Mall Cop

A few years back, Curtis used these Segways as a way to do some marketing and deliver info door to door. It was fast and fun, a home run. 

 He recently moved offices and brought one home to charge it up and renew its life. As soon as the kids saw it, they wanted on it. They didn't know what they were called, they just know they were used in that silly movie "Mall Cop" which is a favorite of theirs. At our house, the Segway is called "Mall Cop" At first we let Dax try it, and he did pretty good. We thought It would be too big for Derek, after all, it does say you need to be 16 to operate it. We lowered it and he did great. It does take some balancing and getting used to, something I have not mastered yet. It is always a conversation piece, and a fun way to get around.

December 2009 -Oh what fun!

This is a recap of our December. These pictures are not in order, since they were uploaded not in the order my mind works Curtis took a business trip out to Washington DC and stayed with my Cousin Amy. While he was there they were hit with a huge snowstorm. 24 " in 24 hrs. Everything shut down. Luckily Curtis' flight was only delayed a few hours rather than canceled. His Nike Sweatshirt wasn't exactly snowstorm attire. It was still crazy trying to get home. Dax and Derek Decorated the Christmas tree all by themselves. They kept asking and asking to get it up. So we got it up, but we had stuff going on and couldn't get it decorated when they wanted to. So they did. We were happy to have them do it. They had a great Christmas. The usual gift requests. Video games and Lego's. The punching bag from Papa was also a hit. Derek lost his 1st tooth. On the night of his 6th Birthday. Happy #6th Birthday to Derek. Had a great time when his Zoccoli cousins came over. Derek insists his birthday is on Christmas rather than the 23rd. He doesn't mind one bit having a Christmas birthday cake. It was funny how when there were presents to open on the 23rd he didn't want to wait until Christmas to open them anymore. I took Derek to the store to pick out a birthday cake (on the 23rd) While we were coming out Derek was standing on the bottom rack of the grocery cart holding on raising him up about 3-4". We passed a not very tall man (not a midget, just lacking in height) and Derek said to him "I'm taller than you" thanks Derek that was embarrassing for your mom. Curtis was given 4 tickets to go see the KTAR production of A Christmas Carol. This was started back in 1984 by Pat McMahon as a reading in the radio studio. It has grown and now done at the Orpheum with an audience to be broadcast later on the radio. Local celebrities made up the cast most were newscasters. It is kind of interesting they read their parts, no singing, and minimal costumes. Pat McMahon has always played the part of scrooge, to me he will always be Gerald, Aunt Maude, Captain Super and all those other characters from Wallace and Ladmo show. We were going to take Dax and Derek with us, but once the babysitter showed up for Trey, Derek decided that the babysitter sounded more fun. We went with Dax and had a good time. He especially liked the VIP party afterward where they had food and cookies.

This is how I remember Pat McMahon as his "Gerald" Character

  Dax's class had a little project where they made gingerbread houses before they went on Winter break. Notice the stocking cap with shorts. It was a frigid 70 degrees that day. BEAUTIFUL! The annual Hancock Jingle Jog. Both Dax and Derek did a great job. This is a picture of Dax with his friend Phuc. Popsicles at the finish line. Dax after finishing the Jingle Jog Derek with his friends at the starting line of the Jingle Jog.

Organ

Today I said goodbye to my Grandma's Organ. I remember when she got it back in 1977. It was quite a cool thing. My Grandparents drove all the way to Las Vegas to get it. 

 When my Grandma died in 2001 she wanted me to have it. I think because I was the only grandkid that took piano lessons. I think I only have one memory of anyone actually playing this like how an organ should be played. We were at my Grandma's house for a holiday, I'm thinking Christmas and there were a lot of extended families there. My Mom's aunts, uncles, and cousins. It seems that one of her Cousins, I think his name was Troy could actually play the organ, everyone was gathered around while he played Christmas music. Other than that it seemed to be a toy for the Grandkids. 

 Those colorful buttons on the left had rhythms, those were a kid's favorite. My grandma claims that my cousins broke the yellow and green ones on the end. We would turn all the rhythms on, the tempo fast, and the volume way up. Nothing had changed with my kids. The other great use of the organ was the high-tech cassette player on the right. I remember the Organ came with some lessons and it started teaching you to play the music Stars and Stripes while a man would talk to you and instruct you. 

 My favorite time was when my cousin Amy and I, would listen to ABBA as we would sit under the organ so we could listen through the speaker below.

 It was time for the Organ to go to a new home. It really wasn't being appreciated like it should at my house, it seemed awkward this vintage 1970s piece sitting amongst my modern furniture. I always had ambitions of learning to play it. I finally realized with small kids, our own business to run, and life in general. The Organ was not going to be a priority in my life for still a few more years. A while back I tried to put it on Craig's list. No takers. I had checked on eBay, and craigslist for similar organs to get a price for this. Nobody seemed very interested in any of these. I had asked many people that I knew who actually played the organ if they would like it. Still no takers. It was time to get serious about this. This morning, I posted it on Craig's list in the free section. Within 15 minutes 3 people were very interested. I kept the post open for a while until I was sure the guy I contacted would really come to get it. After 60+ people wanted it. I finally shut it down, I figured I had enough backup at that point. I was a tich sad to see it go, but it really wasn't getting the love it should. I'm glad it found a new home where this man wanted to teach his 5-year-old daughter to play. I wonder if I should have raised the price a bit???