Random Acts of Shifeness - Here's to Us

• She certainly deserves more than I gave her for an anniversary present for just dealing with me on a daily basis and I'm still baffled at times that she picked me out of all the guys out there, but I'm grateful and thankful that I get to spend my life with her. Happy 12th Anniversary to the love of my life, Mrs. Shife. 

Here we are 12 years ago. Looking good and looking a lot younger. 

And 12 years later ... we have aged a little bit. Darn kids. 

• Kyle's been inspired by watching "Star Wars." We watch a little each night and we just made it to the part when Han and Luke are about to rescue Princess Leia on the Death Star. Anyway, he made a 13-minute movie with my phone. Here's a GIF of Buzz Lightyear discussing strategy with the Angry Birds version of Anakin Skywalker, who is still recovering from a brutal Tank Tank attack to his face, while Darth Maul enjoys a soak in the tub. He had a tough day being evil. I'm not sure how things will play out, but I'm looking forward to the sequel. 

• Speaking of Kyle, he made me LOL at the store. He wasn't particularly interested in listening to his dear old dad and I told him he was skating on thin ice. He asked me what that meant and I told that he was doing something that was going to get him into trouble. He then told me that he better get to the "thick ice." 
• Damn it Google. I visit the page ONE time and ONE time only and know it's listed as something I frequently visit. Thanks a lot. 

• Favorite quote of the week: “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” ― Bruce Lee 

Thanks for stopping by. Talk to you soon. 

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

Random Acts of Shifeness - Halloween ... already?!?!?

• If you already saw this because we are pals on Facebook ... well I'm sorry. But it made me laugh and since I play well with others (at least that's what my resume says) I wanted to share with rest of my wonderful friends. Here it is: 

Do you hear the one about the unicorn and the stormtrooper that walked into a bar ... errrr .... living room?
Me either.
Yep it's only Sept. 15 and I already bought their Halloween costumes.
This shouldn't break bad at all. =)

• Anybody care to place odds on that those are the same costumes they wear in 46 days. Yes we looked up how many days until Halloween this morning. 
• Here's a better look at Hayden as a unicorn.

• And here's Kyle being Kyle because Mr. Rosewater gives me the business if I don't put some pictures of the big guy in there as well. Speaking of big guys, there's a Tank in the background.

• Speaking of Tank again, the Shifley household has puppy fever. We are looking, but it's insane what some people are asking for a basset hound puppy. Any guesses? If you said $1,000 then you are a winner.
• I'm seriously concerned that the gene pool has been thinned way too much. This was an actual 911 call: Had a lady trying to call an ambulance because she opened a package from Amazon at home and she was afraid that that her kid was about to have a major allergic reaction... From the packing Peanuts.... because the kid was allergic to peanuts, and when her kid mentioned what they were called, she freaked out. 

• More "intelligent" calls can be found here, http://www.rsvlts.com/2016/09/16/911-operators-reveal-the-dumbest-calls-theyve-ever-received/

Enjoy your weekend. Thanks for stopping by. You're the best.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream. 

Random Acts of Shifeness: Riding The Roller Coaster

• My emotions. Up and down all week. One day I feel like I got this and then a few hours later I'm wondering what the heck am I doing. Then it's "Yes this is going to be awesome" and then it's "Way to go, moron." Good times. But I know that I've made the right choice and it's going to work out. I also occasionally read some words of wisdom that my blogging friend, Val, wrote to me: Think of it this way, Matt, you have succeeded so far - work, family, etc - so think SUCCESSFUL along the next path you walk on. Always look up, never down. Good luck in everything, my friend.

• If anything, I have definitely noticed a change in Kyle. As I'm transitioning from a full-time employee to being at the house more, I have been spending more time with him instead of being at the office and it's been good for me and Bunga. I feel like we have reconnected. 
• Earlier this week at breakfast, I asked Hayden if she remembered me coming into her room and giving her a kiss good night. She said no and asked me why I gave her kiss. I told her that I watched a movie last night that reminded me of her and wanted to give her a kiss. Hayden then said "Oh my gosh. I just fell in love." Almost started blubbering right on the spot. 
• The movie in case you were wondering was "The Light Between Oceans." It was a great, horrible movie if that makes sense. Horrible because of what happens in the movie, but enjoyed it otherwise. Just really heart-wrenching material. 
• Congrats to another blogging friend, Dr. Ken, as he became a daddy. Congrats on your baby boy, buddy. Hope Mrs. Ken is doing well and enjoy not getting any sleep for about 2 years. 
• I tipped my toe back in the Facebook waters. We shall see how long it lasts. I think I should have waited until after the presidential election. 
• Have a great weekend. Hope things go your way.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream. 

I Don't Heart AT&T

• Any plans for Labor Day weekend? 
• I'm thinking I might do some of this:

• And by "nice cup of ginger tea" I mean about 72 ounces of beer and then lie down especially after I have to call AT&T ... again.
• I feel like this guy after I talk to AT&T:

• Is anyone happy with their cell phone provider? If so, let me know because I'm willing to play for another team. 
• I asked Steve Carell what he thought about AT&T's customer service. 

• I spent nearly 2 hours talking to them last weekend trying to get a problem solved. I was then told Sunday morning that my issue had been escalated and a specialist would be in touch in 3 days to take care of my problem. Any guesses on who hasn't called me back? 
• I guess they are busy taking care of their other customers.

Have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by. Talk soon.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream. 

UPDATE:

I took to the internet and complained on Twitter directly to AT&T. We are making some progress but the verdict is still out.

The Week That Was In Photos

Hello there friend. How are you? I'm great. Thanks for asking.
We had a pretty good week and we were able to capture a few of those moments with our phones. And I thought I should share them with my awesome blogging pals.
Aren't I the best?

First we went to the fair.
It's a love/hate relationship.
Mrs. Shife and I hate it, but the kids love it.
I think the title gives it away, but check out Hayden doing her thing.
She figured out the back flips all by herself and then she tried to do 3 of them but just didn't get up high enough.

Kyle a.k.a Toothless was happy to close out the fair adventures with a caramel apple. He lost two choppers in the last two weeks and for some reason Hayden got shy. I also feel kind of bad for taking this picture because it looks like we interrupted a photo shoot. It's hard to see but I put a red arrow in the photo below next to what appears to be a male model getting ready to take some action photos. Sorry Zoolander. I hope we didn't ruin your chances to be Mr. August in the 2017 Men Of The Western Idaho Calendar.

Then we started school. Can you guess who was happy about someone going back?

Kyle wanted summer to "last forever" and I don't blame him as he had a pretty awesome one. Hayden will definitely miss her brother while he's at school after a few weeks, but she seemed more than OK with the idea that she was going to be home alone with just Mrs. Shife. 

Finally, Kyle got to practice reading to his new buddy, Oakley.

One of our babysitters brought over her dog and Kyle wanted to read to him. It looks like it went OK.

Well that's it. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend and talk soon.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream. 

Random Acts of Shifeness - Summer Is Almost Over

• The kiddos are back home safe and sound. It was a little rough as we re-entered the Case de Shifley atmosphere. A few flames and turbulence, but all's well and we are back together again. 

• Kyle is enjoying his last week before school starts because he's in Jedi camp.  He told me it was the best camp ever and I have snuck over a few times without him knowing it to observe him and he's definitely having a blast. They were playing dodge ball and he kept yelling to the other kids that he was invincible. It turns out he was right as no one was able to knock him out. It might also help that he hid behind one of the camp counselors. You can see Kyle in the red shirt, plaid shorts talking to a big guy in a black shirt. As he likes to call it, he was hacking the system. 

• Tank has a new buddy.

• I sometimes forget that she's only 4. 

•  Hayden says she hopes you have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by. Talk to you soon. 

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream. 

Going To Get The Kiddos

It has been a long, quiet week, and we are finally off to get Kyle and Hayden.
The sound of little feet and voices is definitely the soundtrack of our lives right now and we miss it. Looking forward to seeing them and having Casa de Shifley back to normal.
The peace and quiet has been great, but it's just not the same without them around 24/7.
From what I have been told, the kids had a good time while they were away and the pictures seem to justify that statement.
And sorry Dr. Ken.
I tried to get some daily photos of me and Tank doing fun stuff while the kids were gone but it just didn't happen. It turns out he was a little depressed and missed them as well.
We just held each other tight and tried to console one another.
Just enjoy the Cubs kicking the crap out of the Cardinals this week.

Tank looks like he's really enjoying cuddling in the chair with me. It's also amazing how much hair I used to have before the kids came along. 

 Hayden celebrating her victory over Kyle to the rock formation.

 Kyle enjoying some time at the beach. 

It was also nice to Peyton Manning enjoying his retirement from the NFL.

Thanks for stopping by. Talk soon.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.