Santa 4th!

Hey Kids......Santa 4th Came Last Night!

How screwed up are my kids going to be? Last night I stayed up very late cleaning the house and decorating it in advance of the annual "Hudson Family 4th of July Spectacular" that we have been hosting for 5 years now. Each year we have family over for a day of fun that includes either a moon bounce or massive 34 foot water slide and tons of food and lots of good music.

As we were all in bed this morning and my son Ryan woke up he says with excitement, "Happy 4th of July Mommy ---Happy 4th of July Daddy!" And that is when my mouth opened up and I can't believe what I said......

"Kids - guess who came to our house last night? SANTA 4th!"

Santa 4th? What is wrong with me? The kids jumped out of bed like it was Christmas morning to tip toe down the stairs to see what Santa 4th had left them. I told them that Santa 4th came to decorate the house and clean it for the 4th of July and that they could only play with one toy until all of our guests arrived for the "Hudson Family 4th of July Spectacular" starting today at 3:00pm EST.

The great thing about Santa 4th is that Santa 4th does not leave $500.00+ worth of gifts. He just cleans the house, decorates the house with patriotic decorations and the kids believe that it is their duty to keep their play area clean for the day. Hmmm......tomorrow is going to be Santa 5th!

Have a great 4th of July and stay tuned for video updates of a very special day full of Video Daily Greg's on Facebook and Youtube!

Greg "Santa 4th"

WAL-MART People

WHAT IS UP WITH WALMART?

During these tough economic times my wife and I have decided to stop living high on the hog as we have done the past 10 or so years and start shopping at

WAL-MART. The transition from Target to Walmart is one that we have had to get use to but it is really amazing how much more affordable it is to shop at the Smiley Face store!

The few times that I have shopped at Walmart since this decision was made have been fairly pleasant experiences. The key when you shop at Walmart is to arrive early in the day or on Sundays during the church hour. Any other time and you are bound to ask yourself......., "What the heck is up with people at Walmart?"

The "Giveaway" Syndrome: Some people who shop at Walmart run into the damn store like stuff is being given away. This just does not happen on the holidays...it happens all damn year! Lookout for these people as they will knock you over to get to the $2.00 per case Cokes!

The "Cha-Cha" Moment: So you are going down one of the narrow isles at Walmart and you are navigating through the numerous barriers of junk on the floor when you are cornered by another Walmart customer. They guide their cart in the same direction as yours and you begin the "Cha-Cha" cart dance trying to out guess the other shopper on their next cart move.

The "Happy Face" Sticker: The only time you will see anyone smiling at Walmart is when you get the Happy Face sticker from the old fart who greets you at the door. There seems to be something a bit sinister when an old man hands my little boys a smiley face sticker. "Here you go little boy...let me place this smiley face sticker on your chest." Have these people been background checked? I am like...."DON'T TOUCH MY KID!!!"

DIRT: Why does it seem there is always a thick film of dirt all over Walmart? How does TARGET always look, smell and feel clean while WALMART smells, feels, looks and is DIRTY?

Maybe I just became a snob. Tar-geeeeeetttt (spoken with a French accent) was our place to shop for so many years. Who cares if we spent $300.00 per trip (every weekend) and did not use coupons....life was good! Well, Obama became President and the economy does not seem to be getting any better (as HE promised).

Ohhhh TARGET...how I miss ye!

It's My Birthday - 39 Years Old!!!

First off....I can't get enough of this Michael Jackson death coverage. What is wrong with me? I have found myself watching death coverage non-stop since the announcement came down on Thursday night. I found myself listening to Michael Jackson's music again...we all have to admit...it was not very cool to listen to M.J. over the past 15+ years so now that he is dead we can at least appreciate the music. Looking forward to watching the funeral - should be one heck of a party!

I have to tell ya, Farrah Fawcett got the death shaft! Here she has been fighting for her life and doing a documentary and she meets her maker a few hours before M.J. kicks the bucket. She gets 3 hours of death coverage and M.J. steals the show and we all will quickly forget about Farrah. 8 months from now on the Emmy Awards we will watch the "Death Retrospective" and they will show Farrah's face and some clips of her on Charlie's Angels and The Burning Bed. The camera will flash out to the crowd and a few people will wipe some tears and then the music will crank up and here comes M.J. once again stealing the DEATH SHOW from Farrah. They will show M.J. on the Ed Sullivan Show, M.J. on American Bandstand, M.J. on MTV, M.J., M.J., M.J.! The stars will all stand up and look like they are crying when over the past 15+ years they all thought the guy was a whack job.

So yesterday was my 39th Birthday. I am 39 years old! What the heck happened? Where have the years gone? Since it was my birthday I was given the gift of a flu bug. I wake up Friday morning with a runny nose, scratchy throat, upset stomach (hmmm....job related?), low grade fever, and the chills. I drive into the office and just can't last as the A.C. in our building is on the blitz (3 WEEKS RUNNING!!!!!!!!). Happy Flippin' Birthday to ME! Over the years I have been known to get ill on my birthday. I believe that out of my 39 years...I have had the flu bug or some sort of illness on the exact date of my origination! On my 25th birthday I vividly remember my future wife coming over to my apartment to celebrate my birthday while I was running a fever of 103 degrees! When I was 9 years old I had the worst sore throat ever. One thing I am very proud of as I head into turning 40....I HAVE NOT BARFED SINCE 1989 ---OVER 20+ YEARS OF NO THROW-UP!

So I had a happy birthday. This year it was not about the gifts but more about the kids. The kids made me some of the most wonderful birthday cards and were very excited that daddy was turning 39! They greeted me at home last night with two gigantic balloons and hugs. We ordered Chinese Food (we might have gone out but I was sick) and watched Kung Fu Panda. They sang happy birthday while they blew the candles out on the cake. I put Ryan up to bed and came back downstairs to sit in my blue chair. My final hours of my 39th date of origination ended with me asleep in my trusty old recliner.

Going Green!

"Going Green!"

Are you like me and you are sick and tired of the media talking about "going green?" It reminds me of the time during the Clintoon administration when Hillary said, "It takes a village..." a village for what!?!?! The media jumped on that like a dog jumping on the back side another dog in heat!

So today the media is all over the "going green" thing. I have got to tell you...the only time the "Daily Greg" goes any type of green is when we eat celery or broccoli or it is St. Patty's Day. Matt Lauer and NBC Universal/ GE will not tell me to go green! I have enough things to worry about...like the GREEN in my pocket in an era of increased taxes and company downsizing and cut backs. I am tired as well. When it is a Saturday or Sunday and I am home from the office I do not want to use the brain or physical power to take my aluminum Coke Can and throw it in a recycle bin. That is too much effort. I will "accidentally" throw it away in the regular "GREEN" trash bag and that makes me feel like we are "Goin' Green" here at the House of Hud.

Are We Crazy????? New Additions to the House of Hud!

BREAKING NEWS......

NEW ADDITIONS EXPECTED TO THE HOUSE OF HUD!

We are expecting!!!! In about a month we are going to shock Ryan and Joey with their own puppies thanks to the kind generosity of a former high school classmate whose Lab and Beagle "got it on" unexpectedly.

When I saw the posting on Facebook from my former classmate that she was offering up these adorable puppies I had to take action. I called Jeannie up and said there were some puppies available and we should try to get one of them for the boys. This morning she said, "Why don't you see if she has two available." Uhhhhhh ohhhhh! The kids have finally gotten to the stage where they are independent...now we are going to turn the house upside down by adding TWO dogs to the house?!?!?! This should be interesting but also very fun.

This is a big secret to the boys who will have the summer of their life with two new puppies. More details and a video DAILY GREG to come!

Big kudos again to my old classmate from CHS!

A Pre-K Graduation and a Juggler

Friday 6/5/09: Joey Graduates Pre-K

Sunday 6/7/09 - At the Fair with Ryan the Daredevil!

A Graduation, YouTube and a Fair!

Friday - Joey Graduates Pre-K

It was a very busy weekend at the House of Hud as I like to call it. Friday we celebrated the graduation of our son Joey from Pre-K. This is the second year we have had one of these graduation events and I can tell you that it is quite the emotional experience even though the kid is only 5 years old. Joey was looking and acting very much like the graduate especially when his name was called for him to get his "diploma" and his eyes beamed with pride as everyone clapped for him. I caught myself with a slight tear so happy and proud of my little guy. You always hear your parents tell you when your kids are babies that the time does fly and I can tell you that the past 6 years have flown by since Ryan and Joey were born.

Saturday - Greg is watching the D-Day Ceremony on FOX and catches the Gordon Brown Screw-up and alerts the Drudge Report!

So Saturday afternoon I am at home watching the kids yell and scream at me all day while my wife has a "Girls Day Out" and I decide to watch the D-Day Ceremonies on FOX News. This is when the Prime Minister of England Comes on and is giving a pretty moving speech. Next thing you know he calls Omaha Beach......OBAMA BEACH!!!!! OHH MYYYY GOODNESS!!! I quickly hit the replay on the DVR and video this to post it to YouTube. I also write and alert the Drudge Report and within minutes he has a link to my video and headlines this all day Saturday on Drudge! A short time later he find a clean version of the recording but the damage was done to poor old Gordan Brown. My video is one of the most watched news videos in England and France on Saturday and Sunday per YouTube statistics and the screw-up gains worldwide attention!

Sunday at the Fair - Fried Twinkee!!!!

Sunday we took the kids to the South Riding Fair! This was interesting. When you say fair you might as well add in the words HEAT, SMELLY ARMPITS and SHADY VENDOR PEOPLE all as part of the Fair experience. Above is a vendor who was selling food that one would regret eating years later when you are called in for the triple bypass!

Greg

Wrinkles in the Rearview Mirror

. Wrinkles in the Rear view Mirror

It sounds like a country song but it is my new found realization...I have wrinkles and they are enhanced when I study them in the rear view mirror of my car.

Later this month I turn 39 years of age. The past several years has presented its own unique challenges: from leaving a great job to manage a dysfunctional and out of control group at a leading litigation support provider in the Metro/DC region (one day I will share the stories and there are plenty of them to create a Movie of the Month) to watching my dad almost die from bird poop (Histoplasmosis). The kicker came in 2008 when a company consolidation of redundant marketplaces = bye, bye management job. The once youthful Greg has really started to show the signs of age and very quickly.

After working in the yard this weekend with the late spring sun beating down on me I woke up this Monday morning with a nice tan. While sitting in traffic I notice white lines on my forehead and around my eyes. These were tan lines caused by wrinkles on my face. They are: Wrinkles in the Rear view Mirror. The song is a work in progress but will begin like this:

One day your 18 and the next you are 38,

You look in the rear-view mirror and see the lines that define,

They are the Wrinkles in the Review Mirror of Life.

Cue up the Banjo!

.....To be continued....