25 things about Denny Ross

Recently, notes including 25 random things about yourself have been all the rage on facebook. I conformed to the masses and did one on myself, but I feel like my dad deserves one as well. He is such a character that I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't include 25 random tidbits about Dennis Edward Ross.

1. He went to school in Miami to be a marine biologist, came back to go to school at SIUE, owned a bowling alley, and is now a carpenter.
2. He is one of the few people I know who have catch phrases worthy of repeating (e.g. "Hey, hey now we're cooking," "hey, baby you/we/he/she/I be stylin")
3. He curses a lot when my friends around. I think to look cool.
4. He is a subscriber to American Snowmobiler and National Geographic Adventures.
5. His favorite shirt is a denim House of Blues shirt that he wears all the time with jeans.
6. He has recently become obsessed with buying vests (down, sweater, fleece, you name it) and shows them off to me when I come. He has asked me on numerous occasions if he looks good in vest. Yes, Denny. Of course.
7. He loves our dog, Loki, more than I will ever know. That is his favorite child. Even though she is hell on four legs, he still thinks she can do no wrong. She goes with him EVERYWHERE and sleeps outside his door every night, but on most nights she sleeps in my parents room because my dad will plead that he won't be able to sleep otherwise.
8. He is obsessed with eBay and is always getting weird packages. He buys "cat eyes" on a monthly basis.
9. Instead of listening to the radio, he likes to listen to his iPod on headphones in the car.
10. He's been known to keep a journal.
11. When we have a cleaning day he keeps a towel in his pocket and dances around shaking his butt to make the towel sway.
12. He brags about his dancing skills, but really he only has about 3 moves.
13. He is obsessed with lucky charms. My mom once commented that she is always finding good luck charms in his pockets when she does the laundry. Just a few months ago, he gave me an Indian choker that he had sought out on eBay that he claimed was VERY lucky.
14. He got married in a peach tuxedo and a Burt Reynolds mustache.
15. When we are driving home from dinner, he likes to do what my mom calls fart torture and will pass gas and lock the windows.
16. We call him the Rolodex of jokes because he has a joke for every occasion and every subject.
17. He is shorter than both my mom and me.
18. He laughs at all of my jokes.
19. When my brother and I used to sleep really late, he would come in our rooms with a blow horn. Thank goodness that thing pooped out.
20. He loves to karaoke. I have a vivid memory of going to a karaoke place with my parents when I was younger and my dad sang Great Balls of Fire and Strokin' (his number one favorite karaoke song in which he likes to freestyle and say stuff like "Mark be strokin' in the bathroom, Jeff be strokin' all the time, Mike was strokin' last night). He and I once sang "Summer Nights" from Grease and got a standing ovation.
21. He wishes he was Italian because he is always trying to act Italian.
22. He is the only non-Asian in the house and has no problem constantly cracking Asian jokes.
23. One time when my brother was in high school, he threw a big fit because his friend and he thought that a Ouji board was real. My dad told them to prove it to him, but they got mad at him because he proceeded to stand up and say "If this is real strike me down right now!" and laughed.
24. My first day of freshman year of high school I was hysterically crying and threatening never to go back and my parents were trying to console me. My dad disappeared and came back with a hat that he probably had gotten free somewhere and said "here, babe. I want you to have this." He desperately tries to do anything to make me feel better any time I'm sad.
25. That man never is without a smile on his face. Seriously.

I hope anyone who is reading this and knows Denny gets a good laugh.
V

TGIF!

Thank goodness it is Friday (even though I didn't have too rough of a week). I took a mental health day on Tuesday and skipped my class to go hang out with Dillon. We were talking on gchat about how hungry we were and I told him we should go to lunch. He asked if I was crazy, I said of course and then I left to pick him up. Haha. We went out to lunch and took a nice long nap. Pretty much a perfect Tuesday.

My parents are coming up to Charleston tomorrow for the day. I'm finally getting a bed frame for my bed and Denny is going to hang some pictures and shelves that I got recently. My apartment is finally starting to come together. I mean, I've only been living here for a semester. I have some other stuff coming in the mail that I ordered so I'm anxious to add them to my new and improved apartment. It is currently the bare minimum. I'm talking bare, bare. The entire western wall of my apartment is wood paneling....sick. I don't have a chair, only a couch which means no kitchen table. That's what my coffee table is for! And forget about central heat or air. Dishwasher, well, that's just a luxury that I don't have the pleasure of enjoying. Oh, yeah and the little heater in my room overheats and shuts off in the middle of the night so I don't even bother with it. I just bundle up and I've actually gotten used to it. I'm pretty much just excited to add some flair to the a-p-t.

Happy weekend,
V

Luck of the Japanese...

I went home this weekend for my family's annual Japanese dinner. My mom and I prepared for it all day on Saturday. Apparently, Saki bombs are a new addition to the tradition. Dustin was the Saki bomb fairy and poured them every 10 minutes I would say. This was the first time that Dillon attended. I was a little worried because he isn't too adventurous when it comes to Asian cuisine, but he said he liked all of it. I helped a little with everything, but this year I did all of the sushi on my own (at least 10 rolls!).

Last week I had talked to my Grandma on the phone and she was talking about how excited she was to see me when I came into town. She also mentioned something about my numbers coming up in the lottery and Josie (her friend) having something for me. My parents and I went out to lunch with both of them at Olive Garden on Sunday. Before we even got our drinks, Josie handed me a Godiva chocolates box. She said, "It's not much...just a little something for you." I opened the box to find an envelope that said "Miss Vanessa." I pulled the envelope out of the box and it had all of the cash that Josie had won playing my birthday numbers in the Pick 3! $500! I was speechless. I've never been able to figure Josie out and then she does something like this that surprises me even more! She said that they say if you do something nice for someone it will come back to you.

I was so sad coming back to school this weekend. I forgot how much I miss hanging out with my parents. We had so much fun hanging out all weekend.

Stay warm out there,
V