Table Time

High quality table time. That is what each family needs isn't it? What are the stats on families that sit down and eat together each night? I bet they are good. We ate together as a fam when I was growing up. It typically went pretty well. In one house I used to sit across from Pete and my back was to the wall. The wall had a large mirror on it. Pete use to love entertaining himself at the table by telling stories and watching his every move in the mirror. It used to drive me nuts because he was always tilting his head and body so he could see his reflection over my shoulder. Sitting around the table though was a good thing. I have tried to do that with the kids but can probably do better then what I have done.

So why the chat about table time? Well, it has nothing to do with sitting around the table for dinner as a family really. No, today I have been working on this little table trying to get it ready to paint. I have to have it finished soon as I need to deliver it in Vegas when I go to pick up the kids on the 2nd. I actually have two tables to do. The one is an old sewing table and should not present much of a problem. The other is a bit more challenging. It is an old antique table that has the sides that fold up and the leg that swings out to provide support. Everything is still in pretty good shape on it as far as the hardware but it was covered by three coats of some pretty thick paint. That has proven to be a bit of a pain to remove. I have sanded some and stripped some prior to this morning and thought I would get through to painting stage early in the day. Didn't happen. What did happen is that I blew through a few sheets of sandpaper. It is almost at paint ready status. I found a few problems with it and actually have clamps on it trying to fix some nasty cracks. Hopefully this will do. I've got it pretty well sanded save a couple spots and then it will be ready for the first coat of red. Mmmm, what a beast.

Got a call from mom today which is usually a rare thing since we see each other daily anyway. I figured they were busy and needed me to come help. Was not so, Tara and the kids are in town from Houston. Sweet. We all got together tonight at Canyon Park and enjoyed a bit of Table Time less the table. We just sat around and visited and ate for a while. The topic most talked about was the family movie in which different celebrities will be playing each of us in the movie. For me, is there really any wonder? Kurt Russel. I am after all Jack Burton of the Pork Chop Express. Funny enough Dani pulled up a pic of said Kurt on Dave's phone and there may be a bit of a likeness. Other characters - Matthew Perry as Dave, Kevin James as Jay, Bill Murray as Mike, Sandra Bullock as Laura, there were a few for Amy, Kelly Clarkson was one of them so we will go with her as Amy. The list went on. There is some discussion about who would play Pete - some say Vince Vaughn though if all actors were allowed Chris Farley might make the cut. With that in mind Peter Voyle as the old man. Not sure about Jim, there was talk about Tom Hanks, Christopher Loyd and then something about Matt Damon which just makes no sense, Matt Damon has hair and a lot of it - not that Tom Hanks is necessarily balding. We did discuss Mr. Bean as Nigel and I think there is a good fit there. It was a fun discussion and I am only listing names of people I know. Everyone else kept talking about different actors and actresses by name and I had no clue who they were talking about. It was a fun visit.

Pete and Tara's kids are growing up. Jeremy, the J-Man813 is a lot of fun. He stopped by the house earlier with padre and I had to give him a hard time about the Giants. He is a huge Dodger fan and so we joked about them going bankrupt. Fun stuff. Little Benny was in the back seat and he is talking and giving knuckle bashes. A lot less shy then he has been in the past. Abby on the other hand was a little bit shy - at least with me. She is sure a cutie. Sad that Natty, Jack and Andy weren't here to see their cousins. I know Natty had a great time with Abby last year and would have loved to see them.

Laura and Nigel are also in town on a little family vacation. They actually came through town a couple days ago on their way to St. George and were back up tonight. They are staying at my place tonight. Glad to have them here.

Not much else exciting to chat about. I did text the blind date just to say hi. I told her that my schedule was busy but I could possibly do a lunch. She is game for that. Kathy Schatz is genius. Lunch just seems so much easier. The table time there won't be any more then and hour. Besides that, I can make it at the LBH. They have good food from what I understand.