anything of value to say....I am simply bored at work and sort of feel like blogging. But now that I went through all the trouble of signing on (ha, sad when hitting a few keys is considered trouble, but that is, indeed how it felt) I might at well get a nice lengthy post out of it. What are some topics that I may want to toss out there during this post......Tennessee Football (ugh), my imminent departure for Disney World (imminent being late late Sat nite/Sun morning), my current longing/obsession with learning how to surf, books I am currently, and/or planning to read, my inability to stop purchasing books online (its just so simple, and usually not very expensive, and so satisfying when they show up on my doorstep about a week later), the VP debate coming up on Thursday nite.....ok I think those are all of the topics that I may or may not want to discuss.
First up..............Tennessee Football! Oh goody, this will either get me all riled up, or maybe it will be cathartic. I guess we'll see when I'm finished.
Well....to start off.....Crompton is completely and utterly useless!!! No, no, I take that back. He's not useless....he's a very big asset.....for our opponents!!! 9 out of 10 times he's pegging someone standing 10 feet out bounds (maybe he could at least blind the other teams quarterback while he's on the sidelines talking on the phones or something). And that 1 time out of 10 that he doesn't throw it out of bounds, Crompton's probably hurling the ball into the raised hands of the defense, only for the ball to come flying back at him. I never thought I would see the day when I desperately wanted Ainge to come back!!!
2ndly.....Fulmer!!! Come on buddy, just be the mean guy for once and take Crompton out in the middle of the game! Maybe a little embarrassment will do him good. Or, better yet, just sit him out the entire game!!! And, I know our running game is all we have, but could we please quit giving the ball to Foster!!! He is not that fast. He just isn't. We have other people to use....how about Hardesty....or maybe we could "find a way" to coax Creer just a little bit harder, and get him in the game.....haha ("we just can't find a way to get him in the game"). Fulmer, you're the coach, you're in charge of these guys and these games, start acting like it!!! Stop being such a softy!!!! Oh yeah, and this more applies to the past, because heaven knows, we will never have the chance to blow anybody out this year, but if you have the chance to beat someone badly.....just do it!!! Believe me, it won't be the first time it has happened to them. Get some killer instinct Phil!!! Ok, I think I am done with that topic. I think I feel a little bit better, although I'm pretty darn sure that none of the things I suggested/whined about will ever come to pass. Oh well..... it's the plight of being a Tenn. fan. I would still never trade it to be a #2 ranked Bamer. =)
Ok, on to another topic...lets see here....it is officially October. I am not one of those people that just loves fall, and the changing of the weather and all that jazz. Hot muggy weather is good enough for me, pretty much anytime. Unless it's going to snow, and some large mountains are going to pop up somewhere in North Alabama, and I am going to suddenly come into possession of some quality ski gear, then, for me, it might as well be summer year round. This "lack of appreciation" for fall, is one of the reasons Anna and I have dubbed October "The Lost Month." At least in September you have the novelty of the start of Tenn. football season, and November has Thanksgiving (which most people don't really appreciate, but that's another topic for another time). October....well, it doesn't really have anything special to call its own. And don't you go trying to suggest Halloween, that doesn't even come close to counting. When I see people who decorate their yards for Halloween.....well, I can't help but laugh at them. Sorry, but Halloween is just a joke of a holiday, and I even thought this when I was a small child. But, I am just going through all of this to say.....that this year....October is not The Lost Month. Because we are going to Disney World this October!!! So far, (meaning today) the thought of going to/being in Disney World has taken away all of October's gloomy powers. Hopefully the afterglow will stick around a while too, considering we get home the 12, so there is a whole nother half of the month to muddle through. Oh well, I'll think about that when it actually comes around (a little variation of Scarlett's mantra).
Surfing.....it's painful to think about it too much.....I thought I would be getting to try it in the not so distant future. You see, Typhoon Lagoon (in DW) has a wave pool, and on certain days, in the early morning, they give private surf lessons there. I've been reading all about it, getting all the information. I had even started watching a bunch of youtube videos of people there, even some pro surfers that rented it out for the nite. It looks so cool!!! I was going to call and make a reservation for myself for one of the morning while we're there. But, alas, on the official DW website, it says : Typhoon Lagoon Surf School Closed until Feb. 2009. Ahhhhhh!!! =( So, now I have just been watching surfing videos on real beaches, which look like even more fun. Now I want to go to a beach and try some for real surfing..... I don't know where the closest place for some good surfing would be. I wish I could just fly out to California, and surf there. Yep, that would be ideal. Haha. So, for now, my surfing dreams are dashed. I must be content to merely watch youtube videos......
So, I'm reading a book series by LM Montgomery called "Emily of New Moon." There are three books, and I am currently on the 2nd one. So far, they're very enjoyable. Not particularly realistic, but who really wants that? Anna is thoroughly creeped out by them, because I told her about a man in the books (Dean Priest) who is 36 and in love with Emily (the main character who is, at the time, 12). Yeah, I agree, it is pretty creepy, but I'm sure weirder things than that happened back then, and it does make the storyline more interesting. Plus, I'm 99% sure that Emily, unlike the obedient Elsie Dinsmore, would ever marry a man who was her Father's boyhood friend. Creepy! But, the best part about LM Montgomery books are all her crazy characters. I think that is why books about the olden days are so good. People were just a lot crazier back then. Even the ones who were considered sane were very very odd, and that, my friends, makes for good literature! haha.
So, it looks as if this post is a monster already. And not just a monster, but a fairly random and pointless monster. So.....I am hereby ending it now. I will have to talk over my other topics at some later date....or if I don't feel like it, I will never talk them over. So there! So....now I will engage in the not so pleasant task of cleaning up my most likely various spelling errors, typos, and generally hideous punctuation. Have a wonderful day, week, fortnight, or month, depending on how long it is until I post again! Good bye!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
NaNoWriMo Ideas....
3. "Emory, Honor and the Extra Personage" This story is almost as nonsensical as the good humored hobos, but who says nonsensical isn't fun??? This is a story I started about triplets. Emory and Honor are fairly normal, nice little girls who have been abandoned by their parents and their triplet whom they call the extra personage (her real name is Landry). Landry, and their parents have left for Hollywood, because they are convinced that Landry has the stuff to make it as the next Shirley Temple. This story is basically going to be tales of how Emory and Honor take care of themselves throughout their growing up years. It seems like it could turn out kind of Dixie Northi-ish / Pippi Longstocking-ish (hopefully way less creepy).
Are you sensing a pattern here......none of my stories have much of an element of realism....that's unfortunate. But, wait, I did once start a story that was supposed to be a realistic historical dramatic mystery type thing.....yeah.....weird right??? I started it...and built up this big dramatic mysterious type of plot, but I didnt really have an ending planned out or anything. So, needless to say, it kind of fizzled out. I could try to do something with it. That may be kind of challenging but it could be interesting. I could just keep going until I absolutely positively had to have the ending developed, and then.....who knows! I think that story was called something like "A Flower of the Prairie." haha! Don't you like my 17 year old attempt at the dramatic? Yeah, I started that story a long time ago, back when I hadn't realized my utter inability to write serious stories. Anyways, there ya go,
4. "A Flower of the Prairie" or something to that effect.....
So.....go ahead....cast your votes. Should I work on one of these.....or go in a completely new direction???? I have about a month plus to decide!!! Can't you just feel the suspense???
Friday, July 11, 2008
Jake, aka "The Clever One"
Well, I suppose I'll begin by explaining why we sometimes call him Bocaj Nebuer Noslen (which is most of the time shortened to Boc). You may remember me mentioning the Disney Cruise during my post about Adam and his insane luckiness. Well, it was during this same enchanted voyage that Jake, at the age of....61/2 I think.... let us all (including each of the Hubbards) know what our full backward names are. During the cruise we all carried around personal room keys/ID given out by Disney that had our full names (as well as other stuff) printed on them. Jake has always been one to quietly sit back and study things and after doing so he usually comes up with a rather random and entertaining revelation. So, we were all surprised and strangely enough, delighted when Jake let us all know that from then on we could address him as Bocaj Noslen. Immediately we all wanted him to translate our names into backwards speak. He obligingly did so, and we spent the rest of the trip and pretty much the rest of the years after the trip thoroughly enjoying his 6 year old discovery.
As a small child, Jake had a fondness for making up his own words. Sometimes these words were just a variation of a real word, and sometimes they were completely made up words that he liked to use as insults. For instance, if Jake got particularly outdone with one of us, he would shout angrily, "You boon!" I think this was meant to cut us to the quick....although I'm not quite sure why. Another favorite "insult" of his was to call someone a "doody pizza." This was usually used in a more good humored way, maybe more like calling someone a dork. Yeah, not nearly as hurtful as being called a Boon.
For the longest time Jake either wasn't able to, or just didn't feel the need to be able to pronounce the "cr" sound in a word. This resulted in words like Fritter(his favorite books by Mercer Mayer), Fristmas, and Frocodile. We would even write on his Christmas presents, "To Jakey, Merry Fristmas." He saw nothing wrong with this yuletide greeting. We were all thoroughly amused by Jake's lack of pronunciation skills. I think we were perfectly willing for him to go on the rest of his life using the "fr" sounds for his words. So what if he one day made it to the MLB and during an interview or press conference he said something like..."We were down with bases loaded, and I took off at the frack of the bat." He would more than likely be such an amazing player that people would think it was some kind of trademark of his or something.... Sadly enough, one fateful day, Daniel Hubbard took baby Jake under his wing, and drilled him and coached him until he no longer asked us to read him a fritter book, or insisted that he wasn't being frabby. It was a sad period in the Nelson household, I'm not sure if we have ever forgiven Daniel.....haha
In his early years Jake had a special talent, that he doubtless inherited from Mother (only Mom really possesses this talent, and Jake's was just a ruse). No matter what any of us chose to present him as a Christmas gift, Jake always knew exactly what it would be. We have this recorded for proof on home videos. He would start out picking up the present, "I bet I know what this is...." Then he would skillfully babel and make small talk, distracting us, all the while unwrapping the present. Once he could tell what he was receiving, he would joyfully exclaim something to this effect...."lion king slippers! I knew that's what it was going to be!" Once for his own cruel amusement(heck I would have done it too), Dad tried to catch Jake in his little tricks (or should I say "fricks"). "Wait Jake, don't open it yet, tell us what you think it's gonna be. Tell us!" But, like an old pro Jake just continued on his usual course "This is easy, I know what it's gonna be...." *rapidly talking and unwrapping all at once* "Oooh, a Fisher Price Castle, I knew it!" If I remember correctly, Jake didn't have this amazing gift guessing ability when opening birthday presents, it was mostly reserved to Christmas time. Maybe it was something in the Christmas cookies.....
Jake was a very stout little boy....which, aside from his love of hot dogs, and lemons, was surprising, because he was a constant bundle of movement. Literally, you could walk into the den at our house, and find Jake in the room alone having generated a full-on workout type sweat. Usually this would happen from his doing something like starting at one couch and throwing a ball in the air towards the other couch, and seconds later diving through the air onto the couch across the room to catch the ball while it was still in the air. He would do this about 100 times.....seriously.
This was just the type of thing he would do if there was no one available to have some friendly competition with. Jake was always up for a round of pool baseball, yard baseball, basement ball, or any other type of competition we had worked up for the day. And although he was the youngest, we never felt the need to humor him. All of this intense competition and physical activity set him up to be a much more fierce competitor than anyone among his own peers. We have tons of hilarious stories to tell about Jake in t-ball, machine pitch, and basketball. It would take far too many posts to tell them all. But, probably my favorite is the time that his basketball team played below their potential, and got eliminated from a tournament in which they should have taken first place. Jake was, of course, disgusted, whereas, more than half of his teammates were just elated to be getting medals. When Jake's medal was presented to him he did exactly what I would have felt like doing, but would not have possessed the guts to carry out. He walked straight to the nearest trash can, and was right on the verge of chunking his medal. But, before he could trash it, Dad ran frantically over to stop him, and probably give him a little talk on good sportsmanship (not that Dad thought the medal was any less worthless).
This competitive spirit, and drive for performance to full potential comes out in Jake when he's just a fan too. When he is a grown man, and not playing sports competitively, I can see Jake clearly, he's watching the Braves flub up a game, or seeing Tennessee make a ridiculous fumble. He'll shake his head, do a couple of his patented sarcastic claps, and throw a pillow at the tv for good measure. And we'll all chuckle a little because we all know that at the moment, he is actually practicing a lot of self control.Jake has always been a voracious reader. Ok, wait, not voracious...that word has always creeped me out a little. It puts a mental picture in my head of someone carrying a stack of books to their kitchen table, and then cutting them up with a knife and fork and chowing down on them like a meal. Jake really likes to read. Yeah, I like the sound of that better. I like to credit Jake's love of literature, to my own, superior skills of reading aloud. Yes, these days Jake reads books about Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Horatio Hornblower, and (shudder) Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, but back in the day the 2 of us had more cultured tastes. We read things like "Detectives in Togas," "The Wheel on the School," and "Kildee House (what a bizarre book!)." If I have kids of my own one day, we will hopefully be reading a lot of the same books that were read by Jake and me. I will definitely be telling them stories of how Uncle Jake just complained and complained whenever it was time to do his read aloud, even though he secretly enjoyed it. I will also tell them how Uncle Jake and I didn't (even secretly) enjoy "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry" or "The Great Turkey Walk." I will tell them how Jake attempted to hide his tears, when we finished "Caddie Woodlawn." Ok, maybe I just made that last part up, but they would never believe that big tough Uncle Jake would have done that anyway. So, what I'm trying to say is....you better watch out Jake, your future nieces and nephews are going to be hearing a lot of crazy stories about you!!!
*****I am proud to announce that this hearby ends my much acclaimed "sibling posts." I will not be posting anything about Andrew, mostly because he has not lived long enough to merit one of these posts. So, Andrew, I'll get back to you when you're at least 15. For now.......I am going to enjoy my accomplishment of being finished with 4 very unique Nelson children posts!!!*****
Monday, July 7, 2008
Anna, aka Anna Rebekah Nelson Fine Bajanca Hart-thin Ashley Martin Arlene Becky Coates CoCo!
Ok ok, of course I'm kidding. Lets see.....what to say about Anna....Well, lets see here....
Anna was born at our home on a warm spring day during the afternoon. I remember sticking my head in and out of the room to try to see if she had arrived yet. I remember being annoyed because the midwives wouldn't let me stay in the room. Didn't they know I was all of 5 years old, and not at all afraid of seeing a baby being born? I think in reality I was just oblivious enough that watching my mother give birth really wouldn't have freaked me out.So, Anna was born, the runt of the family, at 7 pounds 8 ounces. She was still very chubby, just a little smaller than the rest of us (yes, Anna I know you love this). She was born with braces, a little known fact about her that the family has always tried to conceal. Luckily, she got them off before she turned 2, and we refrained from photographing her until then (didn't want to break any cameras). Ok Ok Ok, I'm kidding once again. Anna was not born with braces!!! Got that??? The braces thing is just a little story Jared and I made up to bother her. She still insists that she didn't believe us and she was only acting frantic because it made her angry that we thought she believed us..... But we all know better......
Anna has always had a very distinct sense of style. She knows what she wants to look like, and she's not going to compromise, or give up until she can achieve that look she has in her mind's eye. As a small child, she always had a certain look dancing around in her aforementioned mind's eye. One of our favorite movies was Toby Tyler, and Anna loved the style and flair possessed by the two little equestrians, Janette and Ajax. Even though she was neither a member of the circus, nor a bareback rider, Anna just knew she could rock their look anyway. She did so by almost every day wearing fancifully colored leotards with a turtleneck (no pants). I will give her credit by saying Janette and Ajax's also went pants less when sporting their equestrian wear....but....I'm not quite willing to say they were wearing leotards. I think I would veer more towards saying they were thin leggings. But, lets not forget about the other half of the outfit...the turtleneck....I'm not really sure how her young mind came up with that one. But, for a long time, Anna's outfit of choice (thankfully she confined it to only at home) for around the house was leotards and a turtleneck.
Anna has always had a soft spot for getting lost. I suppose she thought it was exciting or something. Cruel child. The very scariest time Anna wandered away from the family was in one of the biggest, and supposedly happiest places on earth. That's right, Walt Disney World. We were staying in the Polynesian hotel, and I think Anna was almost 3 years old. Our family of 7 was traveling with our grandparents, Ronnie, Sandra, Brooke, and Mary. We were a very large group....but somehow Anna managed to separate herself from us despite our largeness. If I remember correctly, we were walking from Polynesian to ticket and transportation center to eventually make our way to the Grand Floridian for a massive breakfast buffet. Apparently, in Anna's words, Jared climbed on a rock, and seeing him climb on that rock just gave her the unquenchable desire to do the same. Well, once that little bitty girl climbed all the way up on what I must assume was one gigantic rock, her large family had already walked far far away. It wasn't until we were about to board a monorail and Mother was doing a quick headcount that we discovered we were missing a small rock climber! Dad made what he describes as the most frantic and terrified dash he's ever made in his life, retracing our steps. This dash took him all the way back to the Polynesian hotel. Not at all far away from the rock on which Anna began her little misadventure, Dad found her being taken care of by a nice couple. Apparently they had found her lost and a little upset. She had doubtless charmed them with her small and chubby sweetness, and they were comforting her and letting her hold a little stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. So, although this was a very dramatic event in Anna's life, instead of deciding to retire from the life of getting lost, she continued to do so a few more times. For example, a few years later she managed to got lost in a super Wal Mart while we were driving cross country to Colorado. She got her name announced on the loudspeaker and everything....ok not exactly her name, but "the little girl in the Aladdin sweatsuit." hahahaha.
Although as I mentioned before, Anna has always been on the small side of us Nelson children. in her childhood years (thankfully she has sort of grown out of this now) there was one thing possessed by Anna that was not so small. Her stomach (particularly after eating a tasty and filling meal at Golden Corral). It never failed, whenever we would go out to eat, which was frequently, and almost always with the Hubbards, Anna's little gut would just balloon up like a watermelon. Usually, us girls (Anna Lesley and I) would just get a good chuckle over it, and Anna would unbutton her pants, and wha-la, problem solved. But one fateful day....the attack of the expanding belly became utterly unmanageable! Anna and I had these amazingly cool outfits, no doubt, they were picked out using Anna's hardcore fashion sense (seeing as I didn't develop any until I was about 14, and even that is debatable). They were church outfits, matching ones. The skirts were ankle length, with light purple, light blue and white flowers spread liberally and fancifully across the fabric. The tops were the real kicker. I think they were made of some sort of stretchy-ish polyester, short sleeved....and.... they zipped. Yes, that is essentially what made them cool, the fact that they zipped. The tops were light purple to, of course, match the light purple flowers on the skirts. So, on that particular Sunday, Anna chose to wear the coolest outfit in her closet to church. Looking back, she insists that it was already getting too small for her, but she wanted to wear it anyway, because, of course, it was so incredibly fierce. Soooo.....we go to Golden Corral, the Mecca of all buffets (until of course, it got rats)....we invariably stuff ourselves full of delicious food. Anna's stomach does its thing....and, to quote Pants Suit, "bada bing, bada boom" Anna is miserable. But....fate is not on her side. She is not wearing pants, therefore she cannot unbutton her button! The stylish zipper shirt is at this point painfully tight, and completely uncomfortable. Her stomach is bursting to get out of this corset like article of clothing, but there is nothing she can do about it! So, in a stroke of amazing luck, Lesley happens to be wearing a white t-shirt with some type of jean jacket vest kinda thing over it. She magnanimously offers to let Anna exchange her restricting purple zipper shirt for the comforts of a a size of two larger jean jacket/vest contraption. Anna gratefully accepted, and her stomach got its way, as usual, and expanded greedily, probably trying its hardest to fill up the jean jacket as well. I don't think anyone asked why Anna and Lesley switched shirts after the meal, they probably just assumed that Anna's stomach was up to it's tricks again. It was Golden Corral after all!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Jared, aka "The One With the Skinny Neck"
Unlike Adam and I, Jared was never big on performing and taking part in our own made up plays/productions. When we were small this worked to our advantage. Since we couldn't exactly count on him to participate and/or remember his lines throughout our entire movies of epic proportions, Adam and I simply cast Jared as the dog, or monkey. Usually this suited Jared just fine. This way he could come in and out of the movie at basically anytime, and he was free to speak unintelligibly anytime he felt like it. Every now and then disaster struck, and Jared got the urge to take on a human role. When this happened, he didn't really change his acting methods employed when playing a monkey or a dog. Jared still came in and out when he pleased. He still made up his own lines, and delivered them at his own discretion. But the difference was clearly there, and on our homemade movies, you can see the cringing terror all over mine and Adam's faces.
As we got older, and moved more into the genre of Christmas plays, Adam gave over his role of director to Brooke and me. For some reason, we still felt like we just had to have Jared's participation in our Christmas productions, whether he liked it or not. I do have to commend Brooke and myself for our ingenuity of giving Jared the role of "stage manager." This way he was behind the scenes, and just as much as ever, he was free to come in and out whenever he pleased. Many times the lights didn't go on/off when they were scheduled to, or us girls had to come out on "stage" to show him where he was supposed to move the props to for the next scene. But, he felt like he was in charge, and hey, at least he wasn't making up and delivering his own lines!
Jared has always been a very friendly person. One of Jared's main positions in baseball was catcher. This was a very good spot for him, because it meant he always had someone to talk to, and I don't mean the batter. I'm talking about the umpire. Starting at about the age 9, Jared started collecting umpire friends. In between innings, and during warmups, Jared and the ump behind the plate always shared a leisurely chat. When Jared got a double the field ump would walk by to say "Hey man, whats up?" Just strolling around the park to watch other siblings games, the umps would throw him a friendly wave, and Jared would turn to one of us and say, "That guy's my favorite ump!" And of course, it would usually be a different ump every week.
From a very young age Jared always had a very lofty aspiration. It was a goal very different from most males in this world. No one ever quite understood his yearning toward this goal, but that doesn't mean we didn't do what we could to aid him in his pursuit.
Jared's goal was simply this: to be completely bald.
Jared kept his hair in a buzz during almost all of his childhood, but for Jared, this (no pun intended) simply didn't cut it. He wanted to have his head shaved. He was constantly making deals with Dad such as "if my baseball team wins the tournament, you'll shave my head." Now, isn't it usually the person that loses the bet has to get their head shaved? Not for Jared, when his baseball team won (and I think it was also his soccer team once), he jubilantly got out the razor and made Dad start to work on turning his son into a human q-ball! Eventually Jared grew out of this, and listening to my wizened suggestion, grew out his hair. For a year or two, he had a head full of more hair than anyone knew he was capable of growing! Now that he is about to become an old married man, he has settled down to a normal everyday head of hair. So, Jared, in honor of this post, I have a deal to make with you......
Next year, if West Huntstville wins the softball tournament (and you're still playing on the team of course) you get to shave your head! And yes, I said get to, because we all know you want to be bald again!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Adam, aka the "Lucky Nelson"
Adam's luck all started when he was born, and was given the name Adam. Until I was about....9, I really truly believed that most of Adam's luckiness somehow came about from the fact that his name started with the first letter of the alphabet. I guess I was just imagining a giant bowl of entry forms, and one of the people in charge of the contest says :
"Wow, there is no way we're gonna be able to choose a winner out of all these entrys"
And some lazy person (probably named Aaron) who doesnt care about all us poor unfortunates replies,
"Eh, let's just keep the names that start with an 'A' and throw out the rest of the alphabet."
To which the oblivious original speaker, who never enters contests, therefore isn't concerned with this blatant disregard for fairness, says.
"Ok, fine with me."
10 minutes later....................................
"Looks like we've got a winner, 'Adam Nelson' lets call him up and tell him the good news."
The second epidsode of "Adam wins everything" consisted of him being about...4 years old (??) and winning, not only tickets, but also backstage passes to some kind of real live showing of his favorite cartoon ever......Thunder Thunder Thunder Thundercats hooooooooo (or something like that). Of course, I got to come along, and enjoy all of the benfits of Adam's winnings, but that, my friends was completely beside the point. Adam was the benevolent host of all this wonderfulness, and I was merely mooching off of his winnings.
Up next in Adam's lucky shennanegins is the probably the biggest out of his winnings, at least at the time it seemed like the biggest. The channel Fox 54 was having some kind of contest where, I suppose, you sent in your name, and they would randomly choose a person to call. This chosen person was instructed "dont say hello, say Fox 54." If the person that was called followed these instructions, they won $54 and got to film a little commercial for Fox 54. Take a wild gander at who in our household got the coveted call from Fox 54.....correct, Adam! I'm not even sure if he actually answered "Fox 54" or not. I don't think they were all that strict on enforcing that rule. It was basically, if you get the call, you're in. So, Adam, at the ripe old age of about...7, won 54 dollars! To Adam and me this might as well have been a million dollars. Of course, with Mom's encouragement, Adam shared the money with me. We went to Toys R Us, and I used my pity money to purchase a lovely stuffed set of Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. I was grateful to be shared with of course, but I remember wishing that I could have been the sharer, instead of the sharee. Adam made his commercial, and for some reason that didn't really bother me. I enjoyed seeing him on tv, and I didn't really wish that I could have been the one on tv. I just really wanted to have won the $54.
Let's see.....after the $54 in winnings came something that was probably the most insignificant bundle of luck in Adam's mind, but the most excruciatingly painful event to me. The competition was just a simple guessing game. Not much skill involved. In fact, Adam, Jared and I didn't even make the guesses for ourselves. Mom just entered each of our birthdays as our guesses. But...........................get this..................
The prize: 101 Dalmations Tshirts. 101 Dalmations was my thing, or more like my obsession. I had a deep seeded need to collect everything with black and white spots. One christmas it was like every present I got was 101 Dalmations, a sleeping bag, stuffed puppies, a handheld game, underwear, stickers.....ok you get the point. So, in my mind I just really believed that if there was any justice in the world, the powers that be would select me as the winner of this amazing contest. Not so. Adam won. The object was to guess how many spots,in all, were covering the Dalmations in the movie poster. In a complete act of luck, Adam's birthdate was the closest out of all the entries to the correct number. So, he won a set of tshirts. I think there were at least 4 shirts, one for Adam, Jared, Anna, and me. Now of course if I had been a logical thinker I would have been overjoyed because at least someone in our family had won, and thereby secured me a spotted tshirt that was not being sold in stores. But, all my competitive brain could think about was that Adam had won again! And this time it had been on my home turf!
Another one of Adam's forays into the world of luckiness occurred when he and I, and possibly Jared (but probably not Jared because he would have never had the patience to sit down and color an entire bunny picture), entered into a "coloring contest" around Easter. All that was required was to color a cute little bunny picture, and turn it into the local grocery store. The winner would be awarded a giant Easter basket stuffed with all kinds of cheapo toys and goodies that all children love. My bunny was beautiful. He was blue and purple and yellow (all in pastel shades, because what could be more eastery?). I darkened all of the edges in the picture, and lightly shaded the insides. I thouroughly enjoyed the coloring process, and almost forgot about the competition side of it. When Adam and I compared finished products, I almost felt sorry for him. There was nothing fanciful or springy about his picture. His rabbit was brown and his grass was dark green. It looked like the kind of bunny that hunters would go after, not a bunny that could wear a bowtie and hand out Easter eggs. At this point I just knew I was going to win. It would be a runaway. A few days later, we got the call. "Congratulations Adam Nelson! You can pick up your basket during these times." I was disgusted. Mom tried to convince me that it was just a random drawing. Which would have just meant another case of those bums taking out everyone but the "A's." But I knew better. This was even worse. This wasn't just a case of bad luck on my part for not being named Annabelle. This was a blatant disregaurd for genuine coloring skills and Easter spirit. The conductor of this event needed to be holding a Field and Stream coloring contest. Not an Easter coloring contest. Once again, Adam shared his prize with me, giving me candy, and even a little toy truck that was inside one of the eggs. I was probably wearing my 101 dalmations charity tee, and holding my pity Chip and Dale stuffed animals in my lap. And I was not amused.
My last remembrance of Adam's lucky streak is not quite as painful as the others. Possibly because I was older. Possibly because it happened during the most wonderful trip of my life. It was the year 2000. We, along with the Hubbard family were on the Disney Wonder! After dinner one night, we all went to the famiy nite club, Studio Sea. This was right around the height of Who Wants to be a Millionaire's popularity. The special for the nite's entertainment was Disney's own version of this wildly popular show, entitled, "Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer." Upon entering Studio Sea, each person was given a ticket with a number. We would later find out that these tickets would be used to select constestants for the show. Ha! And they were trying to pretend that they didn't take part in the conspiracy that is "A" discrimination. Obviously they did, because Adam was selected. Happily, this time I was not bitter, or insulted. I was just happy to be able to claim the first contestant as someone from my party. Plus, I knew he would have more of a chance at winning than I would, and I wanted to see what kind of prizes would be given out. But most of all, I was happy, because this was just further proof for my, "Adam is Freakishly Lucky" case.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Your thoughts on a new post.....
*Adam, Jessi and Jared were usually forced to play 1 on 1 on 1 because, alas, their 4 year old sister Anna was too busy with her own schedule to play with them. Jessi snuck a glance over at Anna, who had already worked up a sweat with her daily weight lifting program. Anna, at the age of 4, already had more muscle mass than her 11 year old brother. As Anna was lost in her reps and breathing control, Jessi shot a look at Adam that said, "Should we even bother to ask her if she'll play?" Adam, interpreting Jessi's look, shrugged his shoulders, and then decided it was worth a try. Jared, on the other hand, was sort of wishing that they would just leave Anna be. The last time they had convinced her to play, she had pegged him from her spot in centerfield, on his way to home plate, and he had been left with a bright red welt for a week! And this was with a squishy ball that the kids had gotten from Chuckie Cheese! But, Jared didn't speak up soon enough, and Adam called out to Anna.
"Hey, Anna"
"Yo!" She responded, as she let out a loud breath, finished her bench press, and put the weighted bar back on its holder.
"If you're almost done, do you wanna play handball?"
Anna sat up, and lifted up her wifebeater to wipe her forehead with the edge of it.
"I dont think so, when I'm done with this, I'm goin' outisde to do a little target practice."
Anna had her own handgun, and she was a regular Annie Oakley, just a little more on the macho side. After saying this, she picked up her favorite plastic Sylvester Stallone cup that she always used during workouts, and spit an enormous loogie into it.
"Dang, its amazing how much spit I can work up during just one workout." She commented to no one in particular.
By this time, Adam had turned away, dissappointed. Jared was breathing a large sigh of relief, and Jessi was just wondering to herself if one day Anna would really be a cage fighter like she always talked about. Jessi was pretty sure it would happen, and she already pitied any of Anna's future opponents. *
Hope you like this Anna! I personally think its a large improvement. Thanks for the idea!
Now, I need everyone's help. And by everyone, I mean my 4 readers, Jake, Anna, Furf, and Adam. What do you want me to post about next? Another fake story? something real? my daily life? a character sketch? a book review? baby looney toons?? See, the possibilities are endless. I know you can't comment me, so I guess I'll just have to settle for your suggestions in real life. Let me know! Peace out.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Rocky Vs. Apollo Part Dos
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Rocky vs. Apollo (aka the Tornado of '95) Part I
"We've gotta go out there!" Jessi declared, already jumping out from under the blanket.
"We can't go out there now, it's too late!" Adam decreed. "Y'all haven't seen the severe conditions that are going on." He continued seriously.
"He's all alone..." Anna said, unintentionally aiming large worried eyes towards Adam.
"Yeah," Jared added. "It's him versus the tornado, and he's handicapped by his chain!"
"Come on Adam, we can do it. Rocky needs our help!" Jessi pleaded. The three younger Nelsons knew they had to have Adam in on the rescue mission. Although they already had the "want-to," they needed Adam's brain power and leadership.
"Fine," Adam conceded. "Lets take on that twister!"
He spoke with perfect timing and inflection, his sentence sounded like it was straight out of a 3 ninjas movie. Jessi, Jared and Anna's eyes lit up, and they spontaineously stacked their hands together in a huddle, then simultaneously brought them down a little bit and back up yelling "Go!" in unison. It was a perfect 3 ninjas/kid power moment. But none of the four took the time to bask in the greatness of the moment, because they had a job to do. An important mission of mercy to carry out. A monumental battle to fight!
"OK," Adam called out, "We need something to hold onto, or something that will hold onto us, so that we won't get swept up in the tornado when we go out there."
They all took a minute to look around the basement. It was filled with all kinds of random playthings, and they were sure there had to be something helpful to them in their mission. They knew they had a long piece of rope that was very thick and would work perfectly, but it was out in the barn. They had been using it to play Indiana Jones just the other day.
"I know!" Jared yelled, with a triumphant look on his face. Adam and Jessi swapped a wary look. Jared was forever coming up with elaborate and somewhat hairbrained ideas that weren't really practical. They were afraid this might be another one of those type of ideas. Luckily for them, and for Rocky, it wasn't.
"Let's tie together all of our karate belts, and use them!" Jared finished.
"Perfect!" Adam and Jessi aprroved heartily.
"Yeah, we can even use my pink belt." Anna volunteered. This was a big sacrifice for Anna, she loved her specially dyed pink karate belt, and usually didn't allow it to be used for the various games and plans for which the kids used their karate belts.
So they got to work, getting their many and various colored karate belts out of the bucket that held all of the dress up type clothes. Adam Jessi and Jared were all currently taking karate (although Jared wasn't quite as serious about it as his two older siblings). Adam was a brown belt, Jessi a purple belt, and Jared a "lowly" orange belt. This meant they had a total of 14 belts. 3 old white belts, 3 yellows, Jessi and Adam's old orange belts, 2 green belts, 2 blue belts, 1 purple, and of course, Anna's pink belt. Adam, Jessi and Jared kept their current belts (orange, purple, and brown) upstairs with their karate gis. Once they had gotten every single belt tied tightly together end from end they had quite a rope. It was probably more reliable than the length of real rope they had left hanging from the loft in the barn. Next, they made their way up the flight of stairs to make their way to the back door, which, by this time was missing the 3 glass panes at its top. The kids could hear the wind swirling angrily through the broken glass. Even though the door was closed, it was shaking violently inside of its hinges. Rocky's bark could be heard, frantically trying to rise above the chaos of the elements. They knew they needed to act quickly before things got worse.
"So, are we all going out there?" Jared asked seriously, his voice mixed with excitement and trepidation.
"No!!" Adam and Jessi chorused.
Adam took action, vocalizing the plan he had formed in his head long before they had finished tying the belts together.
"Jess, you're going to have to be the one to go out there. You're lighter than me, plus I'm the strongest, so I need to be here anchoring the belts."
"Just what I was thinking." Jessi agreed.
Adam started tying one end of the belt rope to the end railing that ran all the way up the stairway to the basement. He was tying what he called a Polamer knot, which he had doubtless learned from one of the fishing books he was forever reading. As he worked quickly on the knot he turned to Jared and Anna.
"You two have to help me make sure this rope stays in the house with us, no matter what! And also, when Jessi gets back to the door with Rocky, you two grab him by the collar and pull him in, while I make sure Jessi is in, and the door is shut."
Jared and Anna nodded intently.
Adam finished tying the first end to the railing and turned to Jessi, who already had the roped wrapped around her waist. He tied an even tighter Polamer Knot and reminded her to hold the knot secure around her waist as long as she possibly could.
To Be cont......
Thursday, May 8, 2008
3 Ninjas...oh yeah, and Douglas
"That wasn't me!" Jared said quickly, his eyes as wide as saucers. Of course Adam and Jessi knew it wasn't Jared, the ball was in Adam's right hand. But neither of them had a clue what had actually happened. All of the sudden they heard the most deafening wind that had ever met any of their young ears. Then an almost whistle like sound that wouldnt stop! They all looked to Adam, who already had a guess as to what was going on outside of their house.
"Tornado!"
He said confidently. Adam was always sure of his assessments, whether they were right or wrong. This time he was right.
"Adam, Jess, what do we do??" Jared's eyes were even larger than they had previously been.
"I'm scared!" Anna said quietly, not really expecting an answer.
"We have to stay in the basement for one thing." Adam said with authority.
"We've gotta have blankets for the flying glass!" Jessi blurted out somewhat frantically.
"I'll get them, you guys stay down here, in the very middle of the room, stay down low." Adam called over his shoulder, already on his way out the basement door." Jessi started moving to the middle of the basement, herding Anna and Jared along with her.
"Is our house gonna be swirling around inside the tornado?" Anna asked worriedly. She was probably recalling The Wizard of Oz.
"I don't think so, that's not a real movie y'know?" Jessi answered her, recalling the Wizard of Oz herself, and assuming correctly that this was the image floating around in Anna's head.
"I'm gonna go up there and help Adam!" Jared said all of the sudden, with a determinded gleam in his eyes.
"Oh no you're not!" Jessi said, grabbing him by the arm and holding him in place. "He'll be back any second now."
As she finished the sentence, Adams burst through the door with 3 large blankets filling his arms.
"Its crazy up there!" He panted. "The sky is black, and I think I saw a tornado, who knows if there's just one out there! It felt like the windows were gonna shatter any minute!"
Anna ran up to Adam and wrapped her arms around his knees, relieved that her big brother had survived his brave blanket mission. Jessi and Jared looked a tiny bit dissappointed that they had not gotten to see dramatic scene Adam had described. Little did they know that they would get to not only see this dramatic scene, but experience it very very closely.
Just as they were huddling in the middle of the basement under the thick blankets, Jessi let out a yell.
"Oh my gosh! Rocky's out there!"
To Be Continued.....................
Tornadoes Tornadoes everywhere, and not a twister to fight!
how obnoxious of this tornado to include in its self centered path: our house, yard full of beautiful trees, charmingly rustic and useful only for playing in and posing for pictures in front of barn, beloved camper, and of course the poor hapless and chained Rocky I.
I also know that as much as Adam, Jared and I talked about how glad we were that we had chosen to accompany Mom to wal-mart, I think there was a glimmer of a wish inside of our kid power programed brains (thanks to our obsessive viewings of 3 ninjas) that we would have actually chosen to stay home like we so often did. I mean, come on, how brave would we have been?? I'm sure we could have somehow single-handedly battled the tornado and the little tantrum it pitched in our yard as well as in the greater area of Harvest. Of course we wouldn't have tried to protect the whole Harvest area, just our house, yard, camper, trees, barn, pool, and of course the dog! So, in honor of today being as I have now dubbed it, "Twister Day" I would like to write a little story with the central characters being Adam, Jared, Anna, and me. Ages: 11,9,6, and 4. It will be like one of those choose your own scenario books, and we will be choosing the option where the four odd little children choose to stay home from the good old Wally World. This concludes my post for now. Stay tuned because I will hopefully be posting my short tale tonite, maybe after I get off of work. I know you are on the edge of your seat in anticipation!