"We came to smash the Americans"

Did you hear this statement in the past 2 days? The now famous words uttered bombastically by the captain of the french swimming team. The same team that was defeated by the American swim team during the 4 x 100 men's swimming relay at the Olympic games in Beijing.

Ok, so I may not be the world's foremost authority on international diplomacy but I know this, no matter what country you come from if you are going to talk trash you better be able to bring it.

Even more classic was the comment of one of the guys from the American team.

"I don't want to hear any of that, I'll just take care of business when we get to the pool"

I watched the conclusion of the race in utter disbelief, as the fate of the "frenchies" was sealed by one hand's length. I was on my feet, both hands clutching my hair when Marci and I saw the glorious sight of the words "United States" flash first across the screen.

I think I was screaming as loud as Michael Phelps was. Even more tasty was the sight of the french swimmer (the same guy who claimed he was there to smash people) wallow in the water in a stunned shock.

So here's to you frenchy. Yes you helped us defeat the British all those years ago, and yes you gave us a very nice statue of a big lady - but let this be a lesson: never underestimate the power of a bunch of ticked off Yankees.

Au revoir'

Sean.

Sunday Ramblings

I tried to hang some of those fancy "floating shelves" in our study.
This did not go according to my plan. All I ended up with was 4 holes in our drywall. :(
I felt rather ticked off after that - especially since the wall is covered in red paint and touching it up is going to be a pain. (See attached picture for details.)
It's my fault, for once I didn't read the directions and I used the wrong wall anchors to hang the shelf. Turns out they were actually a lot stronger than I thought and removing them trashed our wall.

My war with Value City has come to an unceremonious end. I managed to fix our furniture and you would never even know that it was damaged. I have decided not to drive all the way to Harrisburg to exchange it again. Now they just keep calling me to let me know that the replacement stuff is here. Oh well, I think I will let them sweat it out for a little.

We are enjoying a day at home today. Marci and I just needed a day to chill at the casa.

Did you watch the Olympic opening ceremony? Amazing. Marci loves the Olympics.
She keeps saying loudly, randomly and with great exuberance "I love the Olympics!"
This is very cute, even when it catches me totally off guard.

Have a great Sunday.

Bridge to Tear-a-bithia

So a few nights ago, I happened to record the movie "Bridge to Tarabithia" on the DVR (fancy term for a "tivo" like device)

Marci and I settled in to the couch, and curled up with a nice warm blanket to watch the film.

I was enjoying every minute of it, taken in completely by the sweet story of two middle school kids and their growing friendship. After 45 minutes, I found myself completely emotionally invested in the wonderful imaginary world I was seeing on our new TV.

To say that the young lady that producers had cast in the film was endearing, would be an understatement. One could easily feel why Jess, the main character, falls in love with her.

Marci kept saying "she is adorable"

So their story moves from, a simple friendship, to innocent love. Needles to say that this is the kind of movie that is simply heartwarming.

And then it hits you. (WARNING: SPOILER CONTENT BELOW!!!)

They kill the girl off. BAM. Completely unexpected.

WHAT??!! Yes, that is correct. She hits her head, falls in a river and drowns.

Nice.

And now you, just like Jess are left sitting on your couch with a broken heart.

I fought back 1 tear, 2 tears, 6 tears. And then I saw Marci crying.

And then I cried.

Like a little girl.

So my wife and I were sitting in our living room, sharing tissues, wiping our eyes and holding hands.

I spoke with a good friend of mine today, who also saw this movie. And he cried too.

So now I don't feel so bad anymore.

So I challenge any man, to sit through this movie and not cry. You cant do it.

So why do we cry? I have no clue.

But here is a website doing some research on crying. Maybe you can help them out.

Sean.

www.crying-survey.co.uk/

Priceless

Our new favorite TV commercial. Enjoy!

Math

Like Sean, I thought I'd do the You Tube video posting too. It's a cute one and right up my alley with the "take aways." I'm a little concerned that a 4-year-old has to do subtraction. Must be something from No Child Left Behind.

Business Time..

So have you heard of "Flight of the Conchords?"
A friend of mine introduced me to these guys last week. Basically it 2 funny guys from New Zealand that write their own funny songs, and play guitar. Hysterical.
They have come up with such hits as "albie the racist dragon" and "business time" 2 of my personal favorites.
Who knew that a dragon could also be a racist. Please click on the link and enjoy.



Our new home is coming along, it seems to be more "home" than "house" now. I have had to mow the grass at least 4 times since I bought the new mower. Not a bad thing, since I purchased the self propelled version. What a luxury! The mower basically pushes itself, all I do is walk behind and look like I am pushing it. Our new kitchen furniture will arrive tomorrow. I cant wait, as currently our breakfast nook looks like an arboretum. Marci has stashed all manner of plant life there, till she can find a place to put them.

A few days ago, a nice lady in the mall told me that I look like Donnie Osmond. I just looked at her and said "Yes I hear that all the time" In my mind I thought, isnt that nice? That's better than being told I look like Sam, (the eagle muppet who reads the news) - someone did tell me this before.

On a sad note, I lawn-mowered a mouse today.

Sean

Shiny new roof....

So our new house is coming along nicely. Watching it go up these past few days has been akin to watching an Amish barn raising, namely because 1: it is being built by Amish gentlemen, 2: It has gone from a basement in the ground to a house with a roof in 7 working days. Here is the latest photo:


Our garage is up as well. Ah, I cant wait - no more scraping ice off the car. Plenty of room for my new riding mower, now I just have to convince Marci that I neeeeeeeeeed one.


Of course, in the spirit of the Brotherhood of men, I will likely add some customization, just like this guy did. Enjoy.