California Adventure

Today, I am embarking on a adventure with my cousins to California. It will be a lot of fun. Updates to follow.

Good. Good. Good. STOP!

Tonight, my uncle agreed to take my sister driving. She just got her permit a few days ago, and has been begging for all the driving time she can get since. It was late, we had just been treated to a fabulous dinner by my uncle. The cousins asked if they could ride in the car with Sarah, and the answer was a definite no from the moms. It was her third time driving. She was going to drive three times around our neighborhood.

After her last lap, we all came out to the porch to watch her turn into the driveway. She was doing a good job trying to avoid the car parked next to her spot. She pulled quite nicely into the driveway, and was coasting to a nice stop. My dad was sitting in a chair next to me. He was about to say we should all clap for Sarah. That's when it happened.

Sarah stepped on the gas, and was racing towards the garage. My dad jumped out of his chair and looked like he was going to run over to the car. What he was planning to do when he got there, I'll never know. But as quickly as she had accelerated, she stomped on the brake. The car came to a jarring halt. It was quite entertaining. Before the car adventure, everyone had been quite lackadaisical from all the good food. This was just the boost of adrenaline everyone needed. Thanks for jump starting the party again Sarah.

We've all had those early driving experiences, it happens to the best of us. I still remember my first driving experience. I was around 14, and we were out at the family lake property. My dad decided he would give in to my begging and let my drive his stick shift truck. I was doing okay until I let off the brake. I didn't expect the car to start moving on it's own. In an attempt to find the brake, I stepped on the gas. I mean, there are three pedals to choose from, how was I supposed to know which to use? As the fence and tree came closer, I was finally able to bring the truck to a screeching halt. After that experience, I'm surprised my dad ever let me drive again. The moral of this story: we all make mistakes when we first start driving. It just usually doesn't happen in front of a crowd of people.

Trip Amazing, Not Mariners

Today, I returned to Safeco Field for yet another fabulous Mariners game. This time, it was with my uncle, cousin, and grandpa. We got to the ferry with time to spare, unlike last time. We got to the stadium early again, I was still hoping to get an autograph. Last game, only my sister got an autograph. This time, my cousin and I stood for an hour and watched as the kid five feet from us got the autographs. Let me explain. At the Mariners game, there are expensive tickets, and then there are really expensive tickets. As in $150 a seat expensive. This kid happened to be the lucky owner of one of those exclusive seats, and was able to stick his head down in the dugout and get multiple autographs. Us poor guys five feet away from him couldn't manage one. Oh well.

I was very excited with our seats. This was going to be the first game I sat in the lower level. Well, to be technical, the first time I payed for a seat in the lower level. Our seats were in center field and were amazing. Well, not the actual seats themselves, but the view we had from them was. We had a great view of Ichiro and his stretching. After the last out of an inning, Ichiro threw the ball up into the stands. It was caught five rows in front of us, yes only five. It was almost my first time getting a game ball. Why couldn't you have thrown it just a little harder Ichiro?

My grandpa was sitting next to me for the first inning, his purchased seat was a few rows ahead of us, but the seat next to me was empty. But eventually, the seats true owner wanted his seat. Let me tell you, G-pops was a way better person to sit by. First off, he is fun and entertaining and has a great perspective on the game. The new person who sat by me took up the entire shared armrest, and had the annoying habit of constantly bouncing his leg. This was very irritating as it shook my seat, but eventually, I was able to ignore it.

The game was a blowout. The Angels killed the Mariners, it wasn't even close. There were some good defensive plays by both sides though. And even though it was a loss, it was still a fantastic experience overall. Halfway through the game, I told my relatives from LA that they should switch sides and root for the Angels. They didn't though. What a great example of true Mariner fans.

After the game, we walked to China Town. We went to a Chinese restaurant courtesy of my uncle. The food was good, maybe too good. On the walk back to the ferry, I almost lost it, all of it. It was a close one. On the walk to the ferry, we saw a man "watering" a tree, that's not something you see every day. Or, want to see any day. Thankfully, we were able to make the early ferry home. It was packed, so we decided to stand outside on the front deck. Thanks Uncle Ed for blocking the young kids spit from hitting the rest of us with your face. It was much appreciated. Even though the outcome of the game wasn't what we had hoped, the trip to the Mariners game was way more fun than we expected.

Unbright and Early

Today, very early today, I saw something you don't see very often. I'd say once in a blue moon. There was a lunar eclipse. Yesterday, my friend had told me there was going to be an eclipse around four in the morning. I wanted to set an alarm clock so I could wake up to see it, but during the summer, I don't believe in using alarm clocks. Just ask my parents, they are my own personal human alarm clocks. Anyways, I just so happened to wake up at four in the morning, so I decided to see the eclipse. It was kind of cool. I tried to take a picture of it, but I was so out of it I was having trouble distinguishing the eclipse from the street light below it on the camera.

Note: a lunar eclipse occurs when the earth casts a shadow on the moon
a solar eclipse occurs when the moon casts a shadow on the sun

Boring Jobs: With Your Host Danny Lofthus

In my life, I've done a lot of boring jobs. But, the job I did today was one of the most boring jobs I have ever had the honor of doing. I was shampooing the carpets at the school my father works at. Oh, why is this boring you may ask. Well, I'll tell you. First of all, you move excruciatingly slow. The machine is pulled slowly, and you have to go over each section three times. It is also doing only a foot width of the carpet at a time. The machine is loud. Eventually, the fumes start to get to your head, literally. I did this job for over two and a half hours, and only finished one classroom. The good news, I was helping out the school, making it look better, and earning a little bit of dough. The bad news, there are still, I believe, seven classrooms to go.

Jumping Tree

Yesterday, my brother and I returned to the tree. Just a few days ago, we had found the perfect tree to jump off into the lake. It was my brother's last day at home before college, and the trip to the tree almost didn't happen.

We had to kayak across the lake to the tree. Others were using the kayaks, so we had to wait. Then, too many people wanted to go to the tree, and we couldn't all go as hard as we tried. While attempting a mid-lake kayak loading, the kayak tipped over when my brother tried to jump in it. My brother then had to swim it all the way to shore, and drain the water out. Time was running out for when he had to leave for college, and we didn't think we had time to go to the tree. It then started sprinkling, but we decided to paddle to the tree as quickly as possible for one last quick trip.

We finally got to the tree. My brother jumped off enough times for me to get a good picture while I was floating in the kayak. When we got back to the house, it started pouring down rain. It was almost symbolic. While our final trip to the tree didn't quite work out as planned, we still did it. Thankfully, this time when the kayak tipped over, it wasn't in the middle of the lake, in the lily pads, and at dusk. (one of my semi-near death experiences)

Back to the Fox Part II

Today, it was finally time for my brother to return to college. This is always a sad day. We allready miss him. I miss movie nights, sleeping in the tent, constructing the aluminum ball, swimming, going on walks, late nights at the gym, doing nothing, working for dad, and all the other random things we do together. I know he will have a good time at college. Harrison, have a good time at collge. We can't wait to see you again though. Oh yeah, and how did the vacuumed garbage bags of stuff hold up on the trip down? Take care of my iPod, and make sure to get some sleep. See you for Thanksgiving.

Wacky Wallet Waiting Room

Today, my uncle, cousin, brother and I went to turn in the wallet he found in the lake yesterday to the police. This was not as easy a task as was first thought. First, we went down to the police station. They told us that with the wallet being found out of the city, it was the sheriff's problem. So, we found out that the sheriff's office was down at the courthouse, and headed over there. We went in the courthouse doors, and were suddenly surrounded by jurors. We asked where the sheriff's office was, and went to it. My cousin gave them the information about the wallet, and was told he had to wait for a deputy to document the situation. We waited on a bench surrounded by jurors. Some people asked if we were jurors. Later, the bailiff came by and asked if we were witnesses waiting to testify in a trial. After around 30 minutes, the officer finally came and got the wallet. It was a long wait, but we were doing the right thing. I just wish I had my dad's old juror button during the wait.

Day at the Lake

Today, it finally felt like summer. It was such a nice day, I decided to go kayaking and swimming with my cousins. It was a great time. We saw a frog, tried to catch fish, and played on a raft. It was also the return to "poop island". Let me explain. Several years ago, while exploring the lily pads at the lake, we found a floating mass of mud. It was covered in birds, and their poop, so we named it bird poop island. We even made a flag for it. The name has now been shortened to poop island, but the floating mass is there every year. It was fun to stand on the island and sink down to your knees in mud.

Another highlight was finding a tree we could jump off of into the lake. The drop was over 15 feet, and was a blast. It was a day of fun and adventure, but the real find of the day belonged to my cousin. My cousin found an old wallet near the shore underwater. It was full of credit cards, and even had some money in it. The attempt to find the wallets owner was unsuccessful. It was nice to return to my former stomping grounds, reclaim poop island, find a tree to jump off, and a wallet. I would say it was a very productive day.

Sweet and Sour Experience

Have you ever heard the saying a good thing gone bad? Today, I lived that saying, and some. My mom had bought some new finagled "organic" milk. I decided I might as well give it a try. There were multiple bottles, so I just grabbed one. As I was pouring it, I thought the consistency seemed off, but then again, it was organic, what did I know. I took a sip, and thought it tasted really weird. This quickly turned into a gagging reflex, I felt like puking. The milk was old, really old. I still wasn't sure if it was maybe just me, so I asked my mom if she knew the milk tasted bad. She said she knew it was old, and was saving it for a cake. My first thought was why would she leave it with the good milk, and a close second, why would she use such nasty milk in a cake. Well, she made the cake and I must tell you, it was delicious. The good milk had gone bad, and then the bad milk made good, really good. To tell you the truth, I am a little scarred from this experience. I a little afraid of trying organic milk again. I also learned some good life lessons today. Don't drink old milk, don't store old milk for a cake with the good milk, and man does sour milk make a mean chocolate cake.

More Slumber, Less Party Please

Last night, it was time for a cousin slumber party. We were out at my grandparent's house, and decided it would be fun to have a sleep over. All seven of us cousins were sleeping in one room with grandpa. We started laying out the beds. This was no simple task. This person wanted to be by this person, who wanted to be by this person ect. There were also prime sleeping spots with more padding. Even after everyone was settled in, we were still not close to falling asleep.

It was now time for all the cousins to talk. At first the talk was fun and joyful, then eventually everyone was telling everyone else to go to sleep. While all this was happening, Grandpa was fast asleep. It was thought that with it being so late, the youngest cousins would fall asleep the fastest. This was not the case at all. The youngest cousin, at four years old, stayed up the latest talking the whole time. Eventually, everyone fell asleep.

In the morning, a good breakfast was fixed. Overall, it was a fun experience, and a good memory made with cousins. Hopefully, my mosquito bites will stop itching soon. I also learned a few things. When sleeping in a sleeping bag, to quote my brother, "I'd rather be a taco than a burrito." This is very true. I also learned when having a slumber party, there is a lot more party than slumber.

Happy Day of Birth

Today, my sister turns 16. Happy Birthday Sarah! I have finally finished hanging streamers in her room, and deciding on the perfect present. Now, it is off to the birthday dinner. Time for good food, and celebration.

Not Out, It's Still a Hit

I had almost forgotten just how much I love baseball. My love for the game was revived after my trip to the Mariners game (see account of game here). But today, it was quite literally thrown back into a full-fledged love affair.

My cousin from California is here for our family reunion. He just finished his first year of little league, and loves the game. Playing catch with him in the dark last night brought back memories of my little league days oh so long ago. Too long ago.

I remember the game I struck out the side, the game I got hit in the side. The game I hit a kid in the head, and the baseball tryouts a popup hit me on the head. I remember the one game my team won, and the ten we lost. I remember the All star team I made one year, and the two years I didn't. My first at bat, which also happened to be my first time hit by a pitch. I remember hitting a triple and getting cheers, I remember not laying down a bunt and getting jeers. All these memories came rushing back to me today, and I suddenly missed the sport I stopped playing oh so long ago.

I had a lot of fun playing baseball today. I didn't even mind when my aunt hit a line drive off my shoulder. I'm glad it was only a tennis ball. I am saddened I no longer play the glorious game of baseball, but glad I have a cousin who loves the game as much as I did and still do.

Name Game

Today, was another one of my sister's soccer tournaments. And it got me thinking, what's in a name? The other day, I was watching a little kids show. Okay I'll admit it, but it was with my little sister. This group of kids made a batch of ice cream, and when they changed the name, people liked it better. I was thinking about this today, because the team my sister was facing was the Devils. I was wondering what message this sent to the other team. They sure lived up to their name. They played dirty, and weren't very good sports. But then again, the Devil's parents were acting the same way also. It made me wonder about how much stock goes into a name, and why you would name a girls soccer team the Devils.

Roughing It?

All summer long, there has been one thing I have really wanted to do. Maybe I've been watching too much Man vs. Wild, maybe it's a man thing. I don't know, but I've really wanted to sleep out in the woods. And I mean in the woods. A man made fort, no food, no sleeping bag. Only a knife and water bottle.

Yesterday was the closest I have come this summer to that. My siblings and I went out to our grandparents house at Spencer Lake. It was too late to build my fort, so I settled for option two, our tent. It was fun. We didn't really "rough it" though. We watched a movie on my brother's laptop. We weren't out in the woods, and we had flashlights, sleeping bags, bug spray, and a bathroom nearby. We also had a great french toast breakfast cooked by my grandma. My first attempt at roughing it out in the woods wasn't very rough, but it was fun. And who knows, the summer isn't over, and maybe I can still fulfill my wish.

futuRe AddiTion

My youngest sister has decided she wants a new pet. At first, she wanted a puppy. My parents told her that would be too much work and we already have two dogs. Then she decided she wanted a Guinea pig. My parents said she had to wait until all her siblings were at college. She then kept asking us if we were going to go to college, and how long it would take for us to got. My parents then decided she could get one for her birthday. After a little cajoling from me, she changed her mind about the Guinea pig. She now wants a pet rat. We are both excited for the new pet, and are in the preliminary stages of searching for one. She just doesn't need to keep making food for it.

Bleacher Seat: $7, Youth Ferry Ticket: $5.40, Lemon-Lime Snowcone: $4.75, Sister's First Game: Priceless

Today, my family went on a Seattle adventure. My father took us four "kids" to today's Mariners game. It was a 1:35 game against the Minnesota Twins.

Our adventure started at a little past 8am this morning when we tried to wake everyone up to get ready for the big day. We caught the 10:15 ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. It was fun riding on the front of the ferry and looking for jellyfish. We got to the stadium at 11:35, right when the front gates opened. I had wanted to get there early to try to get autographs and a baseball. Being an early game, they unfortunately didn't have batting practice. There went my plan for getting a ball.

It was camp day, so campers could walk across the warning track on the field. My youngest sister and I went to the camper line and were ready to pretend like we were with one of the camp groups, but it never came to that. We got to walk on the field, well not the grass part. It was amazing. I pretended to catch a home run up against the outfield wall.

After that, my sister and I returned to the line waiting for autographs. It was my sister's first game, and she really wanted to get an autograph. She got her first autograph from a starting pitcher named Miguel Batista. She was one of the last people to get something signed. A nice man had helped her by reaching her hat out so it would reach the player. I finally made it to the front of the mob and reached the baseball I wanted autographed right in front of him. He said he had to go and didn't sign my ball. Oh well, at least my sister was able to get her autograph.

Next, we went to our seats. They were the cheapest ones, up in the center field bleachers. They were nice seats though. We were all entertained by the "nemo man" right in front of us who would girate in a fish like motion whenever the music played. And the music played a lot. After a few innings, my youngest sister and I decided to go explore the stadium and find some shade. We found a seat by the right field foul pole that was unoccupied, so we decided to sit in it. We were hoping to catch a ball, but none ever came our way. It was an exciting game, well at least until the other team got a grand slam in the 9th inning to take a 6-1 lead. After the game, we rode the ferry back home. The trip was a blast. I enjoyed being there for my sister's first Mariner's game. Hopefully next time, she will be able to distinguish the Mariners from the other team.

Whining Fridge

Our "new" fridge is making noises my dog Cinder makes. True story.

weeDeateR lawnMOWER hybrid

Today, I had the honor of using a DR mower. A DR mower is like a giant weedeater crossed with a lawnmower. It is the ultimate brush clearing machine. It could chop grass that was as tall as me. I made a yard, where there had only been tall brush before. Note to self, next time I use a machine such as this, I need to wear pants instead of shorts.

Game On

Yesterday, it was time for me to get my game on. It was the third annual Lofthus Pickleball Tournament. The first year of the tournament, I got second place. Last year, I got third place. Seeing as I play pickleball so much, I thought this might finally be my year for glory, for honor, and to bring home the trophy. My cousins came up from Oregon for a last minute tournament. After a brief rain delay, it was time. My partner and I won our first game. But the next game, with a new partner, we lost. I had to win the next game, or I wasn't going to be in the finals. In this do or die game, we were down 10 to 5 in a game to 11. I left my all out on the court and ended up winning that game to make it to the finals.

I thought maybe, just maybe, this was my year. I played as hard as I could, I yelled with a passion on every shot. The games were intense. I ended up tied for second. My cousin, the star tennis/basketball player, won for the second year in a row. I was disappointed for a while, but my love for pickleball quickly overcame the pain of the loss. I still haven't won the trophy, but at least it's still in the family. Next year, I plan to do some intense pickleball training so I can finally win the tournament. Corey, you've been warned.

Streak Kept Alive, Sort Of

Yesterday, the streak was almost broken. We left to get a refrigerator off craigslist, it was 7:27 pm. I thought I would surely be home in time to blog and keep my consecutive days streak alive. Getting the refrigerator turned out to be a long, five hour adventure. That being said, I knew I wasn't going to be able to get home in time to blog. So I called my brother, and asked if he wanted to be a guest blogger (see previous post). He was glad to, and created a blog in true nerdificial fashion.

Guest Blogger

This is Guest Blogger Harrison Lofthus, reporting for duty.

I always enjoy Sunday afternoons. Lazy and carefree, they are always relaxing. Until today. Upon sitting down in my easy chair for some refreshing soda and potato chips, I heard a loud crash outside of my window. A large Space Ape had landed his ship in my backyard. I offered the Space Ape some aid, but he refused. He said that he needed to tunnel into the Earth to find some Ogerian-Womze Diamonds. I suppose he is still tunneling in my backyard even as I write this. I hope he finds those Ogerian-Womze Diamonds; he sure was a nice Space Ape.

You Don't Even Have to Pedal

Today, I did something I had never done before. It may be hard to believe, but I had never been on a dirtbike, or any equivalent motorized machine. Where my father is working, the two young boys brought out their little Honda 50 "motorcycle". I was secretly wishing I could take it for a spin. One of the boys asked if I wanted to try it out, and I was ecstatic. I rode around on the little bike, the brakes didn't work so I didn't want to go too fast. I even got to give my little sister a ride on it. It was a fun ride, but I was a little scared when my sister was driving. Even though it was really small and couldn't go very fast, I still loved it. I can't believe it took me so long to ride a dirtbike, I think I'm hooked.

Why Working With Winter's Water?

Today I went back to work for "the man". While working for him, I remembered a winter oh so long ago. It was the storm of 96. I recalled how my siblings and I had to wear helmets when we went outside because my parents were afraid of falling branches. I remember wanting to make a snowman, but only being able to carve shapes out of ice. Why did I remember this? Back to today. While I was pouring some water in the concrete we were mixing, "the man" said it was water from that storm. Why did he have this water? Where had he stored it, and why was it being used to make concrete in 2007? I'll probably never know the answers to those questions, but I will always remember the winter I carved ice in a helmet.

The New Hunted

The past few days, my youngest sister has needed my help with an important mission. The mission, to catch as many grasshoppers as humanly possible. The other day, we got nine in her special "cage" at one time. This is not as easy as it sounds, as you try to put more in the cage, others jump out. This reminds me of something my brother and I hunted so long ago. My brother and I collected over 30 slugs in one container. That was one sticky mess, lets just say we weren't allowed to do that again. While the slugs were way easier to catch, the grasshoppers are a lot less of a mess.

Pane Pain

Today, I helped out my Dad at the house he is painting. My job was to mask "the door". Now, this was no ordinary front door. This door had glass windows, lots of glass windows. I had to mask each one of these windows. It would have been one thing if the windows were rectangles with straight lines and 90 degree angles, but they were triangles and diamonds. Each angle had to be hand cut, and carefully placed. I also felt pressure that this was someones front door, so I had better do a good job. It also didn't help that I am a perfectionist. I spent three hours masking this one door. And let me tell you, that is a long time to spend ripping tape and putting it on glass.

As I spent hours masking the door, I thought of a good life lesson. Sometimes in life, one may spend a long time doing the hard work, only to have someone else do the quick easy part and get all the glory. I didn't mind doing the long, tedious part for my Dad. I was glad to be able to help him out. I was just a little demoralized to think the same thing has to be done for the backdoor.

Were You Watching?

Tonight, I saw history. I watched as Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run to pass Hank Aaron as the all time home run king. While questions about steroids surround Bonds, he now holds the record. I am still not sure what I think of the matter. Now, I can finally stop watching all the Giants games on TV. I don't have to wait any longer, he hit the home run, and I was watching when history was made.

The Art of Dumpster Diving

What the heck is assemblage art? That was my thought exactly. For my art class this year, we had to make an assemblage art piece. Assemblage art is where the finished product is bigger than the individual pieces it is comprised of.

I needed to gather supplies for this project, so I went to the local thrift store. I found a few interesting things I could use, but I really didn't want to spend money on this project. My Mom somehow got permission for us to look through their dumpsters for the project. I went back behind the store and saw five huge dumpsters, each of which was filled full of unwanted/unsold stuff. The dumpsters had everything you could ever ask for. There were computers, printers, stuffed animals, toys, action heroes, knives, clothes etc. I also met a professional dumpster diver with a cool grabber thing that I had to compete against.

Now, I must admit, I was really having a good time searching through the dumpsters, and I was finding some really cool stuff. There was a close call though. Right after I had finished gathering materials for the art project, I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. As far as I know, he didn't see me in the act of dumpster diving. That would have been rather embarrassing.

I got everything I needed from the dumpsters for the project. I was happy with how the finished project looked. I poured my blood, sweat and tears into that project. Literally, I'm not joking. It just goes to show that one man's junk, or unsold thrift stores items in a dumpster, can be another man's treasures. Maybe some day I will go back to those marvelous dumpsters, but until then, I have the finished art project displayed in my room so I can always remember the day I went dumpster diving.

Movie Night

Tonight was movie night. We got a movie we could all enjoy, it was called Mickey. It was written by John Grisham, my second favorite author of all time. It was a movie about a boy who loves baseball. He and his dad have to run from the law (long story) and start a new life. In his new life, he is a year younger and therefore can play one more year of little league. It was an enjoyable movie, well my little sister didn't like it too much, I think it got too late for her. This movie made me think of Barry Bonds and steroids in baseball for some reason, but that is another topic for a later day.

Cleaning Bathrooms: a Life Changing Event

My brother and I clean a local office buildings on the weekends. Today, my brother is sick, so my sister went to clean with me. I hadn't really realized how much I appreciate my brother's work. I'm not saying my sister is a bad worker, to the contrary, she is a great worker. The problem is me. My mom drove us down to the office, I forget the keys. My brother usually does that. So we had to drive home to get the keys and then drive back. Now, on a usual day, my brother cleans the bathrooms and I clean the floors. This time, I got stuck with cleaning the bathrooms. What a job! I didn't ever appreciate the work my brother did, until I had to do it myself. While scrubbing the toilets, I just had to try and find a happy place. It wasn't easy. But, my sister and I got the job done. Sometimes, until you fill another person's shoes, or use their toilet scrubber, you don't know how valuable their work is. I was glad my sister was able to help in place of my brother today. I hope my brother gets better soon.

The Return of the Bike

Today, my father had a great plan. He is painting a person's house, and they told him about a bike trail in Olympia. I was still a little physical and emotionally scarred from my last bike incident. (see stop, drop, and roll) But, I enjoy biking so much, that I decided to give the Chehalis Western Trails bike path a try. My Dad, sister, and I got our bikes loaded into the truck and drove to the path. The bike path is an old railroad line that has been converted into a bike path. It was a glorious place to ride a bike. It was paved, relatively flat, scenic, and even had two lanes like a road. We cruised through the luscious forest and alongside a golf course. The trail also included several bridges that went over the traffic below. My sister and I yelled war cries as we crossed over the bridge and watched the cars go by below. It was a terrific bike ride. For today, we went around 10 miles. I even stopped along the trail to pick some wild blackberries and apples. Hopefully, they hadn't sprayed them with weed killer. I hope to soon go back to those wondrous trails.

paper mACHE

Today, for some strange reason, I was feeling rather artsy. At first, I tried cleaning the grout off some brick chunks we recently got for free from craigslist. My goal was to clean off the bricks so I could build a fire pit. After 30 minutes, and only two small 1/2 bricks cleaned, I decided this would have to wait for another day. Then, I had a great idea. I would try out a paper mache project that my little sister could help with.

Online I found a simple recipe for paper mache, all it called for was flour and water. How hard could that be? We mixed up the concoction and cut some strips out of newspaper. We decided we would make a mold of my hand. We dipped the newspaper in the brew, and wrapped them around my hand. The stuff was slimy, and making a huge mess, but who cared. We wrapped the soaked strips around my hand for what seemed an eternity. When we had finally layered my hand to what we deemed the appropriate level, we waited for it to dry. I borrowed my sisters hair dryer to speed up the process. The thing didn't seem to be drying, and then I realized even if it did, there was no way I was going to be able to get my hand out. I carefully tried to cut the cast off my hand. By the time I got the mold off, all that was left was a soggy mess of newspaper.

I should have stopped there, but I didn't want to give in. I thought I had discovered a solution, I would take a glove, fill it with newspaper in the shape of a hand, make the mold, let it dry, and when it dried pull the newspaper out. I thought it was a fool proof plan. I spent another 1/2 hour on the second attempt. It didn't turn out either. I finally figured out the directions I had been using were wrong. Now, I was left with a huge mess of dried flour mix everywhere. My sister was very disappointed, it was also painful to peel off the dried flour mix from your skin. My sister so eloquently put it that it was, "the worst day of paper mache in my life, even though it was the first." I couldn't agree more.

Dog's Day of Summer

Today, it finally happened. We decided to give our dog Red a bath. First, a little bit of history as to how Red become a member of our family. The Lofthus family just wouldn't seem right without Cinder. She is our 14-year-old dog. I can't even remember the PCE (Pre-Cinder-Era). She is a very low maintenance dog, whom we all love. That being said, she doesn't do a whole bunch. As a wise man once put it, "cinder looks like a goat."

Now, there came a day when as a family we decided to get another dog. We got a big dog we named Toby. He was a nice dog, but he was wild. We spent months trying to fortify the fence so he would stop digging out. Once he dug out, he would quickly try to dig back in so he wouldn't get caught. He also was well known for pulling Cinder around by the tail. The only "trick" Cinder ever learned was sit, and that is because we were trying to teach Toby at the time. Thus I discovered the way to teach an old dog new tricks, is to get a new dog and try to teach it tricks. But sadly, there came a day when we had to get rid of Toby. He got sick, and we couldn't afford to continue the expensive trips to the vet. Thus dawned the PTE (Post-Toby-Era). He was missed greatly by all, everyone that is except for Cinder.

Later, some family friends had a dog they needed to find a home for. This dog had quite literally jumped into their lives. They tried to locate the owners, but they couldn't be found. We went over to their house to see the dog, it was a loving, purebred golden retriever they called Red. We just couldn't pass him up. He has now been a member of our family for nearly a year. We later found out his real name is Sam, but that is another story.

All this to say, he really needed a bath. So today was finally the day. My youngest sister and I decided to give Red a bath. He calmly allowed us to dump water all over him, and lather him with dog shampoo. I think he rather enjoyed the lathering of the shampoo part. After the long bath, which took place outside, the first thing he tried to do was roll around in the dirt. I quickly put a stop to that. He is now a whole lot cleaner and smells better. I have him inside the house, and am trying to delay the inevitable time of when I have to let him outside. I think Cinder is jealous.

Deblogging

Tonight, I don't feel like writing. No fun or exciting thing to report. Yet, I would feel guilty if I skipped a day. But why I wonder? Who cares if I miss a day, nobody would know except for me. I don't even know if anybody reads this blog. Which brings me to another question, why do I blog? Is it for me or my audience? Do I have an audience? But, it shouldn't matter. I started this blog as a way to write and express my thoughts, opinions, and experiences. It wasn't for any glory or recognition, and that is the way I want to keep it.

Fantasy Football

Today, I made a fantasy football team. Yes, I know the football season doesn't start for another month, but I love fantasy football. My league held a live draft, and I ended up with the second pick. I couldn't decide who to draft, but I knew it should be a running back. Being from Washington, I decided to draft Shaun Alexander. Hopefully he won't get hurt this year. Last year, I ended up with 5 fantasy football teams, I will probably have more than that this year.