A Fish Tale with "Reel Fishermen"

I gotta give props to the 

fisherman of the world…

the salty men and women 

who catch our fish dinners.

Being a "reel fisherman" ain't easy duty…

heading out to sea before sunrise,

braving the wind, waves, and weather,

handling bait and hooks,

stringing fishing poles and casting lines,
cutting and cleaning their catch,

washing fish blood and gore from the boat floor

need I go on?

I actually saw first hand what it takes to bring home the Fish.
While in Cabo 

we got hooked up for a day of fishing.

We were determined by hook 
or by lure
to be fisherman and

 catch our fish dinner that night.

And

we were almost like "Reel Fisherman" except we didn't 

drive the boat,

get the  bait,

bait the hook,

string the poles,

cast the lines,

deal with fish guts

need I go on?

I gotta give props to the reel fisherman onboard 

who made us look good 
and handed us the pole

when it came to reeling in the fish.

way to go, Esperanza

And props to PabloA 

for holding on to me 

while I was reeling in a really "reely" BIG one 
before I became Katfishbait.

(okay, maybe that's a stretch...
you can take that with a grain of salt, tartar sauce or guacamole.) 

Anywhoooooo……

As you know... 
every good fish tale

 ends with a big catch.  

Lucky for us...
the "Reel Fisherman" found where the fish were biting …
and we pulled them in faster than you could 

shoot them in a barrel (who does that for real?)

And Dugal reeled in our fish dinner...
a 55 lb Amberjack 
(or maybe it  was 25 lb.
Remember, this is a fish tale.)

poor fishy

So from sea to table...
our fish couldn't have been fresher.

(props to PabloA, Dugal, and Jorge

 who cooked us 3 different fish versions in our 

 Amberjack Cook-off.)

We weren't too worried, however,

if we had come up empty fish-handed.
(no problema, amigo)

We would just stop by Mickey's cart near the marina...

 and Mickey and Dugal 

would cook us up the best burger and hot dog 
in all of San Jose de Cabo…

and then of course...

we'd drink like fish.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

As English superstition/tradition has it...

in order for you to pocket
a month of Good Luck,

you must say 

 "rabbit"

OUT LOUD...
three times.

(I don't invent these rules...I just enforce them.)

And put away that lame rabbit's foot you carry around in your pocket.

A rabbit's foot won't bring you luck....

unless you can authenticate that it is...

the left hind foot of
a rabbit that was shot or captured in a cemetery
during a full moon...then maybe.

Anywhoooooo.......

In keeping with the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday...

3 O'Hares

Rabbit

Rabbit

Rabbit

Happy March 1st 

Happy Colintine's Day

Happy Colintine's Day!

To our family….February 14th is known as

 Colintine's Day...
Colin's Birthday and Valentine's Day.

2 sweet goodies in 1...

kinda like a chocolate molten lava cake 

with a buried 

chocolately treasure.
yes, please

27 Valentines Days ago, 

I was shot in the heart...
and

it was love at first sight.

It didn't take Colinboy long to enter the world.

From my 1st labor pain to holding him in my arms…

it was under 3 hours.  

PaulA barely had time to get on the hospital scrubs over his RED sweater. 

(Leave it to PaulA to realize at 2AM

 that it was Valentines Day…

and wear RED.)

With the 0-60mph labor pains I was experiencing, 

I could only see RED.

Anywhooo…….

Colinboy 

(a nickname I should probably give up at this point?)

was an easy baby…and grew to be my 

easy going…fun-loving…

funny...and loving…

determined...

make you smile…

sweetheart of a son.

No wonder Colin was born on 
Valentines' Day.

I recently came across a picture 

from a family trip we took to Disney World 

and wondered... 

what are Colin and Cinderella talking about???

It sure looks serious.

Maybe Colin was saying to Cinderella:  

"I'll  be back in 15 years...

to take you out…

or 

maybe Cinderella was saying to Colin 

in true Disney form: 

"never stop dreaming."

(If so 'Ella….Colin took your advice.)

From the bass guitar he wanted for Christmas 
when he was in the 6th grade...

to attending Berklee College of Music... 
to playing bass guitar with country artist, Dustin Lynch.

Even though I won't see Colin on his birthday,

I will see him 4 days later

when he plays with Dustin Lynch on

Feb. 18th in Estero, FL 

on the Luke Bryan tour.

woo hoo

Happy Birthday to my son

who

in my heart of hearts

will always be 

my Colinboy.

Happy Colintine's Day

and

Happiest of Birthdays to Colin(boy) 

xoxox

Gone to the Dogs

Are you looking forward to the Super Bowl?

Maybe you don't have a dog in the hunt…

so you don't really care about the BIG game. 

PaulA and I are VERY interested in the Super Bowl this year.

For us, the New England Patriots are 

top dog…

even with their deflated balls.

Should you not have a dog in the hunt…

there are always commercials to watch 

and snacks to eat.

It's all about the food,

'bout the food, 

not football.

I'm actually very surprised that some commercials have already aired...

and this year it seems the commercials have gone to the dogs...

in more ways than one.

Have you seen the Budweiser "Lost Dog" commercial?

I won't spoil it for you…

but the lost puppy gets rescued by the 

Clydesdales. 

 schWin 

Then there is the 

GoDaddy "Journey Home" commercial.

Again, I won't spoil it for you...

but the puppy finds his way home only to be 

sold online by his owners.  

Fail

The GoDaddy commercial received so much negative criticism that the company pulled the ad early saying the brand 

"missed the mark."  

Ummm... I think they meant to say it 

"pissed the mark." 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist/animal activist…

to realize the commercial wasn't going to pass the 

sniff test 

with Doggy Q Public.  

Some people love dogs as much or more than their own kids.

Right now...

the person responsible for that ad is in the doghouse 

or 

demoted to yard detail 

picking up puppy poop.

Anywhoooo….

The upside of the GoDaddy criticism is that the company has 

already gotten a lot of attention.  

And they say 

"even negative attention is better than no attention."

(just ask a middle child.)

Wait, there's an ad idea….

how about:

a  lost middle child is rescued and then sold on a 

website designed by GoDaddy?

Now that would be funny….at least 

to me.

Give Kat a raise.

whoop whoop

Deflate-Gate

It all started with Watergate…

Former President Clinton had Monicagate,

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner had Weinergate, 

Mark Zuckerberg had Hoodiegate,

and

who could forget Tigergate?  

Tiger wishes we all would.

The flood gates have re-opened.

 If you haven't heard…

where the heck ya been…

11 of the 12 balls used by the Patriots during their blowout AFC Championship win against the Indianapolis Colts were found to be under deflated by two pounds of 

air pressure per square inch (PSI).

And because Brady had previously gone on record that he likes his balls under deflated….

dum dum dum dum...

we have 

Deflate-gate.

Anywhoooo……

With the Super Bowl only a week away,

 the media keeps putting Tom Brady's balls in our face.

balls, balls, balls

It's hard not to groin 

with all this talk of balls.

Poor Brady had to stand in a press conference  

and have his ego deflated (along with his balls.)

  It had to be uncomfortable.

I'm surprised he wasn't more testy talking about his soft balls.

At this point deflate-gate is still under investigation.

I think we should wait before we sack Brady 

for his soft balls.

At this time we don't know…

who was handling Brady's balls before the game, 

but we probably have some idea who was handling them after the game.

sorry...couldn't help going there.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick 

continue to plead ignorance. 

“I have always played within the rules,” 

Brady insisted at a Thursday press conference.

If Brady was smart…

instead of pleading ignorance…

he should plead 

SHRINKAGE.

It worked for George Costanza.

Are ya ready for some football?

Happy Bday Chelsea, 29 and holding

Happy 29th Birthday 

Chelsea

29 and holding…

(holding onto those roaring 20's)

It's so hard to believe Chelsea is turning the same age 

that PaulA and I were  when we had her 

back in Jacksonville, FL.

(refrain from doing the math) 

It was an exciting time and at the same time, 

a scary time.

One moment PaulA and I were a couple of yuppies...

working and just thinking about ourselves

and the next moment 

we were responsible for another human's well being.  

Because kids don't come with a set of instructions...

it's hard to be totally ready.

Apparently there's more to it than getting the car seat and crib.

Unless you've had a child before...

I think the "art of child rearing"

is something you learn

 as you go.

That is probably why the first child is considered 

the "test child,"

but 29 years later…

I would say Chelsea passed the test

or maybe PaulA and I passed. 
gotta love a True/False Test...50/50 chance 

I will always remember those early days and nights
with Chelsea…

being up with her in the middle of the night...

rocking her in the chair…

just the 2 of us...
getting to know my new bundle of love …

staring into her sweet face and being in total awe 

of the miracle of her birth.

The connection I felt for her was instant 
love. 
fierce.
and forever.

Those first weeks with Chelsea quickly turned into years…

29 of them.

We blinked

and 
Chelsea had grown into a beauty 
inside and out 

and 
as sweet as 
"Tupelo Honey."  

(the song Chelsea danced to with her father at her wedding on 9.27.14.)

Anywhooo….

Chelsea's 29th birthday is extra special
because

 it's not only her last birthday in her 20's, 

but it is her first birthday as 

Mrs. Chelsea Hyatt
aka
Mrs. Austin Hyatt

So as Chelsea turns 29 
and holding…

I'm remembering when we, too, were

29 and holding

our little treasure.
xoxox

Hare's to a Happy New Year 2015

Happy New Year 

2015 

is known as the "Year of the Goat" or 

"Year of the Sheep"

in the Chinese calendar.

I prefer sheep.

I think most people would rather be associated with

sheep than goat…unless of course, you are talking 

"black sheep" or "sheep in wolf's clothing."

Sweet Wishy Brianna was born in 1991, 

which is also a "Year of the Sheep."

She's neither the "black sheep of the family" or 

a "sheep in wolf's clothing"…

so that pretty much makes her the goat.

hehe Bri

Anywhoooo……..

It's the first of the year

and also the first of the month...

so you know what that means.

Time for the

 Parade of Rabbits.

After a big night last night,

I think you deserve 

a hare of the dog that bit you.

Rabbit,

Rabbit,

Rabbit

Hare's to a great year ahead.