I can’t remember that last time I was this excited to go on vacation.  I am really looking forward to trying out the new Animal Kingdom Villas at Disney.  The weather looks like it is going to cooperate and everyone that is going (6 adults and 7 kids) is starting to get excited as well.  We leave next Sunday morning and I can’t wait!

The six of you that have subscribed to reading my blog are probably wondering where I have been for the last 9 days.  Well… last Saturday I got the call that I needed to leave for Australia the next day.  So, as I write this I am sitting in 80 degree weather in Melbourne Australia.  It is 1:13am back home but already 5:13pm tomorrow here.  I have a ton of things to write about from the trip but do not have time.  I promise to catch everyone up as soon as I can though.  Stay tuned!

P.S. Heather got to come with too and my parents were willing to take the boys for 2 weeks on such short notice.  How it all worked out I will never be able to explain.  More on that later too.

Yes, I am referring to the 2nd amendment to the U.S. Constitution that NRA fans everywhere are sure that Obama is going to tred all over on his way to the Oval Office on January 20th, 2009.  Gun sales have been off the charts when all other retail sales are slumping.  However, Obama is not the reason I found myself literally shoulder-to-shoulder at the gun store yesterday.

Wednesday morning at 6:00am I was awaken from a dead sleep to the house alarm going off.  Once I shook the cobwebs I turned it off and quickly checked if either of the boys were out of bed… they were not.  The phone rang and it was the security company asking if everything was OK.  I replied that I did not know but asked if the lady would hang on while I checked.  I gave the phone to Heather and bravely went downstairs and checked all the rooms, closets, and bathtubs for a guy in a hockey mask with a chainsaw.  It turns out I forgot to check the porch door before going to bed and it had blown open slightly.  We thanked the lady at the security company and get everyone back in bed.

As I laid back down I said to Heather, “I am buying a gun this weekend” to which she said, “OK”.  With that settled I met up with my brother and headed to the gun store.  I bought a safe that you have to enter a four-digit code to open that keeps the gun safe from curious hands but easy to get to in an emergency.

Moral of the story… if you plan to sneak into my house as a joke make sure you clearly identify yourself when you hear me coming down the stairs.

Last night we had our Thanksgiving practice run.  We fried the turkey to perfection and then 8 adults and 4 kids picked it clean.  The 16 pound turkey never knew what hit it.  I ate way too much turkey and paid for it today but will probably do it all over again in 2 days.  I think we have 12 adults and 8 kids coming over to feast with us.  The place will be a mad house but it should be fun.

My pastor and I are running the Gobble Jog 5K Thankgiving morning.  This should make the gluttony we will do later that day no quite as bad.  Marathon training is underway.  This is not going to be easy, but when I cross the finish line on March 29th and become one of the 0.1% of Americans that will finish a marathion this year I think it will be worth it.

This Thanksgiving we are having a huge bash at our house that will be for 20+ people.  Basically we invited over people that did not have family that they planned to travel to see for the holiday.  We are getting a smoked turkey from our favorite BBQ place and we are going to deep fry 2 turkeys.

Since I have never fried a turkey before my brother asked if we should “practice” ahead of time to make sure we knew what we were doing.  I thought this was a great excuse for having 2 thanksgiving feasts in the same week.  So, tonight we are having a couple of friends over and practicing thanksgiving.  We have all been salivating all day knowing that there some fried turkey goodness in our near future.  Hopefully I will be able to get over tonight’s feast in time for Thursday’s.  Cows are so lucky with the whole multiple stomachs thing.