Gosh, it has 2 years since my last post!!!!!

I actually have something important to say, today. Last month I nominated my wife for a “Brighter Smile” Makeover that was announced on WQKX in Sunbury, PA. They announced a contest where you could nominate someone you thought deserved a Brighter Smile or Clearer Vision.

So, I went to their web site and filled out a form. They asked why you wanted to nominate that person. I wrote:

I want to nominate my wife, Becki, for a Brighter Smile because she is my inspiration. She has been through a lot for a 33 year old and still keeps a bright attitude but doesn’t smile much.

For the last five years she has volunteered on a committee that serves to teach, expand and enliven an industry known as Virtual Assistance or VAs for short. The committee is the Online International Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC). For eight months during each year, she dedicates an hour and a half every Tuesday night for phone calls and four to six hours a week doing miscellaneous tasks for this organization. Then she meets bi-weekly for the other four months with the committee leadership to plan for the following year. Then she works twelve to fourteen hours a day during the convention itself.

While her efforts are helping hundreds of individuals around the globe, she also makes the time cook, clean and home school our eight year old, special needs, adopted son, Kaleb.

We were married in the summer of 1998 and tried to conceive a baby until 2001 when we found out that my distant cousin was giving her second child up for adoption. We were there at the hospital when our son was born in Lancaster in January of 2002 and then air lifted to Hershey Medical Center where experts could manage the care of an infant with Gastroschesis. We did not find out until later that he has severe allergies, a seizure disorder, asthma, ADD and ADHD.

After his adoption was finalized in late 2004 we tried to conceive again. Unsuccessfully.

Although she brushes her teeth faithfully, she has not been able to prevent her teeth from becoming brittle and breaking apart. She has been to an oral surgeon to have teeth removed and root canal done to correct her teeth and prevent them from dying. So far, it has only been a temporary fix as they continue to decay.

Last year she had been suffering from having menstruation almost every day (literally). It started in January of 2009 and continued until February 2010 when they removed her uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries and some lymph nodes in a hysterectomy to prevent the precancerous cells that overtook her uterus from becoming cancerous. [Note: Tests revealed that the uterus was inundated with cancer cells. We found this out after the nomination was submitted.]

Through all of this, she has kept a pleasant demeanor, while inside she has been crying. It would mean the world to me, if she were selected for this opportunity. That way, she can finally have something to smile about.

Thank you for this consideration.

Becki’s Loving Husband,

Dale Noles

Well, she was selected as a finalist! She went to see Dr. Larry Winans for him to check out the mouth status. He made a list of 10 or so things that he wanted to do to Becki’s teeth to make her Smile Brighter.

Today, they made the link public for those of you who want to vote for your choice for the winner in both categories.

So, without dragging this out further, please Vote for Becki! Please, it would help improve this smile.

1. Go to http://www.brightersmileclearervision.com/votenow.html
2. Scroll to the bottom of Page and Click “Vote Now” button
3. Under “Vote for a Brighter Smile Finalist“, click the button below Rebecca (Becki) Noles on the top row right hand side
4. Then Vote for a person under “Vote for a Clearer Vision Finalist” category
5. Type in your First Name, Last Name and e-mail address
6. Click “Submit” to complete the Vote

Thank you for your vote! If she wins, I will be sure to put her After Photos here!

This last week we celebrated my son’s 6th birthday. Yes he is six. And spry as a spring chicken (something my Nan used to say).

We had a small shindig on his b-day. Becki made him a white on white cake, no fancy frivolities, just his favorites. I had to make blowing out the candles harder by splitting them 3 to a side, but his little lungs got them all. (And no spittle this year!)

My friend announced the sale of her business. Sad day. I know you breathe your sigh of relief, but I cry for those who have not received your wisdom.

My little family went to the doctor’s office for our check ups. I received a tetanus shot, but my wife weaseled out of hers.

We threw a birthday party for my son.

Here you can see my artful take on creating a cake especially for the Cars(tm) King.

Yeah, ok, so maybe frosting is not my medium, but them thar kinfolk were all im-pressed-like.

Here is his favorite “toy”. If you look closely, you can see my growing bald spot being covered inconspicuously by a comb over.

The “toy” again.

As a side note to my beloved Mom-In-Law, I now have pictures of you, hehehe. Do I smell blackmail?

My wife and I got the flu and are doing our best to recover. I think we got sick from going to the doctor’s office. Is that free enterprise at work or what?

So life is ever packed with bursts of sunshine and rain.

Here is to getting more sunshine!

- D

Patty Dost zapped me with the most recent Meme (most recent to me, that is).

For the seven I tag, here are the rules:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.
My rule: (I am such a rule breaker)
6. Or, you do not have to tag anyone else and break the cycle.

Let’s see, 7 weird things about me. 7. Weird things. About me?

1. I am almost Metro Sexual. I’ve got the attitude but not the wardrobe. I still dress like a Neanderthal.
2. I am a Geek. But is that so weird?
3. I cry during movies, sometimes TV shows and the occasional commercial.
4. 99% of my friends are women. (Is that weird or smart?)
5. I may partake of an alcoholic beverage maybe five times per year.
6. I am a guy. I hate watching ALL sports (except 8 ball championships). But I love playing golf and shooting pool. NO FOOTBALL FOR ME! YUK!!!!!
7. My BFF (guy) is 5 years old and I call him “Bud” and occasionally call him “Son”.

The seven people I choose to tag were not chosen. Sorry, see rule #6. )

- D

What do you do when there is not enough hours in the day to work, be a dad, be a hubby and run a several arm business?

1. You stress a lot.
2. You bite your nails (Ok. I don’t but the prospect is appealing.)
3. You blog.

I haven’t been doing much of the blogging thing, as you can tell by my last post. But the other two have been pretty steady.

Calgon, take me away!

- D

Over the last weekend, we went to a local fair held in Gratz, PA. The fair has been around for 134 years. This was my son’s and my first time ever visiting this age old fair. My wife went last year while us guys were still living in South Carolina.

While there, we saw a comedic illusionists, swine, bovine, antique tractors, games galore, tons of rides and a circus act. Last evening, Kaleb and his best friend thought it would be cool to practice being carnies by sneaking out of the house and practice throwing knives.

Yikes!

The neighbors saw their new “act” and thought that we would like to know about their new found talent. We were surprised that they had these aspirations and immediately shut their act down.

While, I am certain that they could have drawn a rather large crowd with their talent, we do not feel that a 5 1/2 year old and a 10 year old should be the stars of this showcase (especially with no formal training). We felt that it is best left to the experts of the fair.

- D

- D

Yes. I can be full of useless facts that seemly amount to nothing when taken in, but provide to be useful when the situation warrants it.

Problem:
The hot water lasts for 4 minutes in the morning.

Solution:
Alternate taking showers with my wife every other day. (Thank goodness for deodorant and baby powder [for me not her, she smells like wildflowers all the time ]). On the days I take a shower, I give my son a shower before I get mine. Otherwise, this would be the attitude I would get.

Let me explain. We have no water heater. We live in an old building with the hot water supplied through the furnace’s boiler. When the weather is hot, the furnace tends to not kick on. So, it needs to be manually switched on. It heats for about 30 minutes which provides about 4 minutes of hot water. When it is cold outside (50 degrees or below) the water stays nice and hot for hours (not really, but you get the point).

Problem:
It rains for 64 hours straight and the dog smells, well… like a wet dog.

Solution:
Dog shampoo works in the rain too. It just doesn’t come out as easy unless you stand directly under the broken downspout.

The dog has been stinking for a while and the fact that we only have a stand up shower makes it difficult to bathe the dog properly. I didn’t actually bathe her outside though. Although, in theory, you could. Nor do I have a broken downspout. I took her to my mom’s house and gave her a good scrub down there. She smells much better!

Problem:
I just found out that our tap water is not as good as it could be.

Solution:
Add a pinch of sea salt to 1 gallon of drinking water to add electrolytes and make the water work better in your body.

I just read somewhere that adding a pinch of Sea Salt turns your water from plain old water into a veritable electrolyte factory. Not as salty as a Sports Drink. Actually, I couldn’t taste the salt at all. Aside from that, it slightly improved the taste of the water. It made it taste more like… water. I know, that sounds like a Doofus remark, but really, it didn’t have the “from the spigot” taste to it. Hho’da thunk?

- D

Ok. Let me set the stage.

The day we left the campground was a Monday. It was before noon. The heat balmy and the air so thick with moisture you could nearly splash one another.

The car was packed tight. The trunk jammed with camping gear to the point of overflowing. The backseat laden with laptops, pillows and miscellaneous other campground necessities. Bottles of water were plentiful and the trip snack bag was within reach.

The little guy is buckled into his seat and already playing his Leapster. We could hear Thomas and His Friends music wafting through the dense humidity echoing like it was being played in a tin can. Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap, had just settled in for a long summer’s nap drive.

We stop at the convenience store to pick up coffee for me (as if it wasn’t hot enough outside) and a Poweraide for Kaleb before we get on the highway. We hop on the Interstate and navigate through the other campers fleeing their campground sites. I set the cruise control at 68 and turned up the music.

To what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But that a State Cop Car should draw near.
I jumped from my skin and Becki said, Uh Oh.
I wondered how fast the Lincoln would go.

But never fear I had set the speed to cruise,
I thought I was fine until I saw red and blues.
I heard the woop woop then I pulled to the side,
Looks like this wasn’t an uneventful ride.

He said, “Do you know at what speed I clocked you?”
68 but I don’t think yours was that too.
He retorted, “75 is what the gun had.”
All the while thinking this was going to be bad.

He took my DL and insurance card back to his car,
Came back with a smile and handed my son a star.
He said this is a warning so keep your speed slow,
Stuck his head in the window and wouldn’t you know.

Spoke to my son and said with an ear to ear smile,
You’re a deputy now, so watch your dad’s speed or I’ll,
Have to pull him over again down the road lickety-splicket,
And give him another like this bright yellow ticket.

Well, it didn’t go exactly like that, but you know peotic liberty and all. He really did give me a warning ticket and he really did give my son a star shaped badge that said “Deputy” on it. AND he really did tell my son to watch my speed.

But I know without a doubt that I had cruise control set at 68. We were in a 65 MPH zone, too. So, about the 75… I do not know. Could it be I was pulled over for having a PA tag on Ohio?

Oh, the adventures we have!

- D

[I know, it's a long time after the fact, but, hey, I've been busy.]

We had a blast. As for the humidity and rain, I could have done without it, but you cannot be too picky when you are camping. Or can you?

We decided the next camping trip will be near some shoreline and instead of tents we will be sleeping in cabins. I do not want to sleep in a river again. Our tent sprouted multiple streams on Sunday. Not all that fun unless you have gills and flippers. The last time I checked, my gills and flippers disappeared in the womb.

Anyway, I wanted to post a few of the pictures that were captured during our mini-VA-cation.

Here is our little group.

Left to Right

First Row – Kids:
Kaleb, Matthew, Samara, Emily, Brennen and Matthew (Yup. Two Matthews)

Second Row:
Me (Dale), Becki, Yvonne, Kevin, Patty and Steve

Back Row:
Jim, Heather, Terry and Rhoda (dog)

I have another story to tell about the trip home. You can laugh, I just don’t want to know how funny you think it is.

- D

Yes. We are camping. Yes, we are roughing it. Yes, it is HOT! And, Yes, I am sweating like a pig on a spit.

We arrived at the campground yesterday at around 3 pm. We got to the site and unpacked. That didn’t take nearly as long as packing. Everyone arrived within about 20 minutes. Within an hour, I was sopping wet from the sweat and humidity. Yuck.

We set up the mansion, it still took a half hour. T and J switched campsites three times before landing at the spot where they decided to stay. We all pitched in to set up the eating area. Two eating tents stacked side-by-side and two picnic tables end-to-end.

By the end of the day all tents were erected and sites were set up.

The ladies took off to pick up food. When I say they took off I mean they took off. It was two and a half hours later before they decided to return. I took a few of the kids to the playground. My son found a way to get covered from head to foot in dirt. I swear he is a magnet for the brown stuff.

We are camping in four sites. There are nine adults, five kids and six laptops. Do you think we need a real vacation?

It’s so hot, my laptop is burning up. Have a great Saturday.

We should have pictures.

- D