How Far Can $5 Go?

At my father's house every year on the last Saturday of July is a party/horseshoe tournament. This was the first year that I decided to go. I am not good at horseshoes, but I like to play. My dad holds two double elimination tournaments during the day. One tournament for the early birds who want to start getting wasted at 2:00, and another that is supposed to start at 5:00. The tournament is a doubles event where you draw for a partner! Thus everyone wants to be partnered up with my dad. He is the best at this given party, but not that great of a horseshoe player on a scale of 1 - 10. If there is a person who can't even make the pit being a 1 and a 10 being someone who ringers every throw being a ten, my dad is probably a 5. Me, maybe I might make a rating of a 4? At this tournament however there is my dad being rated a ten, because mostly everyone else sucks and then myself probably about an 8 or a 9? There was one more player that ranked with me at an 8 or 9 at the party, but I figured he wouldn't be able to last while drinking so much liquor.
I showed up for the first tournament at 2:00, and there was maybe 7 teams. I drew a gentleman that I had never met, but knew his wife since I was probably 5. She was a girl who lived next door to my grandma, who was a few years older than me. Anyway, her husband was a wicked nice guy, and he didn't throw horseshoes all that bad. On the pro scale he might make a 3 or a 4? At this party, maybe a 7 at the most. I thought he was going to do better than he did, but I wasn't too upset with the draw. I score the majority of our points, but he helped in times of need. We ended up losing our first match! It was a double elimination tournament format, so we still had a chance. We won our next few matches, while my dad's team was the only undefeated team left. We then had another match with the same team that beat us earlier in the day. We killed them and it was down to the final two teams. Cary and myself and my dad and his partner. We had to beat my father's team two games in order to win. I wasn't thinking that we would be able to win, but I threw a ringer to cancel out my dad's ringer in the first match. We ended up winning the first match. Then my dad wants to switch the side that he is throwing from (avoiding me in the process) and Cary said he wanted to stay on the same side that he had been on all day. This leaves him trying to score over my dad! This match didn't go well at all! The game was over before it began. I called my dad a chicken for not wanting to play against me, but it was all in vain because he and his partner won the money. The tournament is only $5 to play, the blind draw thing is pretty messed up, but gives those who can't play a chance to get partnered up with my dad and then they might win the money. It is a winner take all event.
Tournament number 2 starts at about 6, there are 10 teams giving $50 to each player on the winning team. There are women who can't even throw from pit to pit playing, drunken guys who can barely stand playing and then a select few who can score are drinking more and more as the night wears on! A double elimination tournament with so many drunks was going to take all night! My partner and I win our first two matches and we didn't play another game after that until after dark because of the losers bracket being eliminated. My dad and his partner ended up losing a match somewhere in the midst of all the drunken madness! I was becoming optimistic with the news of my father only needing one more loss to be out. Not that I figured that my partner and I would win, because we had only played to poor teams. However, if my dad's team was to lose then that gets rid of the best player at the party. Cary and I drew each other again in the second tournament as well. I of course wanted to draw my dad, but wasn't too upset about drawing Cary again because he had already agreed to be on the opposite side as my father in the game. Thus, he wouldn't have to try to beat my dad, I would be the one to take on that task. The tournament was taking much too long like I said, and it was already dark. We were throwing horseshoes from pit to pit by the light of two spot lights. This is fine, but you have no idea how you threw the horseshoe until it hits either the pit, or something else down on that end of the yard! The time had come for Cary and I to play in our third match, yeah! Sheri had taken Triton home way before this so that he would be able to go to sleep, so I was babysitting a bunch of drunks and trying to play a tournament at the same time. I was so tired from already golfing earlier that day and the previous tournament, but I wanted to stick around to win $50.00.
Third match was between the two undefeated teams. On the other team was Dena's (my step mom) brother Joe and his partner. Joe is one of the funniest guys you will ever meet in your life. He was one of the first people who wasn't related to me that liked me for who I was. He lives in Boise and I had never met him until I was about 16 years old. He attended a dinner with my dad, Dena and her parents at my place of employment. I worked as a busboy at a local restaurant and that was when I had first met Joe. I didn't think anything of him at the time, but after meeting him once or twice I remember Dena saying that Joe really liked me? This was, again like I said, a new experience for me. Never had an adult other than family and co-workers liked me after meeting me. Sure people liked me, but never had someone said they thought that I was so funny and liked me after one or two meetings. It might have been because I am a shy person, or maybe I might be an acquired taste, who knows? After Dena informed me that Joe liked me and thought I was funny I payed more attention to him when he visited. He was married and had a child of his own who was maybe 3 or 4 years old at the time. I have invaded his home when staying in Boise many times, and when he is in town I try to visit him. He is one of the nicest, funniest and selfless people you will ever know. He is for sure an acquired taste of his own, because he doesn't care who is around, he will speak his mind! Especially when he is drunk! Like this Saturday, he supposedly never knew that I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mormon as he was calling me. "No, I won't have any mormons taking my money," he says as we begin our third match of the night. Joe is now divorced, but has custody of his child who is now 16 years old himself.
Our match began, and Joe's partner was about an equal to Cary, and I was a bit better than Joe, so we should have won. In fact that is what we did! The match was just as easy as our first two matches and that left us still unbeaten. A few more matches went by eliminating every team except for my dad's and Joe's. The winner of this match was going to have to face Cary and myself for the money. It was nice to be in the title match and having a chance to win the money without losing and without even being close to losing.
Joe and his partner was the obvious team that I was rooting for, because I didn't want to have to face my dad again. My dad was so drunk, but that really doesn't affect his throwing ability. My wish was granted, because Joe and his partner pulled out into an early lead. We were only going to 11, and Joe's team was up like 9 - 3. The games have to be won by two points, and I thought the money was gone when my dad pulled his team into a tie game of 10 - 10. My dad was starting to focus more and more and I could see in his eyes that he wanted to win. Joe pulled an amazing win in the very end, and I was mega relieved. My partner Cary, unknown to me, had already written Cary and Jason Win on the board. I would have erased that had I known about it, because I don't like to celebrate until the game is over. He hadn't just written this message either! He had written this a few hours earlier. Well, he was trying to celebrate with me before our first match for the title as well. I told him to stay focused (however focused drunk people can) and not to celebrate too early. We had to play Joe's team again, a team that we had stomped some hour ago into the ground. The title match wasn't as easy, and for some reason I knew it wasn't going to be.
Joe's partner threw a ringer his very first throw giving them a 3 - 0 lead. We ended up getting one somewhere? Then they scored two more, giving them a 5 - 1 lead. We come back with a flurry and the score is 9 - 5 us and I could taste victory. Of course Joe's partner throws another ringer and the score is 9 to 8. Joe is first to throw now, and he throws one that is leaning. At my dad's house a leaner is only 1 point, but nonetheless it is a point and the score is going to be 9 - 9 unless I can get him off of the peg! I throw the first it landed close but Joe still has the point. I throw the next and it knocks his shoe off the peg. All I am hoping for now is that it knocked it off and I am closer giving us a 10 - 8 lead!? Cary and this other gentleman (Joe's partner) are assessing the score and Cary says we won? I guess my second shoe knocked Joe's completely out of the scoring range and both of my shoes were close enough to score, giving us an 11- 8 winning score. It was a fun game, but I would rather win by a landslide then only a minuscule amount. I grabbed my $50 and went home. Got home just before 2:00am!
From this $5, I made $50. From this $50, I have used $40 of it to enter a golf tournament. I think the winner usually gets a little over $200.00 club house credit. So, again I ask "How far can $5 go?"
From the title of the blog, you might be wondering why I said $5 instead of $10.00 since I had to pay $5 twice to play in both tournaments right? Well, just after the first tournament was over, my step-sister Stacy challenged me to a match for $5. I told her no, that we could just play for fun because I didn't want to take her money. Well, she kept going on and on, so I accepted her (already drunk at the time) challenge and beat her. Taking her $5 was easy, but her own fault! I thought that she might have been practicing a bunch and I was getting taken, but I played anyway. She did have a 1- 0 lead on me, but that was it, I threw a couple of ringers and the game was over.

Triton and the Mountains

A few weeks ago, we decided to take Triton huckleberry picking. I didn't think that the berries were ready to be picked, but we decided to at least take a little drive anyway. The berries were in fact not ready to be picked. They were little nubs of green, unlike the plump purple color they need to be. At first we wanted to find a babysitter for Triton, but then I figured why not? Let's take him and see how he does.
This last Monday night we decided to press our luck again. Sheri returned home from work and we started on our way about 4:00. A friend of a friend had supposedly been up there a couple of days before and picked some and said they were ready.
We arrived at our normal spot to find another car parked there. Which really wasn't that big of a deal, there is a whole mountain, so sharing with others isn't that big of a deal. We heard the other people, but they weren't in the area that I like to go to so I was happy. We spayed ourselves down with bug spray and headed up the mountain. I didn't realize that Sheri was allowing Triton to walk, but he was trucking right up the hill. I wasn't in a hurry to get to my normal area, because I wanted to see if there were berries ready to be picked at all. So, I was looking at the bushes here and there, and that was when I noticed how amazing Triton was moving. He didn't care about the terrain, he didn't care that most bushes were bigger than he was, he was just going. His first time in the rugged outdoors suited him just fine. On the lower part of the hill/mountain there are trails and he was basically leading the way! As soon as I realized that the berries were indeed ready for harvest, I realized that the speed we were traveling at was way too slow. I headed in the direction that I usually like and Sheri and Triton followed. I figured Triton would be okay with his mom because I am the kind of person who likes to move around a lot when picking huckleberries. It is kind of like fishing as a kid. If I didn't catch a fish in my first cast or two I was ready to move to a different spot. Huckleberry picking is the same way for me. I like to find the bigger better berries and they must be in a bush that isn't the one that I am currently looking in. The berries were ready to be picked like I said, however there weren't a bunch like I had hoped. We picked for like an hour. Triton wanted to be with me? He loves his mom, for sure the biggest momma's boy there is, but today he wanted me. I didn't mind that much, but moving from place to place with a two year old in the thick bush is not that fun. Sheri can stay in one little area and be happy picking berries from one spot. So, I tried to leave Triton with her once, that didn't go that well when Triton spotted me up the hill away from them. He did manage to get up to me by himself though. I dropped him off with her again after a few minutes and headed where they couldn't see me. Then I found the biggest bunch of huckleberries ever. There was a load of bushes together and there were loads of berries on them. I told Sheri to get up to this area, so I raced back down to where they were, that way I could carry Triton. We stayed there the rest of the time that we were there and probably picked some 32 ounces a piece. I didn't really like the berries we were picking because they weren't as big as I like, but there was a bunch and we were able to stay together.
Triton actually helped pick berries, at first he squished a few but that was only a couple. After that, he picked them just fine. I let him eat a few and he loved them. We let him wander just a bit here and there, but not too far from arm's length. He found a patch of loose dirt up where I was and he was done picking berries. He wanted to play in the dirt and was disappointed when I had to move down the mountain a bit. He helped pick again. A storm started brewing and Triton was doing the weirdest thing. The wind whipped through the trees above. He looked up and upon seeing and hearing what the wind was doing to the trees he kind of howled like a wolf? I thought it was cute and wondered why he was doing such a thing? My boy part werewolf? The wind calmed for a few minutes and again, it returned with the same furry as before and he again looked up and around, then started this little howl again? Cute as could be. I could tell it was going to rain, so I told Sheri that we were ready to go. Down by the car is this patch of loose dirt that is probably an inch in a half to two inches deep. We were loading up and Triton was running through this loose dirt, just loving it. Proving that he is a boy, he fell down and a cloud of dirt filled the air. He picked himself up with a smile and started running through the dirt again. He threw a fit when he realized we were leaving. Was he upset we were leaving to go home? Or, was he upset that we were leaving his werewolf brothers?

I had told my grandmother on my mom's side that I would show her where we pick huckleberries. So, I felt a bit guilty about not inviting her that night. So, I called her the next day and asked if she wanted to go up. She said that the next day would be fine. We headed out of town with Grandma, Frank (her husband), Jared (my cousin), Triton and I. This time we headed out about 10:30am and it was a Wednesday. With it being so early and it being a weekday I didn't think that we would run into anyone up there. We arrived at the area where we normally park and there were two cars there. Only enough space for maybe one more car, but Frank was following in a separate vehicle so I was going to turn around and park there and have him park on the other side of the road. We drove a bit more and discovered another 2 vehicles parked. We had to drive a ways to find a spot to turn around, but we finally managed and one our way we went. We never saw or heard anyone else up there this time, despite the numerous vehicles parked. I don't know where they were picking berries but we saw 4 guys when we left and it didn't look like they had found a very good spot to pick from because they didn't have that many berries?
My grandma didn't know what type of bushes the huckleberries grew on so I had to show her. The rain in the mountains that first night we were there must have done something good for the berries because there was a bunch down on the lower area that weren't there two days previous. I was able to show grandma what the berries looked like and which ones to pick. I was happy that there were berries so close to the road so that my old crazy grandma didn't have to walk so far up the mountain side. Jared, Triton and I headed to the same spot that I had found before and started picking. There were indeed plenty of berries, but in this same area the berries were not the size that I like, there were about half the size that I wanted. Of course they all taste the same, but the bigger ones take up more space and it is easier to fill up cups/buckets faster with bigger berries. I told Jared I was moving from that area and left him there. I headed toward the area that I like most of all, the same spot where I had looked the night before (maybe a little farther down), and found the size of berries that I liked. They weren't as plentiful as the area with the small berries but I didn't care. I picked here and there, and was pleased with the move. This day I brought little to go coffee cups, instead of a big bucket. I knew with Sheri not there that I might have to feed, change or entertain Triton all by myself. I had packed a few things and put them in the backpack. I knew that I would be able to pick enough berries to fill a cup and simply put a lid on it, put it in the backpack and so on and so on. This time I had given Triton his own cup. He loved that idea. He picked berries just as good as the next guy, but with the bushes being so big and tasting so good he would either trip and fall and spill them, or simply eat them. I was fine with letting him do what he wanted, but once we moved to the area with the bigger berries I wasn't so thrilled with him spilling the nice big huckleberries. I would ask to see how much he had, and if he had more than ten berries in his cup I would dump them into mine. I thought it might upset him, but it didn't at all. Instead he decided that once he picked one berry he would put it in his cup and then dump his one berry from his cup into my cup. This got old real fast because he was just slowing me down. I was still amazed at how he didn't squish a single berry! We kept migrating to the right away from the small berry patch. Jared had joined us by then. I knew it was probably time for Triton to eat, but I didn't want to stop and take him down to the car to eat his snacks. He didn't like sitting on the ground at all! He only wanted to sit down if it was on my lap. Thus, I knew that I would have to take him to the car soon so eat his snacks. It was then that I found the craziest place ever! There was this bush that was maybe 4 feet by 4 feet and it had the most huckleberries I had ever seen on one bush. This little bush probably had 800 to 1,200 berries on it. These weren't the small berries either! In the first area with the small berries you might be lucky to get 100 berries in that amount of space. What was the best part of this bush was the fact that there was this nice stump right next to it that Triton was able to sit and eat his snacks. He ate and ate, while I picked and picked. I filled 4 of those to go coffee cups and was ready to leave. I could have stayed, but I didn't have anymore cups. I returned home with Triton after dropping Jared off at grandma's to discover that it was 2:30! I didn't think it was that late already, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Triton hadn't missed nap time yet, so I fed him and laid him down.
Triton was so good that it just amazed me. Let's just see if he likes the same berries that he kept shoveling into his mouth the same if they are in a pie?

Mom Said,

So, the other night I am reading to Triton before laying him down for bed. We are sitting on the floor, Triton in my lap. I read a few pages and I notice that he is acting weird! Every time I turn the page, he grabs something invisible from the bottom left corner of the book and acts like he is eating it? At first I didn't know if he actually put something in his mouth, so I had to check. Nothing? I turn the page again and he does this for like 4 or 5 pages in a row. It took me a minute to realize that he was mimicking me! He was just doing it backwards! I don't know if he has seen Sheri do this or not, but that night I had to lick my fingers every few pages to grip and turn the page. It was just so cute, plus (not that I do this) he was making little chomping noises each time he did it. So, you can see why I wondered whether or not he had actually put something in his mouth. The little things that kids do.
I am not a person who reads a lot. I don't mind a good book, but most have to be recommended in order for me to read them. I am a wicked critic when it comes to movies, and they are only 2 to maybe 3 hours long. Thus, I would be mega upset if I had to read a book and find out that it wasn't even worth turning the first page. Last year my mom tells me to read "The Ruins" because it was so gross, bla blah. It wasn't a bad read, but wasn't gross at all! If people like my mom haven't been
watching Saw and other such gore fest movies, I can see how she might have thought it was a gross movie. Plus she is a wuss when it comes to gore. If there is going to be a gross/gory part in a movie and she can see it coming, she simply turns her head when that particular part happens. Like in the movie Ghost Ship, I remember plugging it in and knowing what she was going to do in the first 5 minutes. I predicted that she would turn away from the television when it was obvious what was going to happen to all of these people on board this ship. She did in fact do exactly that, it was so funny.
So, my mom tells me to read the Twilight series. I liked the movie, it wasn't too bad. I loved the way the movie was filmed and edited. So, I decided to do what the mom said and read them. The first book was fine, followed the movie pretty much the same. The main character "Edward" is a lot more likable in the book. Not that the actor in the movie is someone I don't like, it just seemed that he didn't talk all that much or show any emotion in the movie. In the book he spoke a lot more, and had emotions. I kind of liked watching the movie first and then reading the book because I was able to picture the characters from the movie. Of course had I just read the book before watching the movie I would have pictured the characters differently. With this series it was kind of better having them as their characters in the movie. I don't like one of the characters in the movie simply because of the way he looks. The character of Jacob in the movie reminds me of a tennis player that I can't stand. Thus, I hated the character of Jacob throughout the entire series! I don't think I would have liked him a lot anyways, but I might not have hated him as much as I did if his character didn't look like Rafael Nadal. If any of you have ever seen Nadal play a tennis match you would know why I can't stand him. He is a great tennis player, don't get me wrong, he wears capri pants though! He doesn't wear shorts, which is fine, if he wants to wear pants fine. If he wants to wear capri pants, okay more power to him! However he is always picking his butt! Millions upon millions of people watch this moron on the television pick his seat like he himself is going to the movies! So, yeah Jacob isn't a character that I liked in the books. I can't wait to watch the movies, but the book series is kind of boring. I liked the read, so thanks mom for telling me to read them. The story was kind of interesting and unique, but the author seemed to repeat herself time after time throughout each book. By the third book when something happened, you could basically predict what the whole next sentence/paragraph was going to say. That is the only reason really that the books seemed boring, because of the repetition. I read the last book in 3 days so it wasn't as if it didn't keep my interest. I also like the idea of reading them to simply find out what was going to happen. It will be a few years before all the movies come out, so it is nice knowing what happens. So, books have an edge up on that aspect of movies vs. books. However, that is simply because in this example the books were already complete. Many people waited forever for the 4th book to come out, so books aren't that far up on that scale either.
My favorite book "The Stand" was another one that I had the characters in my mind from the movie. There was a mini-series thing that aired for television years ago. I never watched but a few parts here and there, but I remembered the actor's. I am sure that my mom told me to read that book as well? I started reading it way back when, but never finished. I finally read it like 4 years ago and liked it a lot. I love anything that has to do with the end of the world! Reading the book, which is like 1100 pages or something? I can't remember. Anyway, when reading it you are like okay this is a long book. Well, once you are about 800 pages in you are wondering how in the heck is Stephen King going to be able to end this book with only 300 pages to go. It actually ends rather abruptly, but it is a good read for sure. It wasn't scary at all, and could have been at least 300 more pages longer than it was. I like Dean Koontz books, but those are kind of like goosebumps series, but for adults. I guess not even that much for adults. His books don't have explicit sex scenes or gory parts for that matter. His books all seem to be PG-13. Nothing wrong with PG-13 either. I just like his books, because they aren't ordinary. They are sci-fi, far fetched and not boring.
Movies that are out right now that are worth watching are Knowing and Inkheart. Everything else is pretty much boring. Watchmen, if you haven't read previous blogs is a waste, save your money! Out at the theater is Harry Potter, I liked it, but haven't read the series so who knows how my taste is on that. It was filmed and directed really well. The Proposal is hilarious as well.
Transformers 2 wasn't that bad, same as the first basically, but who doesn't like huge action sequences rumbling through the speakers?

2 Years

Triton had his second birthday in June. We had it at the hotel where I work because it is just a lot easier and there is a pool for the kids. I invited a bunch of people. I invited those who I didn't think would come, and of course those who we knew would show. I invited those who we didn't think would come, not only to be nice, but because I like/love them. We had a BBQ with burgers and hotdogs, so it wasn't anything too special. If anything the food would entice people to show up, just to have a free lunch. I found out that a few family members were going to be out of town, so I kept inviting people. There were probably 10-12 people that showed that I didn't expect to show up. It was extra special though, of course Triton won't appreciate it, but I would like to tell all those who did show up, Thanks! I love you all, and wanted to express my gratitude for you being there this year! Sheri was a little upset that I didn't tell her that I invited so many people, but with the family and friends that we knew weren't going to be there, there wasn't but maybe 3 or 4 more people than we expected? So, what was the big deal Sheri? Just kidding, I could see where she was coming from, because we almost ran out of food. Walmart is right next door, so it wouldn't have postponed the party too long if we had to run and get some more grub!
We brought out Triton's cake and everyone was just sitting there, so I had to start singing Happy Birthday. With everyone singing at once Triton was a bit apprehensive and reached for me to protect him. I held him, and after the song when everyone was clapping for him, he started clapping and screaming. I am sure at that moment that he knew the day's celebration was for him alone. He didn't blow out the candles by himself, he needed my help? He is able to blow out candles just fine, but maybe he was too excited?
So, news about my mom! During her first round of chemo, being some 10 weeks or so, they were taking some pictures to see how the tumor was doing. At first they said that the tumor was shrinking, yeah! Well, a few weeks later they said it wasn't getting any smaller, but might be growing! I was mega upset over that, but my mom and her personal nurse didn't believe it because the tumor felt smaller to the touch? I was so upset, because I just had a bad feeling that the chemo wasn't working! I guess with the machine they were taking the pictures with wasn't that great of an indicator because it doesn't take a 3-D photo, and can't distinguish between scar tissue and/or a tumor itself. So, after her first round of one type of chemo, my mother had a more extensive photo taken, and they realized that the old junker photos were in fact only taking pictures of scar tissue that the tumor had left behind. "Left Behind" as in the tumor is gone! She still has to undergo more chemo and surgery, but the tumor is gone. What great news is that? I hope and pray that everything keeps going as good as it has been. Of course, she hates the chemo and what it does to her body, but at least it looks like it is helping. I love you mom.

Off The Radar

Okay, sorry I haven't blogged for awhile. Seems I have actually been busy? Here and there and then recuperating from the business kept me from blogging.
So, what has happened over the last month and a half, almost two months? Triton turned two years old on June 22nd (will post pictures soon). We went to Las Vegas for the 4th of July. It wasn't by choice have you, we had to go bowl nationals. It was the only weekend that they had left to bowl, and so we were forced to go that weekend. Never go to Vegas during the 4th of July! Holy moly!
We didn't actually bowl until the 5th and 6th, but we were down there since the 3rd. On the 4th we did something so dumb! We (Sheri and I) took Triton over to Circus Circus to see what they had for rides that he could go on. We were supposed to meet everyone else, and then leave from there to go eat before the fireworks. Those who went to Vegas to bowl were Henry and Barbara, Josh and his new girlfriend (who we met for the first time) Kim, and then Mikey J, and Marv. So, back to the dumb thing that we did on the 4th! Henry, Bush, Josh and Kim met us at Circus Circus after Triton rode a couple of rides. He was millimeter too short to ride three more rides, so he only rode two. He loved the carousal, rode that one twice! We had left Triton's stroller in the car because I like to carry him. Well, Henry and everyone else met us out front of Circus Circus and the car was way in the back. They wanted to walk down to the strip and watch the Treasure Island performance, then Bellagio and then the fireworks. We walked all the way to Treasure Island, which was pretty far from Circus Circus. Sheri, Josh, Kim, Triton and I ate at Treaure Island. Upon leaving TI, we found that the Fireworks had already begun clear on the other side of the strip. I guess Mandalay Bay holds the biggest ones on the strip and from what we saw that was true. You could see where some other casinos had already lit off some fireworks from the smoke in the air, but Mandalay's were the finale. We only saw like 5 minutes of them, and there finale was pretty lame. They had a lot more fireworks, but our finale here is way better than down there. The finale down there was so short, you didn't even know if it was the finale. So, we watched that last 5 minutes while walking toward the Bellagio. We never did get to see the TI street show while were there either. So, here is where the story gets pretty crazy and why you should never go to Vegas on the 4th!
1.Already mentioned that the fireworks show wasn't that impressive! 2. If you are on the strip on the 4th, don't plan on walking anywhere! We were shoulder to shoulder not even moving at times. In those few places that you aren't allowed to cross the street, and you have to take the walk ways over the street from hotel to hotel took like 40 minutes! What would normally be 5 minutes at the most took at least 40 minutes. We arrived just in time to watch the fountains at the Bellagio and then walked all the way back to Circus Circus. We left Circus Circus on our outward trip at maybe 7:30, we came back at 11:30. I carried Triton the whole way. I was only able to put him down while we ate. Sheri was dead tired. She wanted to get a cab or drive down to TI at least on the way down. So, I asked her after the Bellagio show if she wanted to get a cab. She said that she was fine? That was pretty surprising, but she realized she made a mistake about half way back. By then we only had 4 more blocks to go, at least another half hour of walking. I wasn't going to stop walking, so if she was going to get a cab, it was going to have to be prefect timing. She wasn't able to and was dead on her feet by the time we reached the car. I was afraid that I was going to be way sore the next day when we bowled, but I wasn't? It was pretty surprising because I was pretty tired. Triton, who was way tired himself, fell asleep in my arms on the way back. So, along with my own sweating from the heat and the walk, I had his warm body against me as we walked. It never dipped below 90 degrees even at night while we were down there, so imagine that nice long walk! Pretty dumb! The rest of the time that we were there and driving here and there I would just ask Sheri "Do you remember the time we walked from there to there, and then walked all the way back?"or "Do you remember when we were dumb and decided to walk from there to there and then all the way back?" So, yeah it was dumb of us to do that and more dumb to have done it on the 4th of July.
Sheri, Kim and Triton were the only few who didn't have to bowl. I actually bowled the best this year, out of the 6 of us that is! It wasn't great by any means, I only averaged a whopping 180, but Mikey and I will cash in doubles. Not enough to pay for the entry but almost half of it! It is better than not cashing at all. Barbara bowled second best. She wasn't on our team, because we don't like women on our team! Just kidding Bush (Barbara's nickname). She actually bowled pretty good and is in a different division than the rest of us and she should cash somewhere in the neighborhood of $250.00? Henry and Barbara (Bush) left a week before everyone else to have a longer vacation, and Bush also had to bowl women's nationals in Reno as well. She bowled really good there and finished 8th overall in her division for all events. She cashed in all events (team, doubles and singles) for a whopping $1501.00. Congrats to the Bush! I was thrilled to be the only one to beat her, but still not happy with my performance. I hadn't bowled for a couple of months, so I went in cold. I bowled my first 600 series there though, in doubles, I shot a 623. I was stoked about that, but missed a lot of easy spares, which I probably wouldn't have done had I kept up on some practice! There is always next year I guess!
Stay tuned for more updates on the past month and a half for a later date. Will share some news about my mom, and with Triton's birthday pictures, it should catch us up!

Into The Night

My first experience from the past blog indicates that my mother didn't see this "apparition" that was in the same room as us. After growing up I have since learned why my mother might not have been able to see this man. A man who in my eyes was standing before us plain as day, until she turned the lights on of course. I am not going to go into religion or anything, but a simpler way to explain it might be to give a comparison. We all know that dogs and other animals can sense things that humans can't. "Did you know that dogs and bees can smell fear?" <--movie quote... Yeah funny, I know what you are thinking, you think that I am closely related to dogs..ha ha!

After that first traumatizing night, I felt as if the light was going to save me from these beings. This was not the case. There were a few times that I had these experiences with the lights on, but they were much fewer than those nights when I wasn't able to have light. My mother can probably remember a bunch of times that I awoke her in the middle of the night by screaming. I wonder if she can ever remember seeing my eyes? Sure she could probably see the terror in them, but had she ever noticed something else? Numerous times when having these nightmares I hadn't been sleeping at all previous to the encounter! Many nights I just lied there in bed not making any noise at all, because I didn't want anyone/anything to know I was there. I also never made any noise because I wanted to be able to hear where these beings were located. Sure my mom probably saw the terror in my eyes but did she ever notice how awake and alert I was? I wonder if she can remember ever thinking "hey, this kid wasn't asleep" or "he for sure doesn't look like he has sleep in his eyes"? I was always told by adults that it was in my mind. It was just my imagination. The things I was seeing weren't real. I remember staying at my grandpa and grandma Goodwin's one night. I think I was probably 6 or 7 years old. I was sleeping on the couch and I had already snuck up and turned on a light. The light must have been noticed by my grandfather because he confronted me about it. I remember him being so angry that I was afraid of the dark. I remember his exact words he used in his obvious rage,"Nonsense"! There were many nights that my mom was awoken by my screaming. There were more nights that she never knew about because I felt like there was something wrong with me, so I was able to hold in the terror night after night. This next night was when I realized that it wasn't just my imagination.

I was probably no older than 7 years of age when I had this experience. I don't know if we were living with my uncle in my grandma's house or if I was just staying there on this night? Regardless, I was alone in a bed in the back room. I was able to have the light on in this room because it was one of them dimmer kind of light switches. I had the light on just enough that it didn't get noticed. Thus I felt safe and was probably going to have a good nights rest. I remember waking up hearing my dog growling. I honestly don't remember how I managed to keep my eyes shut, but I was able to hide the fact that I was awake. In between the growls from my dog (who was a small Pomeranian, so any protection she felt she could provide wasn't going to be hardly any) I could hear this being beside the bed right next to my dog! There was a raspy heavy breathing coming from this being/creature that was right beside the bed. This thing that was in the room had to be no taller than 4 feet. Unless it was hunched down, because the sound escaping from it wasn't from up high. It sounded honestly as if it were just taller than the bed itself. The bedroom door was shut and my dog wasn't growling loudly enough to wake anyone. I remember lying there motionless just wanting to pull the covers over my head. Suddenly someone from another room had awakened. I heard a door from another room open! At that very moment I heard this being turn it's head toward the door. It had made a "huh" sound acknowledging that it too had heard this. I didn't scream for whomever had woken, but I did find the courage to hurry and pull the covers over my exposed head. This is when I heard the being turn toward me with the same "huh" gasp. Nobody entered my room from another, it was someone waking up to use the restroom. My dog shortly stopped growling and I was able to peek out from under the covers. The door never opened so I don't know why I was peering out, maybe because my dog had stopped growling? I scanned the room and saw nothing/nobody else in the room except Refer and me. Yes my dog's name was refer. The closet had no door on it and I could see there was nobody in there. The door to the room didn't have a door knob, but it was apparent when opening or shutting this door. At the time I imagined the creature escaping through the hole in the door where the knob was supposed to be. I didn't tell anyone about what happened the next day because I had known by then that they wouldn't believe me.

I think that this last story was the last time that I ever screamed from being in such terror. I was probably ten years old. My mom was at work, it was a Thursday night. I remember what day of the week it was because every Thursday my uncle babysat me. My mom would pick me up at the end of her shift and we would go home. My uncle Donald was asleep on the couch that was at a right angle across the room from the couch that I was lying on. I say lying, because never on this night did I fall asleep before my mom arrived. I believe the television or the hall light was on so I was happy and felt extra safe with my uncle being in the same room. The couch I was laying on was length wise as the front door was opened. Thus if you were to walk through the front door you would walk right into the side of the couch. It was probably about 5 feet from the door itself, but the picture should be easy to see. My aunt had this siamese cat named Charlie. He was the weirdest cat. If you allowed him to lay on you with a blanket in between the two of you he would kneed while sucking on the blanket? On this particular night that is exactly what he was doing. I was petting the cat while he was kneading and sucking on the blanket. It was an old blanket, not a quilt, that had a million fuzzballs. His favorite! He was having a hay day sucking on the fuzz of this blanket while I scratched his ears and petted him. I was laying on my back with my feet away from the front door, thus I couldn't see the front door. Charlie who was on my stomach was able to see the front door no problem. The front door never opened, but for some reason Charlie stopped kneading and his eyes widened. I stopped petting him as his eyes grew more black and I could see something was scaring him. He tore a few holes in my stomach as leaped over the back of the couch and ran down the hallway. At this moment of course I can sense what in my mind is evil just above my head out of my view. I lay there motionless. Again, the front door never opened. I then hear a deep heavy breathing from a being that is standing in between the couch and the front door. I force myself deep into the couch as I start screaming. In that one sinking/screaming motion I tried to catch a glimpse the best as I could by arching my back and looking up, but nothing. I awake my uncle who was lying on the couch next to mine, of course he saw nothing. My aunt too stumbles in from the back room to see what was going on. I think that was the last time I ever screamed from a nightmare because I knew that nobody but me was able to see or hear these beings.

The actual moment when these things happened to me filled me with such fear. It felt as if my body was being flushed with an intense and instant heat. I imagine that it was adrenaline entering my blood at such a rate and amount that I could actually feel it.

I am sharing these stories because Toni (my cousin's wife) was talking to me about sleep disorders while they were visiting. I guess she has actually been tested for some sleep disorders and actually has one. We didn't talk long, because she received a phone call, but I could sense she doubted whether I had actually seen these things or not. She says that they were just hallucinations, I hadn't shared these stories with her because the talk was cut off, but I informed her that I know the difference between real and not! At this time in my life I have sleep paralysis like I mentioned in the previous blog. It causes hallucinations, and she believes I have a sleeping disorder. I don't doubt that I do in fact have a sleeping disorder, but there are nights when this paralysis has such an overwhelming evil presence that I believe it is these beings from my past still haunting me. I believe that I have matured past the point of seeing these apparitions, but they know that I am still vulnerable at certain times. So, unless I have the ability to project these hallucinations in such a way that they can be seen by dogs and cats, how can you explain these beings are in fact just that "hallucinations"?