Month: July 2011

Well, hello there. Have you all been enjoying my little break? It’s been really busy here — lots of work on the house (it’s finally starting to come together) and family time.  We’ve had a wonderful weekend — both of the boys were home for BigDaddy’s BIG birthday.

80.

WOW.  I love the birthday posts I see here and there that list x number of fun things for an x birthday. I hope you’ll indulge me a little 80 post about my wonderful Dad.

1. BigDaddy was born in a house, not in a hospital.
2. He’s the youngest of two boys.
3. Brownie was his first dog.
4. Brownie used to wait on a bridge for BigDaddy to come home from school.
5. Tippy was his next dog.
6. BigDaddy cries at the drop of a hat.
7. He chose the Three Layer Chocolate Cake for his 80th birthday cake.
8. He accidentally stuck a knife in his eye when he was 4 years old.
9. He can still see.
10. His father was a government trapper.
11. His mother was an avon lady.
12. They always had a coyote or two in a kennel in the backyard.
13. And a few pigs.
14. He loved to go on the mountain trips with his dad.
15. He shot a bear when he was 12.
16. He’s always felt badly about that.
17. He has a great sense of humor.
18. He was the class clown growing up.
19. When he was 9 or 10 the boys and girls in his group of friends used to get buck naked in a box car and throw plums at each other. 
20. He pulled lots of pranks in high school.
21. Little things like turning over outhouses and hanging high school teachers out of second story windows upside down.
22. Things that would get you put in jail these days.
23. He says people back then didn’t take themselves so seriously and could take a good joke.
24. He can fix anything.
25. And rebuild a car engine.
26. He misses the mountains.
27. He’s a really hard worker.
28. He’s had two quadruple by-passes.
29. And didn’t complain a bit.
30. Except about “that nurse” who taped the IV to his arm and then ripped out his arm hairs when it was time to go home — apparently that hurts way more than having your chest cracked open.
31. So, he says he’s never going through that again.
32. When he was 4 or 5 he went off to play and forgot to tell his mother who was scared to death when she couldn’t find him.
33. He got “the switch” for that when he came home.
34. That was rare.
35. He learned his gentle ways from his parents.
36. He loves to do woodworking.
37. He still has all of his thumbs and fingers.
38. Although, one thumb keeps getting in the way of the saw.
39. He’s made each one of his grandchildren a beautiful keepsake chest.
40. If you’re a street vendor in Strassbourg selling belts, he’ll buy a bunch of them from you.
41. Even if they’re WAY too big.
42. And then he’ll give them to his children and grandchildren for Christmas presents.
43. BigDaddy tells a mean corny joke.
44. Most people don’t get them.
45. He used to be a runner.
46. That’s how he knew he needed heart surgery.
47. Before low-cholesterol drugs, when they told him he must adhere to a low-cholesterol diet, he was very strict.
48. Even when it meant he couldn’t eat anything fun.
49. Everyone admired him for his determination.
50. He said he just wanted to live to see his grandchildren grow up.
51. He’ll give you the shirt off of his back.
52. He loved hiking in the Alps.
53. And cried over their beauty.
54. He loved visiting Great Britian too.
55. Especially Wales, where his ancestors are from.
56. He cried at The Big Pit.
57. We tease him that he’s cried all over the world.
58. When we were little girls and got sick, BigDaddy was the one who took care of us.
59. And he took a 4-month leave of absence from his job to take care of his dying father-in-law.
60. He’s a wonderful grandpa.
61. He always made me feel special when I was growing up. 
62. Especially through those awful teenage years.
63. He loves to make people laugh.
64. He loves Sealyham Terriers.
65. He knew MeMum when they were growing up but they didn’t become an “item” until after high school.
66. They eloped to Lake Tahoe.
67. He’s very proud to be a Korean War veteran.
68. He has a degree in Industrial Engineering.
69. But had a career as a marketer in the aerospace industry.
70. We moved a lot and he always went ahead to pick out the new house.
71. He always did a great job.
72. And made our moves fun.
73. We each got a special one-on-one trip across the country in the pink jeep.
74. He taught us how to swim.
75. And suffered with us through algebra.
76. He loves a beautiful woodworking tool.
77. He loves his girls.
78. And his grandchildren.
79. And they’re all crazy about him.
80. He’s the father everyone wishes they had.

Happy, Happy Birthday BigDaddy!  We all love you dearly!!! 

XOXO,
Anna