55 things about my dad

My mom is going to be jealous, but she will have to wait until November for her birthday I guess.  My dad turned 55 today.  The double nickel.  Sammy Hagar's I can't drive 55.  I have told him numerous times I could never ever repay him for all he has done for me. The list is too long to name. He really is always there for me, my car, my house, my dogs, my plumbing, etc.  My dad shows his love by doing for others.  He is not the sentimental type.  He is getting a little bit softer now in his grey hair years though.  Here are 55 reasons to proclaim what a great person and dad he is with a few memories in there too.

1.  He is SO funny.  He is a big cut up everywhere we go.  He used to give the name "Griswold, Clampett, Drysdale" at restaurants for our table waits.
2.  He used to tell me I could not date until I was 28.  I guess I can date as of now. 
3.  He has a value for classics.  Look in his garage. 
4.  He can bust a move.  From the Twist, Macarena, Cupid Shuffle, you name it.  I will never forget when he demonstrated the Cupid Shuffle to me in our kitchen at breakfast one morning.  I had no idea he knew it. Our father daughter dance to My Girl was also pretty entertaining.
5.  He makes to do lists.  And checks them off.  This is where I get my OCD from.
6.  His garage is labeled and the attic is alphabetized.
7. He wore sunglasses in my wedding to hide his emotions.
8. He loves to sing karaoke.  Also where I get this.  Song of choice: "Crazy" by Patsy Cline.  Dogs howl :)
9. He built my mom's dogs a "dog condo."  Heat, electricity, ceiling fans, the works. Who does that?
10. He can invent anything.
11. He can hang custom built 70 pound pinterest inspired window mirrors in no time.
12.  He is the only person I have ever witnessed to "spank the baby" on a diving board, all the while shaving the hair off the back of his thigh.
13.  You could eat off of his cars.
14.  You could eat off of his lawnmowers.  No really, he waxes them.
15.  He dives in the pool with his sunglasses on and they fall off every time.  I get to swim down and retrieve them.
16.  He is impatient.  Just like me.
17.  He hates clutter.  Just like me.
18.  He washed my car nearly every weekend when I came home from college.
19.  He has only missed changing my oil in my car once since I was 16.
20.  He uses his work vacation days to do projects like my tile at my house.
21.  He uses his work vacation days to remodel his mother's house.
22.  He used to drink sweet tea out of huge measuring cups at Sunday dinners at my Mamaw's house.
23.  He bought his dad a goat (Billy Tom Clinton) and a pot bellied pig (Maybelline) for Christmas presents. The pictures and videos are priceless.
24.  He once entered a woman less beauty contest for charity, donning fake nails, pantyhose and his mother's bra stuffed with half Nerf footballs. And he won.
25.  He has the neatest handwriting. 
26. He asked me every day after school "Did you learn anything or do you gotta go back tomorrow?"
27.  We saw the ocean together for the first time when I was 4 at Daytona.
28.  If you see him in Wal-mart, he may embarrass you over the loud speaker.  Or in a hospital even. He knows how to work them all.
29.  He wore the biggest smile on his face during both of my college graduations.
30.  He drove his precious 55' Chevy on a farm and it nearly got stuck all because I wanted him to drive me up to the aisle for my wedding.
31.  He made sure to wipe it off before getting me out to get a laugh out of everyone.
32.  He finds a new hobby every 5 years, adding to his old ones.
33.  He has a DJ business on the side and loves to have a microphone in his hand. 
34.  He really has never liked sports.  But he watches football with my mom because he is sweet.
35.  He once dressed up as a UT football player at the Bledsoe Dunlap game.  He made the news and the yearbook.
36.  He washed the paint off of his very first car because he washed it every single day.
37.  He knows everyone.  Literally he does.  "Oh, your Tom's daughter."
38.  My childhood memories consist of going to car shows almost every weekend with my mom and dad.
39.  His favorite color is chrome.
40.  His favorite Christmas song is "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" and he will sing it daily during the holiday season.
41.  He is the worst fisherman known to man.  His stories will have you crying from laughing.  Sunk a knife and a boat are a couple off the top of my head.
42.  He was my landlord for 7 years after buying me a house to live in while I was in college and grad school. He always mowed my grass. 
43.  He has no idea what rest, naps, or relax means.
44.  His favorite show is the Barrett Jackson car auction.
45.  He will never get a clean plate for dessert.  Just pile it on top of the remaining spaghetti sauce or chicken and dumplins.  "It all ends up in the same place."
46.  He has both fallen off and gotten stuck on top of our roof.
47.  The only time he has flown is to the Barrett Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. 
48.  He would help anyone he could out (unless they are a "foreigner" and even then he might would)
49.  He could have made millions in all the car repairs and borrowing of tools he has done for other people over the years.
50.  He can splice fiber optics, fix cars, and build almost anything.  But he cannot work a computer, iPod, TV, DVD player, or cell phone without IMMENSE education first.
51. He once bid on and won 3 big screen TV's on Ebay on accident.  That was fun to fix.
52.  Don't touch his car.  He may scream really loud and then blame it on a bee.
53.  He used to love to give me wet willies in my ear.  Once I stood and watch him come up behind a girl he thought was me.  She turned and gave him the weirdest look and I just waved at him.  Got him back for a change!
54.  He cares more for others needs than his own and stops at nothing until they are done.
55.  He is MY dad.  We may have our differences and scary similarities so we don't always get along but I would not trade him for any other. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy.

Love your little girl,

April