You might not know: (another type of post stolen from the one and only Erica Brooks)

first I'd like to congratulate myself for the longest title in blog history (don't bother sending me a link to a longer one, i'll ignore it).

NOTE: THIS IS LONG....SO RELAX...YOU'RE GONNA BE READING FOR A WHILE. I suggest taking a break every few minutes so you can really absorb what you're reading

So in honor of Miss Brooks here's some thing you probably don't know about me:


-When I was in elementary school I supposedly poked a hole in a bus seat with a paper clip. (now the hole was big and the paper clip was small so it still doesn't make sense to me, but I was indeed playing with the already made whole with my paper clip) I think this was the last strike that got me thrown off the bus for the year.

-And getting thrown off the bus gave me dish duty for a year. Something you don't want to have when your mom is an excellent cook and has a bajillion big pots and pans.

-I hid many said pots and pans in various closets and under sinks so that I would not have to wash them.

-I was what I refer to as a devil child. I got kicked out of a local grocery store for being caught stealing basketball cards. I'm lucky walmart never caught on because I'm sure they would have done more than just tell my parents (or tell my brother who told my parents). I also stole money from the jar mom used to put $1 bills in for lunch money. I don't really remember what I bought with it, I just remember reaching up there and grabbing a handfull of bills a few times.
I don't know what changed me, I guess I can think of a few events that probably helped...none of which are the spankings I used to get from dad
(I'll never forget walking out of the store and having to look at mom. The feeling: shame)

-Whats responsible for my involvement in cycling? A few years of asking for a decent bike and a nice outpour of emotion in front of mom one day (read: crying...alot) After the crying mom and I went to the bike store and I came home with what I would use a few weeks later in my first mountainbike race at Snow Creek

-I absolutely love where I came from. In fact I feel sorry for all of those people out there who say they want go somewhere because they don't like where they're at or where they're from. Many of the bike rides I go on around here remind me of some of the roads I would ride around back home. I've stopped a few times, gotten off the bike, and just enjoyed the feeling

THIS WOULD BE A GOOD SPOT TO REST YOUR EYES FOR A MINUTE.....go ahead....this page isn't going anywhere...




-When mom was sick (I was in junior high maybe?) I remember the first time I ever did the dishes just to help out. It was a big deal. I don't really know what led me to do them, it just felt like the right thing to do. And it sure suprised the heck out of mom. It was one of those points where I could really tell she was proud of me. A feeling you should be able to put in a jar and lock it up for life.

-I was a terribly shy kid growing up. I don't think I lacked confidence in anything (except how I looked), I was just not a social person. I'm still working at getting better at it now. I think some might see me as stuck up since I don't go out of my way to talk, truth is I'd love to talk to about anyone, I just didn't grow up that way and its a hard thing to change.

-I used to farm all over the house. Every Christmas I'd ask for a different piece of toy farm machinery. I had it all... combines, tractors (even a beast with the doubles in the back), plows, a hay bailer. I'd put up little fences all over my room to keep the cows and pigs from getting loose and I'd plow up a storm all down the hall. (Those toys are sitting happily in the attic at home right now)

-The first "kiss" i ever had happened at 4H camp. Imagine a funny looking little boy looking and a pudgy little girl standing by the pool. Girl just told him "shut up or I'll kiss you!". Of course little boy says something annoying and girl kisses him on the cheeck and runs off.
Yep...I'm the man.....and yes that was before college :)

-Pots and pans weren't the only things I used to hide. I got real tired of the sandwhiches mom would send with me to school (elementary) so I'd bring them home and hide them. I really have no idea why I wouldn't just throw them away at school, guess it never occurred to me.
It was always a great suprise when a couple weeks later I'd start to smell something funky and open a sock drawer or look in my closet and discover a mold filled sandwhich bag.


-I'll never forget the best football catch I ever had. It was during recess in 5th grade. Full out dive on the edge of what we made into a football field. That whole day all these cool athletic people were talking to me and telling me how awesome it was. Huge grass stains all over both knees of my jeans. I'm sure it would have ticked mom off if she hadn't already become so used to me tearing up my clothes all the time like that

-Then of course is the time cousin Danny and I stayed up all night planning a fishing trip for the next morning. We had all our fishing gear ready downstairs, just waiting for it to be light out enough for us to take off. I think dad woke up for some reason and came down to see what the heck we were doing. We did end up going to sleep that night but we also did go fishing (or at least stomping around the woods behind the house) the next morning.

-I can't even count the number of times Danny and I went back into the woods and came back with mud covering our clothes up to our knees. Shoes filled with mud and our feet. We made good use of the "mudroom". What can I say...we were good at mischief.

More entertainment to come...