My Aquaman collection...

Just to show that I totally need to grow up, I wanted to show a picture of my Aquaman figure collection( For some reason the KC Aquaman isn't shown, it's the best Aquaman figure to date IMO):





some customs I've made:
Aquaman, Tempest, Dolphin and Mera


Ocean Master, The Fisherman, Kordax, Marine Marauder, along with a DCD Black Manta and a couple of Pirate guys to go with The Thirst when I'm done:


Just felt like sharing I guess.

A great start to my morning.

Listen, you know how everything supposedly happens for a reason. Well, I've always felt that was a load of hooey until this morning.

You see, originally my plan was to go to work today, but the store I was heading to, I was at last week. I thought about my mom a lot this weekend and I haven't been sleeping a lot lately, so I decided to take a vacation day. After taking the kids to school, I thought about a project around the house that I wanted to work on. I headed into my local Baytown LOWE's looking lost. Boyd, one of the clerks on the floor noticed me. He asked if he could help me find anything. He led me to my items, and helped me carry them to my car.

The normal small talk followed about the project. I wasn't gonna do it today, but it looks like rain, so I wanted to have a project. He stated on a day like today, he'd probably kick back and watch TV if he wasn't working. I stated that I had lost my mom last year and if I didn't stay busy, I'd just shut down. Then, the strangest thing happened. He didn't say the normal "I'm sorry for your loss." He asked me if he could pray for me. I said I'd appreciate it. It may have been a sight to others. Two men, in the middle of Lowe's parking lot this morning praying in the rain. But, I'll tell you what, it meant more to me today, than most people could possibly imagine.

Just realize, if you are down, something as simple as a hardware project can turn into the great beginning of a day that I've needed lately. I'll never forget how much Boyd helped me today. Not with the lumber needs, but with my spiritual ones.

Thank You Boyd.

Mary Jackson

Two years ago today, I lost one of the most amazing women out of my life that I've ever met. Her name is Mary Jackson. She was Kim's mom, and I miss her almost daily. Her and Kim had a very special relationship in my opinion. She was a very organized person who liked everything her way. It took a while, but I learned to mess with her about it, maybe too much. I did it out of love, but sometimes I don't think she always knew that. She was almost always in a great mood, and could talk to anyone. Lauren takes after her in that respect. She could do anything craft related. I mean anything. What she made, she made out of love. She had a lot of love to give, and Nathan and Lauren adoored her.
Her and my father in law moved up to a little town called Maydelle, Texas a few years ago. It is a little town of about 250(not a typo) people. There is a post office in town and a little general store/cafe'. If you are ever at Bertha's, try the breakfast special. It is a town that time didn't forget, it just kinda decided to leave it alone. The men gather in the cafe' to shoot the breeze. If anything, it reminds me of a suburb of Mayberry from Andy Griffith. Well, upon moving to town, Mary made a lot of friends. She loved the country, and it loved her.

I can only imagine at this point how today will affect Kim, I know it'll affect me some. I miss you Mary. Your daughter is doing very well in what she was meant to do, I know you are proud. I also know you are watching over your grandkids, and they love you.

Been a little while

Let's see... In the last two weeks, pictures of my shame from the picnic were brought up at a district meeting. I'll never live down the hula hooping incident. I have gone through a retail inventory at my store. It went well, but could have been better. And, I spent a day at a friends store in Clear Lake helping them start getting prepared for an inventory. Why do you care about these things? You don't. I'm just trying to explain why I haven't had any entries lately.

I am up right now, because I can't sleep. I guess I could, I just don't want to. I haven't been sleeping well recently. Insomnia and I have been bosm buddies for over 20 years now. I guess buddies isn't the term. More like that relative that shows up and stays a while , then, just shows up again out of the blue. That's more accurate. You see, when I stay busy, I sleep fine. But, when I have a breather I run into problems. I keep getting told to take something to help me sleep, I just don't like to. I wake up feeling drugged and out of sorts if I take a sleep aid.

Weekend Warrior Woes

First of all, my company had a picnic this weekend. It was a day coordinated by our CVS district staffs and put together in a great and fun way for the whole family. There was tug of war, a limbo contest, hula hoop and a rubber chicken and egg toss.
I am not a small man, in fact I am about 75 pounds overweight, but the event that I looked most forward to was a softball game between our two districts. I was excited, ready to go, and the only thing I did not want to do was make a fool of myself. The positions were set, the batting line-up was set, and for some reason I was batting lead-off. I walked up to the plate half expecting to hit one in the gap and leg out a double for my team. I watched the first pitch go by and smugly looked at the pitcher, trying to decide where in the field I would hit the ball. The second pitch came and I swung. I nailed the ball pretty hard and took off for first. A single was in my sights, until my 5th step, where I lost my footing and fell headfirst onto the ground. I had succeeded on the second pitch of the game at making a fool of myself.
We didn't score in the first, and quickly took the field. I took my station at second base, and was ready to prove that my prowess with the glove would make up for my plate appearance. Well....It didn't. The first ball hit my way, I fell again. I won't say it was the shoes(they weren't cleats by the way). We got out of the first w/ only giving up a couple of runs. My first inning was worthy of a segment on AFV. Hopefully there were no video cameras present.
We were down by 8 before we scored, and only because we recruited a couple of people during the game. One guy walked up looking for the Keller Williams softball team, Kim told him, we could be if you want, but I'll go get you a shirt. He said that sounds cool, grabbed his glove and ran to the outfield. We ended up losing 9-4. It could have been much worse. I did end up going 2-4 at the plate and drove in a run.
The true result of a weekend softball game is only evident the next day. Today is the next day and I can barely walk. My legs and back are sore. The worst part is trying to get up. Work is gonna be rough this week. It's all good though. I've got a year until we play again. I have two options, get in shape and hit a batting cage or hire a couple of good ballplayers before our next game.

Not really a happy thing to talk about.

I battled what I thought was insomnia a lot when I was a teenager and in my early 20's. I wouldn't sleep simply because I had too much other stuff to do. Too many committments that I couldn't fulfill. I worked and went to school full time, played soccer, had a steady relationship, and tried to spend as much time with friends and family that I could. It caught up to me about twice a week and I'd crash. I made that choice then.
What I'm going through lately is different.Well, I haven't been sleeping lately. I don't know why, just haven't. I've mostly been sitting up at night thinking about my mom and how much I miss her. We had a lot of fun together, and I can't tell you what I'd give to get to talk to her again. See, when you're young you want to spend as much time with your folks as possible. As you get older, and into the teen years, that wish diminishes a lot. Until, finally, you have your own family with kids who wanna spend time with you. In the last couple of years of Mom's life I worked a lot, spent time with my family and attended funerals for loved ones. I should have known that I wasn't spending the time with my Mom that I should. I'd regret my inaction, and right now...I do. My father has been extremely strong over the last 8 months, and most days I'm strong too.
It's at night when I'm having the most trouble. My kids have an 830 bedtime and Kim is working full-time going in crazy early. That also means she's bedding down early as well. Which leaves me alone, with my thoughts. If I try to lay down, I think about mom. I miss her. I miss making her laugh or looking at her smile. My mom was my friend, and I need my friend right now. I love you mom.

My son

Let me tell you about Nathan. On June 17,1998 my world changed. That is the day I became a father. Nathan began getting restless inside Kim at around 430 am. We were ready for the day, well Kim more than me, he was a week late. He was taking his time I guess. Since then, he hasn't really taken his time on a whole lot. He wouldn't sleep well as a baby, unless I put him on my chest.

We knew we were in trouble when he was reading at 3. We knew his teachers were in for it when he understood the concept of gravity at the age of 4. But, I guess we fully realized what was going on, when Kim was subbing for an Algebra class when he was 6, and asked what Algebra was. She told him, "Nathan, it's when you have to find an answer to a question like 2x=12." Nathan responded, "so X is 6." He is a very smart young man, but he has a perfectionist streak in him. He worries about always doing things exactly right.

On his first birthday, he ate the chocolate cake so as not to get dirty. He loves being a kid, just sometimes doesn't fully understand their motivations. He's 9 now, and growing up before my eyes every single day. He is a great big brother and takes care of his sister whenever needed. He is a normal kid in that he loves video games. He can do pretty much anything he sets his mind to, except keep his room clean. I am proud of the son that he is, but look forward to the man he will one day become.

The Collector's quest...

It started years ago. A buddy and I, Matt Hoffpauir, used to drive from Beaumont to Houston on a regular basis on our almost monthly quests for the stuff we wanted. For me back then, it was comic books, mainly Justice League of America comics, and old toys. Matt was a collector as well and would pick up a few books as well. His main goal was music. The store's in Beaumont had the new stuff, it didn't matter. What Matt looked for was old music by Todd Rundgren, and a lot of other people I had no clue who they were. The music was great, it was mellow, and cool, and was the perfect ending to two friends who just liked to hang out and blow money we didn't have. Hey, bills were paid, so it didn't matter to us. Honestly, whether we found anything or not, we had a great time and would just talk about stuff on the drives.

Matt and I each have families to take care of now. My family will sometimes go on the adventures with me. My favorite stops now include Bedrock City Comics, Half Price Books and other Toy and books stores. With the internet being so prevalent now, I know I could find everything I was looking for with technology. In my opinion though, it's just not nearly as much fun. The thrill of the hunt for the latest action figure for me or outfit for Lauren or science gizmo for Nathan. To me, not much beats finding something which is cool at a flea market.

Okay, The season is on...

As stated previously, I am an Astro fan. So far, I've watched two games, and seen one run on the home team's side. It is not a lack of effort, it is not even a lack of talent on the offensive side of the ledger. Instead, I feel it foreshadows some things which may come this season. The pitching has been fine in my opinion. The hitting will come around. And you know what, things are gonna be okay for the Astros this season. But, enough of the light-hitting show. Tonight, let's get some runs on the board.

Go Astros

April 1st, What's the point?

I've never really gotten into the tradition of April Fool's Day. I mean, why do people feel that it's necessary to try to pull the wool over other's eyes on one day each year. I mean, I have heard some doozies in the past. Like the one, where Jerry Jones was gonna change the name of the Cowboys to the Arkansas Aarvarks or something like that. My problem is I'm gullible enough to fall for most of the stuff which is dished out. I am an immature kid in a lot of ways. I enjoy comic books, collecting action figures and watching dumb movies. I am glad that others enjoy this day, I for one just don't get it. Hope you had a great day, and fooled more than fooled you.