This reminds me of a senior picture! You still have 18 years to go, Gavin! Way to practice early, though.
I just LOVE that dimple! 
Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you get really lucky.
In my case, it's apparent that I have been more than lucky and fortunate to end up with such a great wife and great family. Being my first Fathers' Day, I don't have anything to compare it to. However, unbiased I think it will go down as being a great one even as many more pass. To me it was a perfect day of productivity and playfulness with the most thoughtful gifts from my wife and son (maybe just my wife).
The day's start came with some French toast breakfast... a bonus. I never seem to stay in bed long enough to get it in bed, but I didn't have to make it, so a definite bonus. I proceeded to do some house work in the form of getting that stack of "I'll look at it later" mail sorted and taken care of, only to be annoyed by something that I found in the stack. I had to let it go and move on.
Gavin was not in the best of moods, however he has some new toofers comin' in so I guess I can't blame him. All three of us have been fighting colds that have made my head feel like I was doing cartwheels in the pool without plugging my nose.... yes, it sucks. While Gavin took his morning nap, Erin and I headed outside for a little while. I refilled the birdfeeders with each of our birdseed varieties and Erin refilled the hummingbird feeders. While out there, we noticed there was a low-hanging tree branch rubbing on the old outhouse roof and decided to trim it up. The old wood shake roof of the outhouse is badly deteriorating and will need to be replaced soon if we are going to attempt to keep this old treasure! The trimming of the branch over the outhouse led to a lot more trimming of all of the branches hanging over the old farm shed and rubbing the edges of the shed's corrugated tin roof. We didn't quite have that job done yet when Gavin woke up from his nap, ready for lunch. This is the way it goes these days!
After Gavin had lunch we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa J's to visit and wish Grandpa J a happy Fathers' Day. Gavin and Mom gave me my gift from Gavin which was a Hawaiian shirt bottle cozy, which for those of you who know me understand what a fetish I have with bottle & can cozies "Never leave home without one"... and a note that Gavin had gotten me something for my workshop - formally known as the "Old Garage" - and he would show me what it was. So, out the door and to the Granary we went where it was revealed. Our local main street community had a sewing machine sales & repair shop for years that was called "Cliff's Fix-it Shop". My wife, being the thoughtful person she is, saw an article in the local newspaper that mentioned the shop was closing and immediately called to see what was happening with the signs. She thought they'd be a neat addition to my workshop, being that they said "Cliff's Fix-it Shop" and they're a little piece of local history. Then, she sneakily managed to get them home and hide them. Which, by the way I accused her one night of sneaking off to the bar with our daycare lady when it took her so long to get home, when in reality she was in town picking up these signs. So, I now have some new signage for my workshop.
I would have loved to furnish the whole house in this style of light. However, when we were building, this style only had two models. The 8 light chandelier pictured above, and a 9 light chandelier that was even longer and would have been great for a two-story entry or stairway. I really wanted this light in a dining room chandelier version. I looked and looked and looked. I looked for something similar. All I could find was a $60 plug-in wrought-iron chandelier that was really too small for the space, but it was going to have to work until we could find the perfect piece. I told everyone who entered our house that I just needed the lighting company to make a matching dining room chandelier or I would be stuck with the plug-in light forever! Our electrician even balked at the chandelier we were hanging over the dining room table. He had to cut the plug-in cord off the end of it to hardwire it into the house. Eek.
I drooled. I cracked open my virtual piggy bank and counted my pennies. I made a pact to save my nickels and dimes and buy myself this chandelier. I put it on my Christmas list. I got Christmas money and I marched right over to my computer and pulled up this beautiful light online and clicked "add to cart". Oh, I could already see it casting it's beautiful 'candle' light glow over my dining table. I was just a minute away from calling our electrician to schedule the installation! But, wait... what? Out of Stock? What? What do they mean it's "Out of Stock"????? When will it be back in stock? I checked every day. I checked twice a day. I called Home Depot. I looked on E-Bay, Craig's List, Bellacor discount lighting, every online lighting clearance center I could find. No one had my light. One day when I checked, there it was again... it was in stock. I quickly opened my email to retrieve my coupon code for $50 off an order of $250 or more. I got my coupon code, came back to the Home Depot website. Pulled up my light, ready to enter my coupon code and hit submit, and... Out of Stock. Who are they kidding? This can't be? The next day when I checked again, the light wasn't even on the site anymore. I couldn't find it. It was gone. It didn't come up when I searched for it, it wasn't in the sale or clearance section, it didn't come up when I browsed by the brand, the style, or the finish. I called Home Depot. I went to Home Depot. The store said it was only available online, except it wasn't online anymore. It was never coming back. Never. It was discontinued. I was never going to get my light. It does seem shallow and foolish to care so much about a light fixture. Incredibly foolish. I decided I would just have to live with what we have and maybe some day I would come across another perfect light.
Watching the fish in Joanne's pond on Memorial Weekend.
Wrapped up all snug in a towel after a bath! Just makes you want to eat him up, doesn't it?
Mom & Gavin on Memorial Weekend.
