The rain came down Sunday night and early Monday morning…and then it stopped. The clouds parted, the sun shone down, and God smiled down upon us and our night of orchestrated explosions. After weeks of high temps in the upper 90’s we had a day that stayed in the upper 70’s/lower 80’s and an evening that worked its way down into the 60’s.

It was an absolutely perfect 4th of July thanks in large part to James and Julie. James’ business purchased a truck load of fireworks and Julie planned an evening of great food, with additional items brought by all the ladies who attended, and we ate and blew stuff up!!!

(James and Lydia guarding the loot)

We started lighting rockets and Roman candles at around 6:30 p.m. and finished lighting stuff around 10:30 p.m. 4 hours of non-stop fireworks with multiple people lighting at the same time. While Jeff and Keri, et. al helped the small children light parachutes and sparklers James, Mike, Jason and I had the older kids lighting rockets and roman candles and all manner of daytime fireworks.

(James, me, brother-in-law Mike, and my brother Jason saying ‘Happy Birthday America!”)

As night fell we sent the kids across the street and began shooting off display rockets, mines, reloadables, and display tubes. At one point we had 4 adult males and 2 teenage girls lighting things at the same time. The last few hours consisted of James, Mike, Jason and I lining up mines, tubes, and reloadables on 2 separate tables and lighting multiple things simultaneously so that we had huge, multi-shot displays going. It was unlike anything I have ever seen and was by far the best fireworks display that I have ever had a part in. We received regular cheers from our “audience” across the street which just encouraged us to be more and more creative with our displays.

(Jason and I create magic)

Individual highlights included the 500+ shot saturn missle (the flag pictured above) and the 225 shot mine we saved for the finale. The best of the best though was when we all had multiple items going off at the same time.

This was by far my most favorite 4th of July, it was everything we had hoped it would be and more. We were able to introduce new friends to old friends, eat great food, introduce the older children to the joys of lighting off big fireworks, and blow tons of stuff up. Thank you so much James, Julie and Integrity Countertops.

For the past 6 years my wife and I have worked a local fireworks stand with our cousins. It has been a wonderful experience that has generated a nice chunk of extra income every year but that is no more. Last year was the final run of this 20+ year old stand. This year I get to have a good ol’ fashioned 4th of July with family and friends.

Tonight James and I went to the warehouse of a friend in the fireworks distribution business and we spent a great deal of money buying fireworks at wholesale prices. We were like kids in a…well, in a fireworks store! Monday evening promises to be fantastic if our purchases of today have anything to do with it. We filled up the back bed of my truck to almost overflowing. It was fun, to say the least.

I also have 2 or 3 years worth of stockpiled fireworks…things I picked up while working the tent but never had a chance to fire off. I went through these bags this evening, lining everything up like I was a kid again, seeing my Independence Day swag in all its glory.

Its going to be a wonderful 4th of July celebration with friends both old and new. I can’t wait to watch the kids, and be one of them, if only for a few hours!

After a late evening picking up an extra shift at the group home I ran by the comic store to exchange Shakespeare DVD’s with Jeff and talk comics. He generously took me out for breakfast at IHOP and I went willingly despite my professed snobbishness towards 24 hour pancake/waffle emporiums. I can always go for a good fried egg! I picked up pancakes for the girls at their request. In line Jeff said “Pamcakes”, we both giggled, and I leave this for you to enjoy and as a ‘thank you’ to Jeff for breakfast. This is one of my favorite Hellboy stories and it showcases Mignola’s bizarre sense of humor.

Thanks!

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
– Anais Nin

Mary and I met James and Julie almost 7 years ago when we moved from Tulsa to Kansas City. Introduced by mutual relations Julie was generous enough to watch Tori after school until I could get off work. My earliest memories of what would become a wonderful friendship are of me going to pick up Tori and reducing baby Lydia to tears just by looking at her (yes, friends, my countenance is that hideous!) This of course just made me want to hold Lydia even more so I inevitably went out of my way to make her cry every day. I’m sure Julie wondered what act of wrong she had committed earlier in life to warrant such annoyance!

From the very beginning we knew we would be good friends with this clan. They are a very sweet bunch, starting first and foremost with Julie. Her warm smile and infectious laugh pull you in and make you feel right at home. After moving away from 11 years in Tulsa it was a true blessing to find such wonderful friends.

Not only does Julie have the strength to handle 4 girls under the age of 8, she also manages to keep up with her own blog, scrapbook, take wonderful photographs (which you will no doubt be seeing very, very soon), make amazing food (her apple crisp is to die for), and keep James in line…no small task indeed! 😉 What Julie is famous for, however, is the ability to get any stain out of any item of clothing. We have called upon this great talent more than once. She is a marvel. She also is the most keen garage saler in the Midwest. She can find the most amazing stuff at yard sales. And she frequently comes home with great items that she manages to get for free! I think a book with photographic reference should be in her future!

Happy Birthday, Julie! I hope you have a wonderful night of celebration followed by a wonderful weekend of more celebration. Your friendship is a cherished gift.

I will leave you this gift: Ambrose Bierce is a famous American satirist and short story writer. Bierce is most famous for his short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge but he also wrote a very funny, sarcastic book called The Devil’s Dictionary filled with 996 quotes/definitions. Julie, since you also have a talent for finding marvelous quotes I thought it would be fun to end this with a few silly ones from Mr. Bierce since he shares your birthday.

“Beauty: the power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.”

“Here’s to woman! Would that we could fall into her arms without falling into her hands”

Happy Birthday!!!

Forgottenmachine tagged me with this and so here are my answers. As always please feel free and know that you are strongly encouraged to answer any or all these as well on my site or your own. (and I haven’t forgotten that I owe Abby and Jenn See 5 Questions)

10 Years Ago: I was working at a mental health outpatient clinic and living in Tulsa, OK. Tori was 3. I had been married 6 years. I hadn’t purchased my first PC yet. As in any year there were dumb things that I hadn’t yet done and I was enjoying my life though hating Tulsa summers. It was right around this time that my friend Scott introduced me to Neil Gaiman via Sandman and my life has really never been the same. I became a comics geek, discovered the man who would turn out to be my favorite author, and many of the things I like now were spawned with the discovery of Sandman.

5 years ago: I had been living here in the Kansas City area for almost 2 years. We were renting a house. I was still on the bottom rung in the mental health agency were I currently work. We were just starting to get comfortable with frienships that we were making here.

1 year ago: I was gearing up for the last run at the fireworks stand with my wife’s cousins, something we did every year for extra cash. I was enjoying one of the mildest spring/summers I’ve ever seen. We were finishing up our 3rd year in our new home…or was it the 2nd…(great memory! 🙂 ). I did some landscaping in our backyard that desperately needed done and planted a few new trees.

Yesterday: Comic book store, Hellboy #1, new Conan comic, Death Jr. #2, several other great comics, ate out with the guys and watched Batman Begins for the second time. Blogged and played a little Painkiller on the PC.

Today: Meetings all day, read comics before last meeting while waiting for it to start, blogging now, on my way to (hopefully) fix Abby and Mike’s computer, hopefully some more Painkiller tonight (I’m enjoying this game even more the second time around).

Tomorrow: Work double shift. Plan to read some more of The Bloody Crown of Conan and finish some comics.

5 Snacks I enjoy: Dark chocolate (star wars) M&M’s, sugar birthday cake letters on top of vanilla ice cream, frozen grapes (try it…they’re amazing!), sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

5 songs I know all the words to: The Best of Times (Styx), Come on Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners), I would walk 500 miles (The Proclaimers), Man, I Feel Like a Woman (Shania Twain), Vindicated (Dashboard Confessional)

5 Things I would do with $100,000,000: Church/Charity, make sure my dad could quit working now and enjoy the rest of his life with his hobbies, take art/computer art lessons, search the world for first editions and rare editions of authors/classics that I love, take month long vacations in Italy, Ireland, France, etc.

5 locations I’d like to run away to: New York City, Italy, Ireland, London, the Moon.

5 bad habits I have: Procrastination, poor spending habits, staying up waaaay too late, not having the courage create, and procrastination.

5 things I like doing: hanging out at the comic book store on Wednesdays, buying new books, taking walks in wealthy neighborhoods, watching home improvement shows, spending quality time with Mary.

5 things I would never wear: a one piece jumper, a speedo, a thong, chaps, an all-latex outfit.

5 T.V. Shows I like: Generation Renovation (HGTV), What not to Wear, any Nigella Bites cooking show, As Time Goes By (reruns on PBS), Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

5 movies I like: (I’ve posted several times about specific movies so I’ll try to name new ones this time) Better Off Dead, 12 Monkeys, Twelfth Night, Donnie Darko, You Can’t Take it With You.

5 Famous People I’d like to meet: (alive) Neil Gaiman, Lisa Snellings, Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman, Frank Frazetta…(dead) Audrey Hepburn, Robert Heinlein, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Jim Henson.

5 biggest joys at the moment: reveling in new and old frienships, blogging, Frank Frazetta, my marriage, having a teenage daughter who is alot of fun.

5 favorite toys: My PC and PC Gaming, the internet, Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture game, Limited Edition LOTR Anduril Sword, Han Solo replica blaster.

5 people to tag: You’re all it. I love to learn about everyone, its fascinating!