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The party was a huge success and a good time was had by all. We got to show the house off a bit and play with a bunch of great kids at the same time.

The tricycle was a huge success and she obviously loves it even though her legs don’t reach the pedals when they are at their lowest point.

Here is a picture of three very happy people:

Emily received a slew of Dora the Explorer stuff and she has already had the opportunity to enjoy some of the bathtime toys.

Today we are having Emily’s birthday party. I’m enjoying a few moments of quiet before things start to hop around here. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but I think we have about 8 confirmed children guests coming so I’m sure that by 2 p.m. this place will be a madhouse.

We’ve got it in really good shape, though, so it should be a pretty madhouse. I’m looking forward to this, but I’m also looking forward to it being over with. Wish me luck.

My baby is 2 today. The official party isn’t until tomorrow so we have been busy cleaning and taking care of all the last minute details. I’m excited and proud and as happy as I have ever been in my entire life.

It is becoming more and more clear with each passing day that TV is not a good media for the transfer of “news”. It is way too easy to mislead and it’s inherent lack of feedback make it unsuitable for anything other than entertainment value. I think most “news” organizations today get their information from centralized sources like AP or Reuters and then just inject their own philosophies into the mix rather than going out and getting original information for themselves. They end up trying to form the public opinion rather than inform it. I find that disturbing and trust little if anything I hear from a TV personality.

It is so nice to see some signs of life in my beloved Atlanta Braves. They are now leading the East by a game and a half and the Phillies seem poised to take a serious dive. I’m so glad to see this happening. I was beginning to think that I might not get to watch baseball in October this year. This little run is no guarantee that I will, but it sure doesn’t hurt.

Oh yeah, we are HUGE Shrek fans.

For some reason I got it in my head that I absolutely HAD to cut down these bushes that were growing near the back of my house. I don’t know why but I did. I started yesterday, even though I had to work the nightshift and I continued this morning, even though I had just completed a night shift. And now that they are cut down I can see my neighbor’s backyard clearly. And it looks awful. Too bad I can’t put them back up. I will show you pics tomorrow. For now, nightynight.

I was having trouble with comment spam for some time. My brother–bless his soul–showed me how to deny the spammers access by blocking their ip. I haven’t had a single case of it since then. That rocks. Spam about generic viagra under a picture of Emily would really get under my skin.

I must tell the world that my mother-in-law, Veronica Dunbar absolutely, 100 percent rocks. Not only does she take care of my daughter while the wife and I are at work, she is also one of the best painters in the world and has done more (and better) painting in my house than I have.

My sister-in-law, Telanna Himes and Momma (as we call her) painted the ceiling of my family room, touched up a number of spots that needed attention and Momma put a textured paint on the ceiling of my hall bathroom that completely covers an inexpert repair job I did to it.

My in-laws are easily some of the finest people I have ever met and I am honored to be part of their family. Not to mention all the completely free, kick-ass work they help me do.

I talked to a couple of old friends yesterday, whom I hadn’t spoken to for years (7 or 8). They were my OTs (orientation t-somethingIcan’tremember) when I went to Kentucky to learn automotive repair.

Glenda Maragh is the young lady who contacted me–through classmates.com, no less. She also got in touch with another OT sister, Amesha Hidalgo. So I got to talk to both of them last night.

It was good to hear both of their voices again. It brought back a number of memories. The three of us kind of bonded because we were, well, different than the others. I can’t explain exactly how we were different, we just were. So we shared a bond of being unlike anybody else. Does that make sense?

Glenda is from Orlando and Amesha is in New York City, so we pretty much have the Eastern Seaboard pretty well covered. Hopefully in a few years I can make a trek to both places and see my OT sisters again. They made me laugh in a place in which life wasn’t designed to be good. And for that I will always love them.