Beach

I think it is safe to say the the entire "extended Baker family" is looking forward to our upcoming beach vacation!

I, for one, am tired, spent, burnt out, fatigued, stressed, and generally in need of a week away with my favorite peeps in the world!

So, I bring to you my top ten favorite family beach trip traditions:

10. Indoor beachball - Not sure how this tradition got started, but basically it involves everyone sitting around the condo living room, hitting a a multicolored beachball, and trying to keep it from touching the floor by any means possible (hitting, kicking, karate, etc). I know, it sounds really dull, but we have had some crazy hilarious moments over the years, and I can attest that we have never broken any lamps or windows (but we have come awfully close!).

9. Cheapo Skeeball prizes - One night each year, early in the week, we head down to the Garden City arcade, blow a crazy amount of quarters in the Skeeball machines in order to acquire precious TICKETS, which in turn allow us to purchase the cheapest plastic Chinese toys available on this planet. Yes, its a ripoff, except for the fact that we discovered two cheapo toys which provide tremendous entertainment value: parachute men, and bow/arrow kits. The parachute men, which we purchase by the dozens with our Skeeball tickets, are traditionally launched from the 12th floor of the condo, to see if they will sail on the billowing winds, all the way to Conway. (Usually, they end up dropping like a stone and adorning the parking lot below...). A more recent discovery are the bow and arrow kits. These consist of a plastic bow and four suction-cup arrows. Normally, I am convinced to stand against the glass sliding window, while Brandon and Zach attempt to shoot an apple (or other object) off the top of my head. Somehow I get the idea that they are usually NOT aiming at my head... I seem to recall that Brandon is particularly dangerous in this respect.

8. Taboo - Taboo is the game where you try and get your partner to guess a word, by giving them hints which do NOT include any of the words on a list. For example, the word might be "dog", but you cannot say "bark", "pet", "bone", or "fetch". We have had some hilarious games over the years, particularly when Sherri's sister Anita was playing. And, I do recall Sarah and I teaming up to put a hurtin on our opponents... Sarah, who shall we wup up on this year?

7. Swimming in the ocean - Although I am big fan of swimming pools, alas, we will not have one available this year at our rental house. However, I personally prefer the REAL surf, the big blue Atlantic. Although I may appear not so manly in terms of getting INTO the ocean (yes, it takes me ten minutes to get used to the freezing water), once I get used to the water I love it. Our traditions include such classics as "see who can last longest without moving their feet off the bottom", "chickenfights", "seaweed in the swim trunks", and "throwing sand at Zach's head when he comes up for a breath." Hopefully, we won't be kept out of the water by, say, a huge oil slick moving up from the Gulf!

6. Golf with the guys - Although I play golf about as well as Larry King runs the Boston Marathon, I always look forward to getting to spend four or five hours with "the guys": Brandon, Zach, and Pop. Pop and Brandon have always golfed pretty well, and Zach is coming on strong, whereas I...well, I enjoy being out there! Suffice it to say, I keep score not by number of strokes, but by the number of golf balls I have lost in the woods or the water! Looking forward to long drives, straight putts, good laughs, and my once-a-year cigar!

5. Yum Yum shop - If you really know Garden City beach, you know the Yum Yum shop. You know the flavors - Superman, Birthday Cake, Moose Tracks, cookies n cream, cookie dough, mint chocolate chip.... Start saving room in the ole tummy NOW, because diets go out the window on Yum Yum night(s).

4. Crossword puzzles - OK, I realize this is a luxury that only Sherry and I seem to enjoy... Sherry starts collecting crossword puzzles from the Greenville News a month in advance, but we always seem to burn through them all in just a few days. Cryptoquotes and all! Darn we're good!

3. Honey buns - Most of us try and eat healthy all year long, but for seven days every summer, we completely fall off the wagon due to the presence of...Kroger Honey Buns! Oh my goodness, these things have got to be 2000 calories each, and made of sugar-crusted sugar, but wow... Pop one of these puppies in the microwave for a few seconds, and my goodness.... Shame on us!!! ha

2. Setback tournaments - The arrival of nightfall at the beach means one thing to the Scott family... Get out those cards, start talkin smack, and team up for some Setback! We have some great family memories of setback games past... Uncle Bill yelling "Cha CHANG", a young Zachary bidding six on every hand (and generally making it), bad results from husband/wife teamings, and Pop saying "ah, its just a little ole game...". Open up some new decks, clear the table off, and let's get started!

1. Sara J's - After a long day in the sun and surf, there's nothing like a good shower, putting on some decent clothes, and heading down to Sara J's for the "senior combination plate"! Shrimp- shrimp-shrimp, with hushpuppies and a loaded baked potato, if you know what I mean. (Here's hoping and praying that BP didn't mess up the shrimp part!) Eating out as a family doesn't get much better than that. Besides, what other restaurant that you know of sports an oil painting of a sweaty monkey in a Sunday dress? (Also, we get the free entertainment of watching Brandon stuff his shorts pockets full of those Sara J's green mints!).

So there you have it, just a few of the reasons I am looking forward to our beach vacation. No doubt we will relive some of these family traditions this year, and probably create some new ones.

Surfs up!

Rare, Random Post

Hah, I snuck a blog post when no one was looking! (Yes, it has been a while!!!)

In tonight's rare, completely random post, I gotta vent a bit on things I currently LOVE and HATE (or at least severly dislike, for those of you who are of the "we don't use the word HATE" variety).

"HATE":

- Cold weather. That's right, I ain't diggin it. Not a big fan of coldness in general, but after three or four months of winter, it gets REALLY OLD and I'm jonesin for some warmth, know what I'm sayin? Now, I realize Brandon and Megan are not gonna have much pity on me, since they are still shoveling snow, but nonetheless I feel I must express my great disapproval for the fact that it is not warm and sunny.

- Lame TV commercials. Right now there is a weight loss commercial with some really creepy skinny guy in a way-too-tight tee shirt. Not a good look for him. Also, there's a Greenville-area spokesmodel with a really high-pitched, annoying voice. She appears on a number of different commercials, during which Cathy or I will instinctively push the "mute" button...problem solved! And how about those horrible "local" car dealership ads (you know what I'm talking about).

- Being sick. As in, get sick, tough it out for ten days, decide its not going away on its own, see doctor, get Z-Pack, finish Z-Pack with no apparent results, decide I'll just get used to feeling blah. *Sigh*


LOVE:

- Chilling at home. After a busy last few months (wedding, Christx, two weeks in France during January, etc), it is so nice just to be able to chill out at home a bit. Cathy and I (and Rupert) have our little daily routines, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Life is good.

- Pickin and grinnin. My band is back in the recording studio (WhiteStone Studios on downtown Greenville), working on our second studio CD. We put in two 10-hour days this weekend (!) and managed to lay down all the instrumental tracks for 8 songs. This coming weekend, we should finish the music for the remaining 4 songs, and start on vocals. Recording is sort of "musical drudgery", but the end product should be worth all the effort.

- Fun with family. Last night, Zach and Sarah invited Cathy and I over to their apartment for dinner. A good time was had by all! First, a killer dinner consisting of Sarah Gilliam's fine home-cooked chili and cornbread. Oh, and Blue Bell cherry cheesecake ice cream for dessert! An old friend from Temple Baptist (Heath Burns) was able to join us as well. We topped the evening off by playing a little Guitar Hero, complete with drums, guitar, and vocals. My favorite song? Gotta be our rendition of Bon Jovi's "Livin on a Prayer", with Miss Gilliam on the stratospheric vocals and my little woman on the screamin electric guitar. We had a great time...thanks Zach and Sarah!

- Beach. I gotta admit that I am spending some amount of time daydreaming about our beach vacation this summer. Cathy has rented a condo near the Garden City pier, and I think its going to be a blast. Hopefully, the whole gang will be able to come (Zach and Sarah, Brandon and Megan, Bob & Sherry, me and Cathy, and Rupert of course!). I'll start saving up my quarters for the Skee Ball machine!

Oh well, thanks for reading. Hopefully I will have another post before too many days go by!