The "Color Wars" Game

On the way to and fro the old place to gather the last remnants of furniture and what-nots, and to meet my dad there to help us do so, I was in the good traveling company of E and J-Boy who - as they usually do with the other boys whilst en route to anywhere - started to play what I dub "Color Wars."

The object is simple. Just call out the car/truck/motorcycle/UDO (Unidenified Driving Object) when you see it according to its classification.

Goes like this:

1. Red Car.................Ketchup
2. Yellow Car...........Mustard
3. White Car.............Mayonnaise
4. Green Car.............Relish
5. Blue Car................Blueberry
6. Black Car..............Licorice
7. Brown Car............Chocolate
8. Police Car.............Star
9. Ambulance............Heart

Those are the basics. We've yet to come across a fire truck or a fushia lowrider, but when we do, we will update the game. Also, there really doesn't ever appear to be a clear winner, per say. Just lil' tiffs about who saw a "licorice" first and stuff like that. There's no score card involved or anything.

And you may think that with the endless amount of white cars on the road, this game would get annoying after 2.5 seconds of the kids shouting out "mayonnaise! mayonnaise! mayonnaise!" at the top of their lungs, but...nah...it's, um...it passes the time. For them. So...

The Great Bachelor/ette Party of 2011

Is it Saturday already? Time is zooming by like a bullet train. Somebody hit the brakes.

Anyhoo...A and I had our bachelor/ette party last night and it was phenomenal! We had a great group of friends join us on the Lift Party Bus owned by a buddy of mine and we all had a splendid, splendid evening. Some may even say enchanted. Yes. An enchanted evening.

True to any party of such a stellar caliber, I will not divulge the goings-on of last night. It was great. No one got hurt, in trouble or arrested. Suffice to say, so that's all I shall say. Oh, yea, and...

A and I just may have started a revolution in the whole bachelor and bachelorette party realm. Why have two parties when you can have one super awesome one instead? That was our logic going in, and it paid off.

How does it work, Brennan? Well, reader, most of the same stuff that happens when the two parties are held separately - veils with various naughty items, brides-to-be in playfully skimpy attire, the tuxedo tee for the groom, etc, etc - also happens during the combined superpower of one party, with the exception of the frivolous debauchery that causes headaches down the road for couples anyway...so one could say that our new type of hybrid "about to get hitched" happening perhaps saves marriages, thus making us kinda awesome relationship savers. Isn't that right?

Oh. Some people even came up to A saying how cool it was that we combined our outings. See? The ball already rolls...

...securing our place in pre-marital party history forever!

reinstituting radio frequency

Okay. Break radio silence.

Wow. It seems like forever since I wrote a post for this thing, but its only been since Saturday. I think. The move - while strenuous - was, for the most part, smooth like buttah. Thanks in no small part to those who helped with the heavy lifting. And yes, I did some of that lifting myself.

Internet hooked up this morning. Cable guy here right now. Life should be going back to normal soon, or as normal as the life A and I have niched out for ourselves ever was.

Oh! Got a call from a friend of ours, she wants us to be presenters for an award at her upcoming fancy Academy Award-esque event. It's the day after our wedding, so the honeymoon - or escape - will happen right after that. Jaunting away. Hitting the road. Me in a tux, A in a ball gown. Where we going? I'm not sure...

Crazy?

move! move! move!

T-minus one day until "Operation: Movin' On Up...North" commences. We stayed up late last night prepping upstairs. The girls helped. The boys slept. Worked out for the best I'm sure.

Today we tackle the downstairs. We most definitely have more items than item space for the new apartment. Like fitting a round peg in a square hole, or more accurately, trying to put a tutu on a prized pig. You just can't squeeze all that fat in there. So...hello Craigslist!

The highlight of today is that this teenager we know turned 14. On this blog, she goes by M. We bought donuts this morning. A full rainbow array of sugar-filled baked goodness. She gets to pick first. Her actual party, however, will be pushed until we settle in the new place and the rest of the kids are with their dad - as per M so she can have friends over in peace.

So Happy Birthday to her, and here's to hoping the move is smooth.

oh, the wedding showers!

Planning a wedding. Planning a move. Scrambling for cash. Buying cars. Selling cars. Writing a book.

Oh, those things? Those are just a few items that have been occupying my time outside the 7 kiddos and Tex-Mex restaurants. But, I did just hook up electricity for our new apartment today, and I have a promising business opp on the horizon. Sooo...yea.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the two wedding showers that have happened in the last week or so.

The first, the bride's shower, hosted by A's mom, was a hit. Despite it being on the tail end of the winter freeze-out of 2011, we had a great turnout.

The place was decorated really nice with our custom wedding invites displayed on the dining table. Adults talked and mingled. Kids played. I mingled and played. And then we all ate some KFC chicken strips that are always good, and some awesome blueberry gelatin dish with whipped cream or something on top that my mom made. I later heard it had coconut or some kind of nut in it - and I momentarily freaked out - but it really did taste good, so I let it go.

The other shower, the groom's shower, was held just last weekend hosted by my sis-n-law at her parent's house and it was a blast. A good portion of people showed up. And a subsequent gift card-stravaganza was amazing. We played this game where everyone, including A and I, had to fill out sheets of paper on how well everyone knew the bride and groom. Kind of an off-shoot of the Newlywed Game, I called it the Nearlywed Game. Ha! Get it? "Nearly" wed. Anyone? No one? High five? No? Um...

We also played Wedding Pictionary, where A and I, picked players one by one, but ended up being guys vs girls anyway. And...the girls won. Later that night, the guys played some frisbee golf, boche ball and archery on the PlayStation 3. Not gonna toot my own horn, but, in archery...I'm kinda awesome. I guess there went the horn...

Both parties were so fun and we are so grateful to our family and friends who came out to celebrate with us. We can't wait for the wedding and to see what God has in store for our married future!

Happy Valentine's

So today is Valentine's Day. Just wanted to state the obvious. But A and I, we celebrated on Friday night at our fave of fave restaurants, Desperado's. And being that we usually hit that place up around lunchtime on a random weekday afternoon, we found that this night was super busy. We had a wait. And this is only weird because we normally have our pick of tables. However...

We ended up getting a great booth near the front and beside the fireplace. Last year I took A here and we had an entire section to ourselves. They even lowered the lights and let me light a few candles I brought in for that ambiance especiale! But, again, this time it was packed.

Our waiter greeted us and immediately complimented us on our bracelets - red silicone things that read "Live for Him" - and then showed us he had one, too. This was cool because I found them on some obscure website and had never seen anyone else with one on. But, it should be mentioned I've never actually looked for anyone else with one on.

That got the dinner off on the right foot. We ordered drinks. A, with water and a lime, me with - ugh! - regular Coke because I'm kicking the toxic diet drink habit, and I wasn't feeling tea. And water? Come on. Me? But probably should've. I have become quite fond of filtered water as of late. Anyhoo...

A and I were enjoying each other's company, chips, salsa, queso, the whole thing...and apparently the food was taking too long to be prepared because the restaurant had a huge party one wall over. We really didn't notice the wait, but the owner came by twice and apologized. And after we had our fajitas, he offered us a free dessert. Um, yea! Quatros Leches rules.

The waiter barely had time to come back to see how we were liking the dessert when we slid over an empty plate to him. When A breaks her diet to eat a dessert, you know it's better than good. So...

That was our dinner. We wanted to come home and OnDemand a movie, but we feel asleep. And...

Tonight, on V-Day proper, we are grabbing the kiddos after school and taking them to her parent's for pizza making goodness. Yum yum.

Paging Dr. E

The other day I was under the weather. In bed, covers over my head. Which was pounding. Sinus cold meltdown. Suddenly E bounced in the room, took one look at his pitiful patient, jumped up beside me and cradled my head.

"You're burning," he said as he felt my forehead and cheek.

I kind of smiled, felt his arm and replied, "And you're cold."

And then he starting making a whooshing sound as he rubbed his hand back and forth over my arm and face.

              "I'm making you cold!"

I thought it was pretty awesome that he was trying to take care of me. Like the time I was sick and he gave me his favorite blanket to keep me warm. He's an awesome little dude. And...

...this time he also refilled my glass of water several times - though he drank most of it himself - and brought me some saltine crackers and said...

                "These will make you feel better."

I smiled and took a cracker he held out to me. "They will?"

                                    "I think so."

And, sure enough, after a few crackers and water with Dr. E, I told him I was starting to feel better and he cleared me for check-out. Back to wrestling, sword fighting and, of course, Lego-ing.

Honorable mention goes to nurse A for her diligent efforts as well.

missing school, but not missin' it

Perhaps snuggling up on the edge of mischievous, A and I played a little trick on J-Girl and Lil' A this morning...

We ran up to their room, banged on their door, and rushed in saying we overslept and they were late for school. Everyone got a good laugh...except for them. Yay, humor!

So apparently school is closed again for day #5 on account of someone spilling their fountain drink in the road and losing a few cubes of ice. Ugh. The kiddos are happy about missing days, but I was like...

     "You won't be happy when you have to make up those days in the summer."

Which to my surprise they replied...

         "Nuh-uh, they don't do that. They aren't allowed to."

Um, what? When I was a kid, I thought they tacked on days like Legos on a plastic brick house. So I asked...

    "What, do they just throw out the syllabus and wing it for the rest of the year?"
             
              "Yep."

Well. Okay then. That's....weird.

God is my content editor

Okay, so I've come to the realization that God - not me - is the one deciding content on this blog about 99.9% of the time. Join me, won't you? As I tell you a story...

About today. Back up, last night. When A and I got home from a friend's testimony, I parked the van that A's ex lent us in exchange for our car for kiddo safety assurance. I simply parked the van, got out, went inside like life was a bowl of cherries. No biggie right? Well, I'm not used to cars who's lights must be manually turned off. Right. Fast forward to...

This morning. After the kids are piled into the van and ready to go to school. Oh, the thing wouldn't start. I left the lights on all night and the battery was DOA. Awesome. So...

We hopped out of the van and crammed into the SUV and cruised on down the road to various schools, dropping off various children, throughout various traffic. All the while in my head, I'm thinking "time to buy some jumper cables."

And we did, hours later, at Wal-Mart. Great story, Brennan. But wait, there's more!

As I hop behind the wheel of our trusty SUV, the car won't start! We actually had to use the jumper cables I just bought for the van for our SUV after flagging down a couple good Samaritans. Probably pretty rough trying to jumpstart a dead battery in one car with a dead battery in the other I'd imagine...

Talk about irony. Talk about content.

thoughts on the highway while in traffic

So on the way back from dropping the kiddos off at school this morning, while A sat quietly in the passenger seat, and E and J-Boy talked about traffic and if the yellow cars are "mustard" and the white cars are "mayonnaise," then what were the blue cars called? I didn't know. Blueberries? But, anyhoo...

I got to thinking. Thinking about what I have attempted to accomplish in life. In the realm of "jobs" to be specific. My new eBook to really hone in on it. I was thinking that even if I don't sell one little digital copy, that I had at least set out to write and publish a book, and I was successful. And then that begs the question: What defines success? The bravery to do the action, or the results of that action once set in motion?

The simple answer would be the "results." But, like life, right answers don't come easy. And "results" aren't always a success story. So I'm banking on setting goals and having the courage to follow through with them.

Here's a list of jobs I've held in my life thus far. Not an impressive, exotic or monetarily stimulating list, but a list nonetheless. And I'm not sure why I feel the need to write these down, but I do, so I'm gonna:

1. Little League baseball scorekeeper
2. Little League baseball umpire (t-ball, pinto, mustang)
3. concession stand dude
4. bagboy (aka. grocery bagging specialist) at Brookshire's
5. bagboy (aka. grocery bagging specialist) at Albertson's (two locations)
6. salesperson at County Seat (not sure that clothing store is still around)
7. salesperson/assistant manager/manager at Sunglass Hut
8. assistant manager at quite literally a sunglass store who's name escapes me
9. assistant manager at Occhiali da Sole (another sunglass store)
10. promotions guy at 103.7 KVIL and affiliates
11. co-manager at Solstice Sunglass Boutique (two separate occasions)
12. props assistant for Prison Break on FOX
13. bar/restaurant Critic for ENVY Magazine - Dallas
14. inventory helper at Bath & BodyWorks
15. movie/DVD critic for CORE!Dallas magazine
16. senior editor for BlueSky Journal
17. assistant propmaster for The Deep End on the CW - where I met A!!!
18. assistant propmaster for Chase on the WB

....which brings me to...

19.  independent screenwriter/author/blogger/whatever pays the bills + president of A Couple Bucks & a Bible + CEO of Ichthys Worldwide, LLC (a holding company.)

(Not on the list is a brief stint I did serving as Examiner.com's "Dallas Nightlife Editor,"  and well as a few months of work I did writing freelance for a company called Demand Studios.)

Again, not sure what compelled me to write out that list other than I feel that as long as you try something, you have already succeeded. I don't think going into anything blindly assuring yourself worldy gain is good for your mental - or soulful - state of health. Sure, plan to win and plan accordingly, but as long as there is one more thing you can check off your "bucket" list, my hope is that that is where you measure how well you did.

I never thought I'd write a screenplay, but when I found out I enjoyed it, I wrote several. Only one has been made and I still wait in the wings for the final results, but others have been optioned. But if worse comes to worst, at least I set out to do something and I did it.

I never thought I'd write a book, but now one is for sale and another is in the works. That has to count for something...

eBook's (virtually) on the shelf!

Buy my eBook! Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom at BN.com today. Click that little link there and it should take you to the Barnes & Noble website page where you can see my eBook and purchase it for your Nook, iphone, ipod, ipad or personal computer. This is pretty super exciting!

(If the link doesn't feel like working, cut and paste this into your web browser: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chicken-Nuggets-of-Wisdom/Brennan-McMahon/e/2940012077813 )

Just $4.99 for advice and experiences pulled from this blog. Check out the cover art! And thank you guys so much for making this blog - and book - possible!

Whoaaaa! Halfway there. Whoa-oh! Livin' on a pray-ah...

Hey, we got the kiddos today through next Wednesday. It is awesome to have this blessed chaos again in our house. Man, these rooms get so eerily calm and too normal too fast when our bunch isn't here.

Like right now. What can I hear? Hm. The girls playing American Idol karaoke on Xbox360, a blender for some reason, and E being a dramatic little thing about something.

The girls - including A, who's apparently doing awesome - have been playing Idol for at least three hours straight. Maybe four. Lil' A is apparently "platinum" status. She beat out M and J-Girl a few times. Simon even said she was "head and shoulders" above the competition. So...there.

The boys and I did the usual wrestlemania thing upstairs for a bit, then we moved to the ice patch we used to call a backyard. First we slid around like goons for a bit until E got tired of that and said he was going inside. Then Lil' B, G, J-Boy and I played some soccer, some football, some...no wait, that was it. Frozen digits ahead! I went back inside. What is it out there? 5? How does Santa do it?

Thus begins our Super Weekend - Extended Version. Not a huge fan of watching football, but I love to play it. But the Super Bowl beckons to be watched. Kinda like I never liked practice, but loved playing the game. I guess I look at the regular season of anything as practice, but the championship...now that's watchable.

Yahoo! Contributor Network

Forgot to mention that I'm now a Yahoo!/Associated Content contributor. My first piece is a rehash - but a great read-worthy rehash! - of my proposal to A.

Check it out @ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7707271/wait_you_said_yes_right.html?cat=41

And, uh, oh yea, the only way I get paid is if people go read it, so...

You know we have seven kids right? Just checking...

Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom served on a digital plate!

Okay, so in the next 24 to 48 hours, I may be a published author. It's pretty cool. And not hard at all. Literally anyone can do it. Um, wait up. "Literally anyone" may be stretching it. Not sure a baby can do it. But, I don't know, don't they have baby computers now? And then I can train the younglings to use the writing Force. Hm. Food - scratch that - nuggets for thought...

Anyhoo, my ebook from PubIt! and Barnes & Noble is titled Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom - a book I dub "a plateful of advice nuggets" pulled from this very blog. That's right! It's pretty much Adventures in Role Modeling LITE. An on-the-go version of this here adventureland.

It will be available for online upload for the low, low price of $4.99 from BN.com very soon!

I'd love for each and every one of you to snatch up a digital copy for your iPhones, iPads, nooks and computers. Tell your friends to tell their friends to tell their friends to tell...