My Daddy is My Fav'rite Pal!

Happy birthday, Daddy! I won't say how old he is today, but next year his age will start with a 6 and end with a 0.

My Daddy is wonderful. When I was little, I said he was "big and strong and can do ANYTHING." Now I know he's "Big and strong and can do ALMOST ANYTHING." Still an amazing guy!

My dad is a fix-it, work-with-your-hands kind of guy. He has a shop in the garage, and builds model sailplanes and things for the house. Recently, he built cabinets for the downstairs kitchen and bathroom in their house, as well as shelves for the food storage room. He's also built a really fancy roll-top desk (I saw Norm make one on The New Yankee Workshop, and Dad's is so much better--really), a turning bookshelf, bed frames, bed side tables, and on and on. He's amazing!

Dad's favorite airplane is a P-38 Lightning. It makes me happy, because it's easily identifiable and I can always tell what it is. (Thanks, Dad!) Every time I see one (or rather, a picture of one), I think of him!

Daddy also likes cars. Especially yellow cars. When he was in college, he had a bug, and he had the shop paint it the brightest yellow they had. (He never had any problems with forgetting where he parked!) He wanted a yellow BMW Z3, but they stopped making Z3s. Then he wanted a yellow Mini Cooper, but they stopped making yellow ones this year. Yellow Ferarris are always on the list, however. Mom gave him a small one for Christmas one year. (Really small...) Vroom vroom! If Honda made yellow as a standard color, he would probably have a yellow car right now. He loves Hondas. Mom can have any car she wants--as long as it's a Honda. It's all his fault I have a Honda Civic right now!

Daddy likes to fix things. He analyzes things and turns the problem around and around until he can figure it out. He knows what kind of glue is best to glue things together--super glue, epoxy, wood glue, hot glue... He fixes things the right way the first time, so there's no need for duct tape!

I love my Daddy. I'm glad he taught me things like always keeping promises (because that's what a promise is), working with my hands (even if I may choose a different medium from wood shop), art (even if his favorite is photography and I do more drawing), how to use a computer and do desktop publishing (which has been an awesome help in my life), and managing money (get out of debt!). I know I can go to him for advice and he'll always give me an honest answer (you never have to wonder what he's thinking!)

I love you, Daddy! Happy birthday!