SNOW DAY!

Yes, it’s official. Northeastern Oklahoma experienced its first snow day of the season as a sheet of ice came in and blanketed the area overnight. It was not tremendously bad. (I am writing this at work so I was able to make it in.) In a way, I feel sorry for Amy. She is going to be trapped in the house all day with the kids.

So, for those finding this blog at random, I am working in the produce department at a local grocery store to put my wife through college. When you work in a grocery store, you are able to see trends. The most mystical of one is the Oklahoma Snow Rush. Now, when it snows in the O.K., it rarely lasts more than a few days on the ground. It’s not like everyone becomes members of the Donner party and they have to eat each other to survive. It’s not Montana or Utah for Pete’s sake.

Yet, people see that S-word in the forecast and people… lose… their… minds. They all scream at each other, “Quick Honey, get the kids loaded in the station wagon! It’s gonna snow!!!” And then they flood up here and buy a week’s worth of food. Many times it doesn’t even snow. But you put that threat in the forecast… But the kicker to it is, I’ll see these same people two days later, back in here, buying more food! I mean, what’s up with that?

We often joke that the owner of the chain pays off the local weather forecasters to say there is going to be snow to pump up sales.

Still, the roads are not too bad here. I threw three 50-pound bags of salt in the back of the Jeep, took it kind of easy on the drive up, and made it to work with no problem. I just hope the way home is uneventful as well. Okay, rant over. Go back to surfing for pictures of boobies and your illegal music downloads…

Even More of The Life of Ryan

For all the Ryanites out there, the proud members of the Foley Nation,
I bring you good news. I have finished my first draft of my second comic book mini-series. I’m pretty stoked about. I’m moving on to another project for a week and then I’ll come back after some down time to get that project completely under my belt.

I took time over the holiday weekend to go to the movies with my partner-in-crime Brandon. It seems like with our family’s babysitting situation, Brandon and I go to the movies more than me and Amy. So, we took a few hours to catch a screening of Déjà Vu. It is the new thriller starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott that came out on the 22nd.
It is pretty much a rule that Tony Scott does not make bad movies and every time he has Denzel in a starring role, the movie is dynamite. So, the previous films that they worked on together were Crimson Tide (submarine movie with Gene Hackman) and Man on Fire (kill ‘em all movie with Dakota Fanning). I said that Man on Fire was one of the best movies of the year when it came out and I’m pretty close to delivering similar praise for Déjà Vu.
It is an incredibly smart thriller with sci-fi physics but you completely buy into everything. It is right up there with the Terminator movies, the Back to the Futures and Frequency as far as really pushing the coolness envelope revolving around time travel.
I feel the movie is theater worthy. I judge movies based on how quickly I will buy it on DVD and I will be rushing out to buy it on DVD the first day it is available so Amy can watch it.

Speaking of which, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest comes out on December 5th. I’m already stalking video employees for that one and really, really interested in seeing the third film in the series (due out sometime in 2007).

I’m about three Christmas presents purchased away from being completely finished with my shopping for this year. Eat it, losers! Normally I would be finished by now but we had a few financial delays. I think the kids will all really enjoy their presents. It’s shaping up to be a great holiday.
More soon. Don’t worry, heroes. Even if I’m not updating daily, I’m still here plugging away.

The Life of Ryan

So, I know how I have been talking about how the updates have been scarce. That will probably change soon.
I was commissioned by Arcana Studios to write my second mini-series, which once completed will bring my publishing total to thirteen issues! I have been working like a madman to get the first draft of that series completed and I am almost finished. I think six comic book script issues in 20 days is pretty darn good considering that I am holding down a 40-hour-a-week job and had the Thanksgiving holiday in the middle. When you work at a grocery store, Thanksgiving is a pretty big holiday considering 90% of the holiday revolves around food…

Speaking of which, we all had a good Thanksgiving. We ate too much (who can’t say that?) and spent the holiday in good company. Amy got to partake in all the sales on Black Friday which made her very happy. And we took some time to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house.

There is something inherently magical about Christmas lights. I know it is just glowing filament but standing in the darkened living room in the glow of the tree or in the front yard admiring the house, there is a real sense of calm and tranquility looking at the wonderful glow of the lights. And the kids have all gotten to the age where not only are they are really excited about hanging the lights and getting the house decorated but they can help and offer suggestions on how the place should be decorated. Of course, Alex is ten and kids in his class are starting to make comments about how Anta-Say Aus-Clay isn’t Eal-Ray. I’m planning on digging around on the ‘Net and seeing if I can find that “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause letter.”

Get Your Shop On

It seems like everyone has one day out of the year that they look forward to with giddy excitement. For some it is the Super Bowl, maybe the BCS Championship. Wrestlemania. 2-for-1 lap dances at the Jiggly Room. To each his own, whatever it is. For me it depends on what big movie is coming out that year.
But for my wife Amy, the biggest day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. This day is Amy’s Super Bowl. She gears up for it, begins cardio-training, everything to get ready. About halfway through October, she begins to itch at the thought of it. On Thanksgiving, she gets the newspaper with all the sale circulars in them and plots her route. Then she is out of the house by five a.m.
It’s been her ritual for as far back as I can remember. My job is to stay at home and babysit the kids, which means I get to avoid all of the chaos—which is probably best because you couldn’t horsewhip me into a Wal-Mart on Black Friday. No way. Thank goodness I’m working in a grocery store so I can get the day off and take care of the kids. That day is the slowest day of the year because, let’s face it, if you need food the day after Thanksgiving, you are in a world of hurt.
I have friends (a pair of brothers) that typically go to the Black Friday sales. The older one goes just to screw with people. He’ll let his brother get like an aisle away, then come sprinting around the corner, rushing up to him out of breath, and make some sort of insane (and very audible) statement. “Hurry, they’ve got 27” TVs over in the electronics for 50 bucks! But they’ve only got like ten of them left!” And then he proceeds to sprint toward electronics. All of the sheep that were crowded around within earshot hear “TVs for 50 bucks” and there is an inevitable stampede towards the televisions.
If you are shopping in pairs that weekend, give it a shot. I think it would be worth the price of admission to see how many people get mad at the managers when they explain there are no TVs for $50.00!
Hopefully, Black Friday will be the last of our shopping. I’ve always been one of those people that have my shopping finished in October. I figure that the holidays are stressful enough. Best to alleviate the strain as much as possible. Good luck to everyone on the 24th. Get your shop on.

An Important Update

So some big announcements for the heroes and faithful of the Foley Nation.

1) I know that updates on the blog have been scarce and those that need the daily update are probably itching like crack addicts. Don’t worry. I’m still here. I have been given an assignment for my second comic book mini-series, so I have been hell bent for leather to get that assignment under by belt and shipped into my boss. So needless to say, that has been taking up a large portion of my time.

2) Over the weekend, the Foley Family became proud enlistees of the Wii Army. Amy stood in line for about three hours to purchase a Nintendo Wii. Our Wal-Mart got twenty systems and Amy was nineteenth in line.
We went ahead and gave the system to the kids and explained that this was a major part of their Christmas. Amy wanted to give the system to the kids before the massive advertising onslaught hit, so it would be a major surprise.
It worked out really nice because the boys had no clue that I had been saving overtime pay to finance this beast. It was a real surprise because we hadn’t talked about the system at all. We figured that if a bunch of kids got it at school and were talking about it, then the kids would come back and ask to buy one. But what if I hadn’t saved up the money for it or we couldn’t find one?
So it was a big preemptive strike that worked out great in the long run. No buyer’s remorse. Very cool. More updates on that later.

3) And yes, since we got the Wii for Christmas, we needed something to put the empty box under… so we put up the Christmas tree. And no, before you ask, November 19th is not the earliest we’ve waited to put up the tree…

More soon!

Amy's Big Test

There is the old saying that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. And there are hundred clichés that go along with that. Stop and smell the roses. Life is the journey not the destination. And so on and so forth. We’ve all read the bumper stickers.

Several months ago, Amy made the decision to leave the legal field and enter the medical field. She is going today to take a general knowledge test to see if she qualifies for the Vo-Tech LPN program. The goal is to get through that program on the nine-month fast track, possibly take a job as an LPN while completing her schooling to become an RN, and then working as a RN making the fat money.

The goal is for her to start school in January and this entrance test is the first step on her journey. I don’t have any worries. I figure this is the test to make sure you are literate and can count past ten without having to take your shoes off. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no problems. Hey, I’m updating pretty regularly on this blog so I’m sure I will keep everyone in the loop.

What a Weekend...

I’m glad to say that I am getting my routine down. Every day at work, I get two 15-minutes breaks and an hour for lunch. I’ve been using those breaks to work on these blog entries and I think the process is working pretty well. Rather than just sitting in the break room twiddling my thumbs, I’m actually getting stuff done. Just with the breaks, that’s around 2 ½ extra hours in the week to work on blog entries or my comic book scripts. Holy cow! Calculate in the lunch hours and it’s almost enough to qualify as a part-time job. So on to the adventures of Ryan…

It was another good week in the NFL, Jason’s party was fun, and I had a relaxing weekend. It’s always nice to power down on Sunday and just relax. We are still trying to get Lauren’s room situation under control but we aren’t in a big hurry. One step at a time I guess. I’ve told Amy that we can’t put the Christmas Tree up until Lauren’s room is finished. (Gives her a little extra motivation to get it done.) This probably means that we will be decorating for Christmas next weekend. I can’t remember a year where the Christmas Tree wasn’t up by Black Friday. I can’t see any reason why this year will be any different.

Man, money is tight this year though. I mean, I’m not a Scrooge or a Grinch. I love giving presents when I can but this year… Whew, money is really tight. We have all the immediate family draw names out of a hat and then we do a gift exchange to save money. I really wished I could have drawn “Ryan” and saved myself the $20. I know it is only $20 per gift but technically it is $40 because I had to draw for me and Amy… Single income means that I am buying two gifts. That’s like half a days work for me! I’d rather put that money towards my kids’ gifts since this year is going to be pretty shallow.

In the end, it is the thought that counts. Being able to open a present on Christmas morning is a really big deal for my family. So if it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m really not. I just really, really hate being poor.

I know Mom is looking down on me from Heaven right now and scowling. Mom refused to let me say I was “poor.” She would always tell me that I may be “low income” but I’m not “poor.” I have a wife that loves me. I have a great marriage. I have three wonderful kids who are extremely well behaved, well adjusted, and incredibly loving. I have my health. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs.

And when my biggest problem in life is figuring out how we are going to finance the Nintendo Wii, then things aren’t all that bad. I mean, as far as problems go, mine are pretty far down on the list.

Still, nabbing a powerball jackpot would alleviate about 90% of my stress. I had to put a new power steering unit in the Jeep and that wiped out the savings account. It just couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Amy and I are working towards a goal. We knew this year was going to tough with Amy going back to school and me going back to work. But it is for a greater goal. We just have to keep our eyes on the prize and know that better days are right around the corner…

They are right around the corner, right? I’d keep typing but it is hard to type with your fingers crossed.
More soon.

Ahh... That New Movie Smell.

As part of Jason’s birthday presents, I got the family “the hook up” and got an advanced screening of Disney & Pixar’s Cars on DVD. Like all Disney movies, this is a really good film that had me laughing throughout the majority of the movies.
What took my breath away, being a big tech geek, is the animation. Pixar is at the top of their game. I watched the movie for the first time on DVD (Amy took the kids to see it in the theater) and I was glad that I could pause it just to look at all the bells and whistles.
If you go back and look at the tech jump from Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars to Gollum in The Lord of Rings, you have a similar jump from Toy Story to Cars in the technical aspect. The animation is simply unbelievable. And since you have shiny cars with reflective surfaces where you can actually see things in the reflections… Man, it is unbelievable. And given this massive techno-jump, it gives me great hope for Transformers in July 2007. I think the tech is going to give us one heck of an Optimus Prime.
But back to Cars, the animation is incredible and as usual, the film tops out with A-List talent. Owen Wilson stars as Lightning McQueen. Also in the cast is Paul Newman (who deserves some form of voice Oscar), Bonnie Hunt, Michael Keaton, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, George Carlin, Bob Costas, a host of NASCAR voices, and John Ratzenberger (who has been in every Pixar film).
One of the big breakout voices of the film has to belong to Larry the Cable Guy who voices Mater. I think that Larry’s “get-r-done” voice was perfect for Mater and I can’t think of anyone else in Hollywood doing a better job. Plus, I think Larry’s in his fourteenth minute of his fifteen minutes of fame so it’s good that he’ll have royalty checks to fall back on.

I’m sure I will go out and buy this one pretty soon. It is a definite rental. You will get every penny out of it. The kids loved it, Amy and I enjoyed it. I hope everyone else enjoys it as well!

Happy Birthday Jason!

I’m very happy and proud to announce that Jason Todd Foley turns eight years old today, November 3, 2006. His party is tomorrow but we are celebrating tonight with pizza and a special “advanced” viewing of Cars on DVD. Amy already took the kids to see in the theater and I’m anticipating a similar reaction that we had with Over the Hedge.
I worked until 5:00 and daylight wise that puts me home at just the right time for a good lightsaber fight out in the yard with the kids. With Jason still excited with his Jedi cloak (complete with hood), the battles have been fairly intense. We had a battle last night and I have to switch up this time to the double bladed Darth Maul saber to try to fend off both of their attacks.
Even three-year-old Lauren gets into the act but I’m having trouble teaching her to hold her lightsaber only by the handle. I mean seriously, if she ever gets a hold of a real lightsaber, she’s going to cut her hands off! It’s my job to teach her the important things a father is supposed to teach his kids!
Yes, it’s good to be immature sometimes. You never really know which memories are going to stick with your kids growing up but I hope that lightsaber fighting with Dad in the side and front yards will be positive ones thirty years from now…

Trick or Treating

So at Halloween a good time was had by all. We had a Darth Vader, an Anakin Skywalker, and a Care Bear out collecting candy. They now probably are having sugar rushes that could get them to the moon and back.
Probably the best moment of the night was when little Lauren (Age 3) ran into another little girl dressed in a similar Care Bear costume (same style, different bear). The two Care Bears looked each other up and down and then the second Care Bear proceeded to give Lauren a hug.
Even though I am a guy, I still found it to be a pretty tender moment. And when regaling the women at work with the story, I get the involuntary cocking of the head to the side and the long, drawn out, “Awwwww…”
Still, living in the country and in a small town takes away from the larger city element of Halloween. Growing up in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina in the early 80s, we use to trick or treat in packs while Mom & Dad stayed home to pass out candy. You never worried about getting snatched by psychopaths as you and ten other kids ran around the neighborhood in G.I. Joe and Transformer costumes.
Having Mom & Dad drive you around just isn’t really the same in my opinion. Oh well, I don’t have to worry about drugs, crime, or roving gangs on a daily basis so I guess it is a fair trade off.