Based on the fact that I’ve sweated through about 15 shirts this week – summer is upon us (which means in Michigan we only have about 8 more weeks until snow!) – so I’m going to run down some of my summer things –

Merthiolate: I’m not sure if many of you remember or recognize this word/name – but I think I can jog some memories.  When I was a kid in the summer – skinned knees and elbows were pretty common – you would run inside, with blooding dripping all through the house, yelling for help like you were just shot.  My Dad, bless is born-on-a-farm-raised heart, would get out the “Mathiolade” (as he called it – it was the cut and scrap cleaner – that actually wasn’t cleaner, but an antiseptic) that would dye your skin bright pink – and hurt worse than the actual scrap or cut!  I think my Dad actually did this to me early on in the summer, so I wouldn’t ever bother him again the rest of the summer with minor scraps and cuts, because after he doused me with the this “acid” and branded with a “Scarlet Letter” of bright pink – I definitely wasn’t going to go back and ask for his help again.  I remember coming home with dried blood down my leg and soaked into my sock and having him ask why I didn’t come home for a band-aid – and telling him it wasn’t that bad – but thinking I wasn’t going to have get off on torchering me with “Mathiolade”!

Mint Chocolate Chip: I’m not sure there is a better flavor of ice cream in the world!  The only thing better than a cone of mint chocolate chip, is a bowl of Cold Stone Creamery’s Mint Mint Chocolate Chip – which is some combination of mint ice cream, chocolate chips, brownie, and fudge (side note – it might actually be worth the $23.95 per bowl that they charge – almost). Plus, for some reason my sons don’t like mint ice cream, so I don’t have to share it with them.

Sunflower Seeds: We play a lot of baseball in the summer at our house and I’m usually coaching 1 or 2 teams.  This means throughout May, June and July I’m probably sitting at a baseball diamond 5-6 nights per week on average.  As a coach, or even a parent, you tend to have a lot of nervous energy and nothing to do with it – so like most baseball players – I eat sunflower seeds.  To put this into perspective we buy the 5 gallon bucket of sunflower seeds from Sam’s Club.  It can’t be healthy eating a 5 gallon bucket worth of sunflower seeds.  Ironically, this is the only time I eat sunflower seeds – I don’t even think about eating them at any other time.

Keeping with the Friday Things… idea (Laurie Ruettimann told me Friday’s are the worst day to post because of low traffic, so not to waste really good content on Fridays – and I do what Laurie says because she is wildly more popular than I – even though my writing is much better – but with less cat talk! On a side note – I thought the folks at FOT liked me as well by always giving me the “Friday” slot each week – for a long time – until I found this out – guess the joke was always on me!  But let’s face it, I’ll take any day at FOT!)

James Bond 007– For my money there is only one James Bond and he is – Sean Connery.  Roger Moore was a close second, all the others have just been pretenders.  When TNT or TBS run their mid-summer James Bond marathons, I’ll catch myself sitting in front of the TV for hours on a beautiful sunny day watching Dr. No or Goldfinger for the 12th time. Yes, I waste too much of my life.

 Side note – Elvis– when I was 19 or 20 I had ankle surgery over a Christmas break during college, so I spent a couple of weeks stuck on a couch – but for my benefit (I believe) TBS ran every Elvis movie ever made – back-to-back – and while I was a cursory fan of Elvis’s music – I became a huge fan of his movies over that period for the simple fact that he made an enormously large amount (33!) – he sang most of his dialogue – no matter what the role – and they always had pretty girls without many clothes (and if you actually watched them you would laugh out loud at how quickly and cheaply these were put together).  I think the producers of Elvis movies got it – very popular, good looking male lead singer, girls wearing bikinis – doesn’t matter the plot – you’ll sell tickets!

Side note II – I’ve never met another person my age who likes Elvis movies. 

Mountain Khakis – When you’re built like a fire hydrant, as I am – you struggle to find clothes that fit off that rack and don’t need to be tailored – but I’ve found one! – Mountain Khakis.  I’m a huge fan of this brand – they’re expensive, but they are good!  I’ll pay for quality – my Poppy (grandfather) always said it only costs a little more to go first class.   Plus, since I’m a University of Wyoming grad – I love the fact these guys are based out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming!

Easton Town Center– you probably need to put this into perspective, since I live in DeWitt, MI, but I think I’ve found and great mall in the entire world in Columbus, OH!  Who knew?!  Believe me, my wife and I are shoppers and we’ve been everywhere in the country shopping – but I’ve never found a single location like Easton Town Center.  For me it’s probably the combination of almost every store you can imagine with every restaurant you can imagine all being at one location – in a neighborhood type setting that makes you feel like you’re walking around a small town – when it’s really just one big outdoor mall.  Very cool – my wife is scheduling her girls weekend down there soon.

There are many times I have a few things on my mind, but not enough to actually put a full blog post together – so I’ve decided when that happens I’m just going to mash a bunch of those together so I can get them out of my mind.  Here goes some things:

– Circus Peanuts– you know the orange sponge like candy that nobody actually eats – yeah – I like those.  To be honest I haven’t had one in probably 15-20 years because of the embarrassment I think I’d feel if I actually bought a bag, plus the fact that as I got older I couldn’t really wrap my mind around what they were.  The texture is unlike anything you’ll ever put in your mouth – unless you have a weird thing and like putting smooth sponges in your mouth. (see I told you theses were some things!)

– Skinny Girl Margaritas – My neighbor Kris Dickens gave me a bottle of Skinny Girl Margaritas this week (Thanks Kris!).  While that sounds completely metro-sexual – ok, that’s completely metro-sexual.  My wife and I watch a ton of reality TV and Bethany Ever After is one of the shows we’ll catch – and so I really like Margaritas and I make a very good Margarita myself – I wanted to try these famous Skinny Girl Margaritas.  So, here’s my review:  Skinny girls are skinny for a reason – they don’t eat or drink – so it’s probably best if you go for a margarita or any food or drink for that matter made by someone who actually has a little more “substance” to themselves.  What does that mean?  Skinny Girl Margaritas are strong (good for the Mom’s wanting to disconnect from reality) but light on actual flavor – which would add calories.  Maybe Bethany can make a Fat Girl Margarita which would probably be a little sweeter and talk to me.

– Crazy Sports Dads – I have more stories of crazy-ass sport Dads than I care to remember – and it seems to be getting worse.  I had a father explain to me this past week the “importance” of teaching 6 and 7 year old kids a lesson in failure (striking out in baseball).  To give you some perspective – first time “real” baseball for many of the kids, coach pitch, this guy says if they swing 3 times and miss, they’re out – go make them sit down.  I wanted to maybe give them a couple of additional swings, knowing that some 6 and 7 year old kids – especially those not growing up in a sports family – might struggle being their first time out.  Mr. Baseball wanted to teach “lessons”!  So, here’s what I know – the game of baseball is almost all based in failure – you’ll make millions of dollars in baseball failing 70% of the time – there is no other profession in the world that would even keep you employed if you failed 70% of the time.   If I’ve learned anything in life it’s that if someone feels some initial success at doing something, they’re more apt to continue to work at, and get better at, that skill. If they fail, initially, they are more apt to quit.  Good job Crazy Sports Dad! 

–Crazy Sports Dad, part 2 – Can you stop yelling at your kid while they are in the middle of a game, because you feel they have somehow personally let down you, your entire family heritage and our nation!  Guess what Sherlock – they didn’t strike out just to spite you – they were actually trying – but it’s a hard game – in which they will fail more than they will succeed – you screaming at them from the sidelines, like you have you bet your house on the game – isn’t helping them get better.