Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
---Dr. Seuss

Dave As A South Park Character

Striking resemblance, eh?

Create your own at http://images.southparkstudios.com/games/create/

Matthew Is Just Darn Cute!

Matthew is officially on his feet. Up...but not quite running.

Just Peyton

Peyton finds the perfect photo face to counteract Pooh's wild grin.

Denim dress...make me...yawn...sleepy girl...

"Could we just eat at the cafe tonight? I don't feel like cookin'."

The Easter Bunny's little helper.

Little Man Luke in Work and Play

WORK: Luke dutifully cleans the ol' mower engine.

PLAY: Luke and his "ketch." Kitty is unimpressed.

Just Tori

Aunt Missy and Tori on eighth-grade gragitation day. SHE'S TOO PRETTY! If I were her dad, she'd be locked in her room until she's eleventy-seven years old. Eh, Tori's a good person; no worries about her. It's those pesky boys you have to worry about... This picture also reminds me that I'm more than a week late mailing a congrats card and money. Crap! I suck. Hey Tori! How about if this summer we have you stay and we'll take you shopping as a congrats on your gragitation? Deal or no deal?

Tori and Uncle Burger King at the zoo. We barely escaped!

Amy and Tori just moments before Uncle Dave started whining because he wanted to ride on the train and no one else cared.

Yet Another Baby V Letter...(FINALLY)

Holy crikey, folks. It's been a long time since I chatted at ya.

You have to forgive my dad and me for being a little bit...let's just say...preoccupied. As for me, I've just been hanging out in here causing excruciating pain in my mama's back. We saw a physical therapist today to work out some kinks and Ma should feel a little better for a while now.

My growth has been tremendous lately. My brain is developing rapidly now, my lungs are getting stronger, I'm about 4 pounds give or take (my dad is jealous of that), my hair is growing rapidly (if I have any) and my testes have begun to descend from my body cavity to my scrotum! Too much information, I know.

Mom's been busy going to showers to gather all her baby loot. Aunt Missy, Heidi, Sarah and Cuz Tori had a monster shower in my dad's hometown recently. Holy cowabunga, those people know how to shower a new mommy. The cake rawked, the punch eventually melted enough to rawk, and everyone was incredibly generous. My mom and dad filled the entire trunk with stuff for their favorite person in the world: ME.

Yesterday, the folks at the school where my mama teaches hosted a surprise shower for her. They surprised her so much she cried! Then they proceeded to give her so many gifts they filled the backseat of her car. I'm glad they helped her load it in too, because I have enough guilt about the back thing. If you know what I mean... Dad was very pleased and impressed with the loot. He commented on what great people Amy gets to work with, and that they are both lucky to work with such great peeps.

Tomorrow is mama's GI shower that Aunt Nanci, Aunt Emily, Grandma and Aunt Jan are working on putting together. A lot of my mom's friends have had babies and I think a couple of them are going to bring their little boys. Not only that, but some of them are pregnant right now and will be bringing their babies with them as well. (In their bellies; if you didn't already get that...)

Dad's been working on the homefront. My nursery is rawking, the new well is in, they are fencing in the backyard and getting underground sprinklers, they removed some trees and dad has painted every single room in the house. It's crazy. They were teasing him at Mom's shower that they love reading on here about all his handiwork because it's entirely out of character! Too funny. And so true.

He was on the front page of The Independent recently because of the whole water issue at our house. His picture was pretty funny. He was all serious and stuff. He gets that way about certain things like poisonous water and politics and junk. He's weird.

So, I'm going to work on flipping so that my mom doesn't have to have a C-section and in the next few weeks, I'm going to have more brain growth, my skin will turn from red to pink, I'm going to gain weight, open and close my eyelids, grow fingernails, work on my immune system to fight infection, work on filling up this uterus, get dimples on my elbows, practice breathing movements, work on my grip, and fill up my intestines with meconium for my daddy to clean up, and my testes will continue to drop. Oh yeah, and eventually be borned unto my mother and father.

Dad's excited because his friend Lynn got to "catch" his son, Owen. Dad can't wait. Mom was a little nervous about that until it was explained that there is really no "catching" to speak of. (Dad's a klutz, FYI.)

That's what's on my agenda anyway. We'll see how it goes. For now, though, I'm gonna get some rest. I see a lot of sleepless nights in my future dealing with these parents of mine.

Catcha later.