Category Archives: Rex

She’s Artsy

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All Dolled Up for the Nutcracker

All Dolled Up for the Nutcracker

The Princess had the pleasure of attending the Nutcracker ballet over the weekend.  Nina and Rex brought her to the big city to watch the toe spinners.

Here’s a big thank you to Nina and Rex.  Without you I may have been forced to partake in another episode of the torture that many refer to as the Nutcracker.

I’ve been.  I think I was asleep in a bout five minutes.  Just not my thing.  Princess and I will have to bond over other life experiences…perhaps blogging.

But, as we all expected, The Princess fell in love.  Rumor has it that she was on the edge of her seat the entire time, and during a quick moment of silence as the crowd stopped applauding, she let out a spontaneous “woo hoo” that echoed through the theater.

Based on her lack of interest in soccer, and what seems to be a natural inclination towards all things girly, dance seems to be a perfect fit for The Princess.  It’s no surprise the Nutcracker is her jammy jam.

It’s fun to watch interests developing.

So after the ballet, I started to dig into what she liked, and eventually it led to me asking if she would like to be a dancer when she grows up.  The Princess replied with….

“My ribs get tired when I dance.”

Huh?!  For real?!

Your ribs?!  Get tired?!

Can ribs even get tired?

Perhaps physical exertion is not her bag.

At least she’s a good artist.

Jazz Mechanic

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A nondescript building with no signage.  A yard filled with vehicles in various stages of disrepair…almost surrounding the building.  Two large garage doors wide open.  One car raised on the lift in the left-hand garage bay.  Miles Davis pouring through the open 15 foot doors at decibels you might expect from an outdoor concert.  And in the right bay?  A man in blue Dickies jamming to his hourly “dance break.”

A good, trustworthy, mechanic is as rare as an honest politician.

The Dude has given up on the political process.  But the necessity of transportation, and the Dude’s lack of mechanical knowledge, requires some form of Dude/mechanic relationship.

Luckily, I’ve had the good fortune of marrying into a mechanic family.  The Jazz Mechanic described above is Mrs. Dude’s padre, aka Rex, and not only does he know his way around a vehicle, but he loves his family enough to extend a family discount.

Trustworthy and an amazing deal!?

Unreal.  Gracias Rex.

Knowing that your car is running well, and you weren’t cheated, is a great relief.  But the true joys in life are the little things.

As I’ve mentioned, I love our minivan.  Mrs. Dude is still somewhat skeptical, but I dig it.  And for all the haters, we’ve got a captain’s hat and a mini machine gun to let them know we are legit minivaners.

But now, we’ve taken it to the next level.

The yacht rolls into the Jazz Mechanic for some new brakes, and it comes back stopping on a dime and rocking this…

Jazz Mechanic

Jazz Mechanic

Sweet surprise Jazz Mechanic.

That’s the browning logo.  I’ve never hunted a day in my life, but we now have multiple references to firearms on the family truckster.    Don’t underestimate the minivan.

It Takes More Than Rock n’ Roll

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I’m no carpenter, but I think Starship is full of it.

Saturday was the day of reckoning for the stairs.  They concussed Mrs. Dude, so Rex and I decided we needed a little retribution (that and the stairs were 26 years old).

Down with the stairs!

As a humorous side note, when the Dude was growing up, we moved into a new house, and this new house had a cheesy cowboy/ranch style fence surrounding the front yard.  Included in this fence was an obnoxious entryway that extended over the entrance to the walkway leading from the driveway to the front door.  I was in third grade at the time, so I don’t have a clear memory of how tall it was, but apparently the previous owner built it to fit his elfin size.  A short time after we moved in, my Dad arrived home from work, and began to walk to the house from the driveway.  In full stride, he stepped under the entryway and was knocked flat on his back when his head made direct contact with the low hanging wood.  Clearly not enough room for a 10 gallon hat.  He marched to the basement, pulled out the extension cord, grabbed the saw, and after two cuts the entryway was lying in the yard.

This mission has a similar feel to it.

As I started the demolition, while Rex was off on his first trip to Home Depot (It’s a given that projects always take more than one trip to the Depot.), I kicked on some tunes.  The Black Keys to be specific.  While I can assure you this was some serious rock n’ roll, these tunes did not help build the stairs one bit.  I have no idea how Starship built an entire city on it.  I’m calling BS.

We put in a 12 hour shift knocking down and replacing the stairs.  We finished up under the lights at 10:15PM.  But, we finished in one day, and the stairs are awesome.  I’m not sure if they are any less slippery when wet, but they are amazingly sturdy.  And it’s pretty cool to build something.