In Colorado this weekend it will not be the best conditions for fireworks.  In some parts of the State, there are fireworks being banned due to the high risk of fires.  Some counties are not even giving out warnings, and the fines can be as high as $700.00  It is hot and dry here again today, and there doesn’t appear to be any moisture of any significance on the horizon.

Life is about balance.  I’m sure the people in Pennsylvania would like to see some fireworks this weekend too.  Of course they will probably need to bale out the fireworks stand in order to see them.  Perhaps they can launch them from boats.

I’ll trade you a couple days of rain for a couple of days of dry sunshine.  We could use a little of what you have!

On Saturday in Colorado, there will a new law banning smoking in bars and restaurants. Gone are the days of smoking vs. nonsmoking sections as are the days of staying out until wee hours of the morning and coming home smelling like the inside of a well used ash tray. Also gone are the worries of people everywhere about second hand smoke.

I’m not a smoker, but I did use tobacco for a long time. You know the drill, “Just a Pinch Between Your Cheek and Gum.” On July 27, 1995, I stopped chewing tobacco. I know the date and it sticks in my mind because quitting was one of the hardest things I have had to endure. Initially, my excuse for quitting was because I did not want to have any habits that I would pass on to my children. Little did I know that excuse would somehow be lost on me today. Now I wonder how my children have lived this long given the example I’m setting.

I wonder when my children become of smoking age (13 in some Southern states I think) if we as parents will need to worry about “Smoking is Cool.” Perhaps the writing is on the wall for the tobacco companies and the next generation will be more hooked on Playstation rather than smoking to be cool?

Somewhere in the scheme of things I have lost complete control and turned that control over to my children.  Coming from a control freak, this is a nightmare.  I realized this morning that my fate is set forth by the actions of the four horsemen of the apocalypse known as the Genuine Children.  Some examples may be in order for you to understand my plight.

I wanted to listen to some music and I was denied that permission because the child thought that the CD was a toy to be pushed along the ground like a car.  CD destroyed. Music listening denied!

That salad spoon that I wanted to use for serving?  Permission denied!  Salad spoon is now somewhere in the yard being used as a sand shovel.

Sunglasses, car keys, work ID, cell phone, anything else that I thought was mine to use?  Permission denied!  Those items are for the personal use of whichever child decided to rearrange my office and use those items for whatever creation was needed for ruining the paperwork and stack of mail on the desk.

You wanna wipe your butt with that toilet paper?  Permission denied!  The Genuine Baby decided that the better use for said toilet paper is to unroll and stuff it into the toilet to see if he could possibly soak up all the water that was in the toilet bowl.  The replacement rolls are not under the sink any longer because those are being used to hold up the wall of the fort built in the living room that has the other three walls built out of a laptop, and a stack of clean towels that are no longer clean because someone thought it would be neat to color the walls of the fort with marker like the cavemen used to do in their dwellings.

The insurgents need to be corralled and a state of martial law needs to be invoked. 

Mommy?! 

I’m telling…

It’s not good to be the king.

In the end all he wanted to do was watch the DVD.  We didn’t even get out of the parking lot.

We pushed a little hard this day of our trip I guess.

We went traveling this weekend to Southern Colorado to meet up with some relatives for a weekend of fun.  It was a 5 hour drive each way so we got to spend some quality time together as a family in the minivan.  Let me just thank God it’s Monday!  I have a couple of pics that sum up the trip I will post later.

We have some great submissions to the Blogger Chicks Gone Wild III.  I’ll be posting the pics later in the week!  It’s not too late to get your submission in to me for posting.

My daughter is so not getting a MySpace.com account if this is what we can expect.

Myspace is going to be my next Nemesis! ~ Captain Genuine

So much Internet trouble and yet not much time.  I might need a few sidekicks.  Send your resume and a picture of your outfit to….wait a tic!

Actually, you could kill two birds with that by submitting your picture of you in your wonder woman suit and I’ll enter it in the Blogger Chicks Gone Wild entry!  All forms of Spandex and leather are accepted.

Since it has been over a year now since our last installment of Blogger Chicks Gone Wild, I might as well announce it during the summer when the bikinis are plentiful!

Those of you new people that have not had the pleasure or the embarassment of entering into the Blogger Chicks Gone Wild fun, you can see some of the past entries and posts.

There really are no rules, other than you need to send me a picture of you going wild.  Wild of course is all relative.  When you send me the picture, I will post the pic and a link to your blog.  It’s a great way to increase your traffic and “exposure” so to speak.  So here it is, spread the word to you and all your blogger friends, Blogger Chicks Gone Wild III is upon us.

Just to be fair, any of you guys that would like to submit a pic of you going wild, I would be happy for you to submit your Blogger Hunks Gone Wild pics.  I believe in the goose and gander thing. 

Invite all your friends.  Let’s get a ton of entries!

Sauve has kicked off a new ad campaign focused on Moms.  They call it the “Three Blonde Moms.”  This is a Momedy Tour of sorts with three women and a comedy act that is quite hilarious.

I’m sure that with a little help, all of us could write scripts for this act.  Thanks to Sauve for their campaign and I hope they keep the podcasts going.

[Hat Tip to AdRants and Steve Hall]

Does anyone really care that Saddam Hussein is on a hunger strike?

I’m thinking that this couple needs an intervention or at least a weekend at my house.

I don’t think it sucks to be Richie Sambora

To the family of Pfc. Thomas Tucker and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, we grieve with you and will pray for you.  You have paid the ultimate sacrifice for my children to be free from harm and for that I owe a debt of gratitude.

My kids are like a campfire.  Not because if unchecked, they could burn down a forest or destroy a city, those are a given.  I mean that I can sit and watch them all day.  Their antics, their reactions to things that are unexpected or even expected and brought on by their own actions.  I am constantly amazed that these creatures are a sampling of my DNA that was mixed in with Mrs. G and somehow came out as a human.

I watch as the baby watches his siblings, and one of them will fall down and he will laugh and giggle.  What did he find funny in that?  Was it the noise, or the fact that his brother said ouch?  I would really like to read a bubble over his head as to what he is thinking. 

I can sit and watch my toddler follow around his older brother, making sure to touch each thing touched by the other in a “follow the leader” fashion, making the same noises, and saying the same words.  He so much wants to be like his brother and be accepted by him.

I watch my son while he is watching cartoons and his face is animated during those parts that are funny and he concentrates so hard during those moments where something is happening that is important.  His smiles and facial expressions can tell the story without me ever seeing the screen.

My daughter is fun to watch when she sometimes enters into that world of make believe not knowing that someone is watching her.  She becomes the little princess and dances around while she talks to her prince about getting married or while she speaks to the lady in waiting while putting on her princess dress. 

As you can see, I have been known to sit and watch these kids like I would a campfire.  Yes, I too will poke at them, prod them, turn them over and make their flames roar while watching, but the warmth I feel on my face when they come alive is a wonderful feeling.