The mind of an 11 year old boy…

Let me just start off saying I’m not talking about myself...my mind is up to at least a 14 year old level by now…I’m sure. Ha-ha. I wrote about going to CPO9 training in one of my last blogs and how I got home as it was getting dark outside from the training…well what I didn’t tell you was what happen a few minutes after I sat down to rest. Ok here is the story…

When I walked in the door I started looking around for everyone (my family) the girls were in the den watching TV and my boy had a friend over named Tanner (best friend lives next door)

they were both playing video games in the MAN CAVE like any future to be man should do. Ha-ha. (Ahh the Man Cave) Ok back to my story, I stuck my head into the Man Cave and gave a quick hello to the boys, I think I got a grunt back…man talk. (You women just don’t understand) Then I had a seat in my chair and talked to the girls (my wife Signe any daughter Allison) when to my surprise my boy came running in and asked me if I had seen his fort that Tanner and himself had worked on all day. I said no, where did you build it? Then he went on and on about how they built it out of sticks and trees and it was over by were they had parked the golf cart. Hmmm I remember seeing the golf cart when I came in but did not see the fort, but it was getting dark so maybe I just over looked it. I told him I would check it out in the morning before I left for work and he ran back to the MAN CAVE very happy with what he and Tanner had accomplished that day.

The next morning came but it was still dark outside (Remember I go to the gym at 5:30am) so I gave a quick look around and could not find the fort…so I figured they must of built it in the edge of the woods, I would have to wait and check it out as soon as I got home from work.

My work day now complete I got my camera out and went in search of the fort. Well my boy tells no lie; it was right beside the golf cart like he said…it was a master piece. Ahhhhh what a thing of beauty. A father could not be more proud.

Yea that’s a water bottle from my boys bike I placed next to the fort, just to give you an idea of the scale of this all day project.

So that night I question him about his day of fort building and was quickly told the fort only took up half of their day. Building this dinosaur out of Lego’s took up the rest…

Ohhhh to be 11 again. Ha-ha.

A KNIFE STORY

Not sure why I started thinking

about this but here goes anyway. This story is about a pocket knife…why you ask, I’m having a bit of writers block

and its all I could come up with, so sue me. Ok to the story, I was opening a box at work yesterday; you know the type with fifty pounds of tape holding it together. So I reached in my pocket and pulled out my trustee Case pocket knife to open it, it cut through the tape like butter. This in turn got me to thinking about how I came to own such a fine knife. It all happen a few years ago when I decided I wanted a canoe for some of my great outdoor adventures, so after a quick call to Bass Pro Shop, I found a canoe to my liking and price range (cheap) Bass Pro is around 90 miles from my house, so we loaded up the Lincoln Navigator, THAT RIGHT I said Lincoln Navigator instead of my truck. I’m not sure what I was thinking…I think something like… it’s got a roof rack and man will I look cool driving home with a canoe tied on top of it. (hmmmm not my best thinking, I’m sure) anyway we get to the store buy the canoe, and the sales people even offered to tie the canoe to the roof, this turned out to be a joke, god bless them they tried. So I did the only thing I could do I pulled the car around the building (So not to hurt anyone’s feelings) and started to retie the canoe. Then I realized I did not have enough rope, so back in the store I went to buy some (this is a big store, so it took awhile and the whole time the family waited in the car for my return) ok I get back to the car and now realize I do not have a single thing between all of us to cut the @#$% rope with…so you guessed it back in the store I went, this time I had to go upstairs to the hunting department, I search up and down the counter for a cheap knife, and then I saw it a small Case folding knife with aplastic handle $ 9.95 cents.

So I buy it and back down the stairs I go to the car, this is the funny part (not funny at the time) when I opened the bag the knife came, it was in one of those hard plastic cases, you know the kind, the kind you need a knife to open it. All I can say is it a good thing I have good teeth as I had to chew my way through the package to get the knife to cut the rope to tie the canoe. It was a long ride home, but we made it, with the canoe flapping in the wind all the way home. NOTE TO SELF: carry my truck next time you big dummy. I guess on a positive side I did end up with a great little knife that I carry every day…the verdict is still out on the canoe. Oh yea since I am talking about knives I added a photo of some knives I getting ready to mount in a glass case to hang on the man cave wall, more on that later.

Saturday rainy day blues!!!

Rain, rain, rain go away…PLEASE!!!

Every weekend ok, not every weekend but it seems like it lately. I’m dying to get out and do some riding, but I’m trapped like a rat with nothing to do. Well after a short discussion with the wife this morning we decided to try and cook something out of our new cook book Diners Drive-ins and Dives by Guy Fieri as seen on the Food Network.

We picked the smoked brisket with a home made rub and home made barbeque sauce. Signe (my wife)

got started making the rub while I made a run to Wal-Mart with my mom riding shotgun (mom needed a few things too) to pick up the brisket and a few spices to make the rub. Looked like everyone had the same idea and we could only get a small brisket so we decided to get a chicken and a pork tender loin to go with it, I also picked up some chrome polish for my bike and a few photo frames for the Man Cave. I try and pick up frames every time they are on sale are just cheap, this time I used them to frame the gang from Bonanza , Tony Soprano, and my baby girl Allison with some unknown guy (aren’t they all. Ha-ha)

Then I fired up the smoker and started cooking after the wife covered all the meats with the rub. Now it’s just a waiting game to see how they come out, during the mean time everyone went a little stir crazy, Myles set up his dirty clothes basket at the end of the hallway and played indoor basketball,

Allison played on Myles new computer,

Signe worked in the kitchen

and I tended the smoker

and got the photos ready to hang in the Man Cave. Around 6:00pm I took the brisket off the smoker and got ready to eat, the dinner was outstanding brisket, potato salad, baked beans, and Brussels sprouts. The meal received an A+ from the family. I would recommend the rub and the barbecue sauce from the cookbook, it was a simple rub but the barbecue sauce was a little more complex but well worth the time, both recipes can be found on page 49 of Diners Drive-ins and Dives cookbook.

Oh what about the chicken and a pork tender loin you asked, well they took about and hour longer to cook so we decided we would throw them on the grill Sunday to reheat them for lunch Sunday. Maybe, just maybe it won’t rain…yea right.