HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAYSON!

My nephew, Mayson, is four years old today! It's so unbelievable! He should just be a baby but he's a cute little kid and my favorite person in the whole world. And such a miracle as well!

He was born three months early due to complications from HELLP syndrome that his mother, Jody, had where the body thinks the fetus is a virus and attacks. He was only 1 lb 6 oz when he was born and looked like a little alien baby.

Even though he was very tiny and fragile looking he was very strong and had a very tight grasp with his tiny little fingers. I remember it being a scary time yet I felt calm about it, like I knew he would be all right. One night after he was born I took his father, Paul, to buy a shirt really quick as he needed a new one, and Paul said, "Don't tell anyone else, but I'm not worried about Mayson at all. Everyone is all upset but I just don't feel like that." I confirmed that I felt the same way.

It seemed like he was in the hospital forever, and I believe it was two months, but it was so great to finally be able to hold him and then have him at home. And it's been so much fun watching him grow up and learn. He's SOOOO smart and picks up on everything instantly. And he's funnier than even his dad.

He also just dotes on me and always wants to be where I am when I am around. We have a lot of fun playing BATman (that's how he says it to) or Spiderman or Wolverine, which essentially is play fighting. He also loves Mickey Mouse and the Muppets and every so often he requests to watch Bewitched, even though his daddy told him it was

dumb. (Mayson: "Daddy says Bewitched is dumb. He's a KY [how Mayson thinks you spell 'jerk'...but funny cause of the jelly].")

Anyway, I'm so blessed to be the uncle to the cutest little boy ever to hit the planet and I hope his birthday is fantastic!

Why Am I Crying??!

Ok, this is seriously so stupid but I have to write it out so I can hear how ridiculous it is so I'll stop crying! I'm literally in tears right now and I don't know why! I know what started it and it makes me mad because I'm such a baby. It was hearing the song "It Might Be You" by Stephen Bishop, which was made famous in the movie "Tootsie". I would try and find it on YouTube but if I hear it again I'll never stop crying.

It's supposed to be a love song but ever since I heard it when I was really little it's made me very sad. It's a stupid cheesy 80s love song that probably plays on continuous loop on KOZY.

Anyway, I heard it again tonight as part of a show I was watching. Everyone has left my house or has gone to bed and I keep on hearing it and when I saw these pins that Heather got me in Disneyland of the Muppets with Mickey ears, for some reason I started thinking of Mayson, my three-soon-to-be-four year old nephew, and how he seems to be really growing up fast lately.

I know, right? I'm seriously crazy! But hear me out...cause I don't know what else to do to stop crying. Holy cow, I haven't cried this much since my cats died!

Mayson stays at my house a lot and he absolutely loves me. He doesn't want to do anything unless it involves me. I always read him a couple stories before he goes to bed and he likes a lot of the things that I like, like the Muppets. And he LOVES Mickey Mouse! Anytime I come home and he's hear he shouts out my name, "DAVE!!" and asks where I've been and then about if we can watch a movie/play a game/play BATMan or whatever other super hero he wants to be. It really makes me happy and I feel like I'm really needed. I really like reading to him, though, because I remember how much I liked it when I was read to when I was little. There hasn't ever been a night where I couldn't read to him...there were nights where I wanted to go to bed earlier but gave in when he said, "Just one story, please!"

Last night I came home from Michelle's house and had to use the restroom first thing. As I was closing the door to the bathroom I thought I heard him. Usually if he knows I've come home and I'm in the bathroom, he'll play the Big Bad Wolf and come pound on the door and say, "I'll huff and blow your house in!" (One of his favorite stories is "The Three Little Pigs"). That happens EVERY TIME! Last night it didn't so I thought maybe I had just heard something. When I stepped out and into the living room he was there and turned and just said, "Hi Dave." He did come and give me a hug but then he went right back to watching whatever it was that he was watching.

As it was the evening of the time change and I did get home pretty late and had to work early today I told him I was going to go to bed prepared to hear that he wanted me to read to him. There was nothing but a "good night, Dave"....and that's it! I was glad but sad at the same time because we ALWAYS read a story.

While going to sleep I thought about how maybe the time is coming when Uncle Dave isn't so awesome anymore and I didn't think about it much more nor at all today.

I actually was in a good mood today because the sun was shining and for the first time ever I actually felt awake at work, even with the time change!

My family came over for dinner and Mayson was still here and we played Batman-Wolverine-Spiderman and watched the extras from "Up" and had a good time.

He and his family left along with the rest of the family that doesn't live here and I watched that show with that STUPID song in it with my cousin Tracey, and he left. I did tell Tracey that the song seriously makes me depressed and when I saw the Muppets with Mickey hats on it I just started bawling! I guess that's why I'm crying...Mayson is turning four this Friday and I guess really soon I'm not going to be the big star in his life anymore. I remember how I used to love sleeping over at my Aunt Carol's when I was little but how there are very few memories of doing so and I've realized that may happen with Mayson. He'll remember how much fun we had and I know he'll always love me, but I suppose there will be few memories since he's so young, and it just makes me sad.

But I guess that's part of life is growing up and moving on and quite obviously I'm having a hard time with that. And I supposed that's why that STUPID song brought it up because it starts out:

Time... I've been passing time watching trains go by
All of my life...

I feel like that's what's happening watching Mayson grow up.

Anyway, I think I'm done with my tears and runny nose...though I suppose I'll look at the pins again and keep hearing that stupid song in my head, but I just needed to talk it out.

I'm as Mad as a Hatter about "Alice"!

This past weekend Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" was released. I've seen it twice all ready. I love the original story of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". It has got me to thinking how much the stories have been an influence in my life.

Like most people, I was introduced to them via Walt Disney's version that was originally released in 1951. However, I saw it for the first time at a family reunion at one of my mother's rich relatives houses

who was rich enough to actually own a VCR when they first came out. While the adults visited they put on this strange movie about a girl who falls down a rabbit hole, speaks to a disappearing cat, finds out it's her unbirthday and almost gets her head chopped off by a scary Queen covered in hearts. I loved all the nonsense and the puns and sheer comedy of it. I loved reading as a child (still do) and was quite pleased to find out that Alice's Adventures were in a story that seemed to be even funnier than the movie, though a bit different.

When we were able to rent videos, one of them most likely would be "Alice in Wonderland". My family loved it as well. Over time we saw different versions on TV and my brother brought home a book and record from one of the musicals. The book eventually got lost but we kept the record which had four songs on it, two of which my sister and I would listen to ov

er and over - "The Pun Song" and "The White Rabbit's Song".

On a trip to visit our Grandma we blew a tire in the canyon, just past Soldier Summit and had to wait for my uncle to come with a replacement.

While we waited out by the fence keeping the cattle in, Paul found a teacup that was literally in half, just like the March Hare had in Disney's version and without a beat Paul lifted it and said, "Just a half cup, please." That memory is relived every time we pass by that area.

When my family started going to Disneyland, one of my favorite rides were the Teacups as the Mad Tea Party is my favorite scene. Heather and I loved the ride and every visit afterwards we choose the same tea cup, the one with blue and gold trimmed flowers to ride in and always get a picture in it. Unfortunately, none of them are on this computer or I would post them.

In High School we had to write about our favorite author, and of course mine was about Lewis Carroll.

One of the first things I bought when I got my first job was an "Alice in Wonderland" shirt for my mom, a purple "tea"-shirt with embroidered characters along the bust. I wasn't sure that she would like it but she loved it and wore it until it was practically threads.

And I can imitate Disney's Mad Hatter to a "tea" LOL

I would also wager that not a week goes by that I don't throw out a "BUTTAH!" or "Exactickly".

Essentially, I want to thank Lewis Carroll aka Charles Dobson for that golden afternoon that he told the story to the real Alice and her sisters, even if he was a creep.