Always listen to your mom

Anybody who has met my family knows we are crazy. Look at the picture above and see the sweet motherly figure, the loving father and adoring son. You might think to yourself, "What a fine looking family". This family holds a secret..... Fast forward from that picture to Monday night.
We joke a lot, we kid each other and play practical jokes. My dad came home from the hospital in 95', he was born without one of the valves in his heart, so the docs decided to put one in before there would be any problems. Anyway, he was home for about a week and I was hanging out with him when he decides to scare me. He was pretending to take a nap in his chair (which he's always done), he takes a deep breath and then kind of slumps over. Being that he was only home from the hospital for a short period of time, this causes his son to stand up and yell "Dad!?!". He thought that was pretty funny and likes to describe the look on my face. This describes the nature of our family. Laughing and joking about the things that make you scared or uncomfortable. The family survival mechanism. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Back to the title of this diatribe, "Always listen to your mom".
"Don't leave your shoes in the middle of the floor"
My mom always used to tell us kids to stop wrestling and rough housing. Childhood friends will recall this as the "Bumping and Jumping" scream from downstairs.
It went something like this. The wrestling would start and we would hear "STOP ALL THAT BUMPING AND JUMPING!!!!!" You are by now asking youself "Where is this all going?" Be patient.
So mom and I are rough housing just a bit as we are prone to do.... it keeps her young.
She turns to get away from me and stumbles over my shoes and goes down. Don't get excited, she's fine and actually she started laughing before I did. I was pretty freaked out. I thought for sure I killed her. She even followed the rule "If you fall make it funny". In all seriousness mom is fine and maybe the rough housing will have to stop for a while. Lesson learned.

Corrections (keep me honest)
Shrek is not Shreck, but Shrek...Big ups to my lab mate for pointing this out.

Towing the line is actually toeing the line. I like using it both ways. Toeing the line implies that you are putting your toes across the line in the face of the company by going against or challenging the rules. Towing the line as I was using it means picking up the company line and carrying it.

Last but not least...Gadfly
In another friend's Blog, he referred to me as a Gadlfy. " I was talking with two colleagues last night about blogging. One has recently taken the plunge, and is doing a great job so far with amusing cultural references (he's something of a gadfly in that respect, in a nice way). "
I was a little taken aback by what he said, but I did a little research and came up with a piece by Plato called
The Apology of Socrates. Here is something that I think describes what he was referring to.
....you will not easily find a successor to me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by God; and the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. You will not easily find another like me...I dare say that you may feel out of temper (like a person who is suddenly awakened from sleep), and you think that you might easily strike me dead... and then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless God in his care of you sent you another gadfly.
'Nuff said