Crying over spilt organic soy milk from free range cows...
Well, it happened today. Five individuals that know how to read and didn't drink the liberal kool-aid made a decision. A decision, I might add, that shouldn't have even needed to be made. What a shame that the "powers that be" have eroded our rights to the point that someone has to go to the Supreme Court to get a "once and for all" decision that this particular right was indeed a right to begin with.
Of course, I'm talking about the Supreme Court's decision that Americans in good standing have the right to own a handgun. Fortunately, here in Texas we don't have the problem of our political leaders trying to take this particular right away from us.
Of course, the libs are on every news channel crying about how society is going to descend into chaos and we'll all be shooting at each other. Sure... How many of the shootings around involved a person legally possessing a firearm. Very few. Around here, most of the shootings are either criminals shooting, or lately a few honest citizens have evened the score by shooting intruders.
A big case here locally involves a gentleman that shot 2 guys that were robbing his neighbors house. Of course, the libs are crying about these 2 guys being gunned down, but the real story is that they were both illegals from Central America and they had already been deported at least once. Clearly, not a big loss to society. OK, granted, this guy should have stayed in his house and not run out to confront these guys with his gun, but if they had not been here, robbing the house of a guy who was at work earning his living, they wouldn't have been shot. Hopefully the grand jury will no-bill Mr Horn.
I guess time will tell the effects, but I suspect that crime might actually decrease, or at lease not increase from this decision.
Remember this phrase: Those who beat their swords into plowshares will be forever ruled by those who kept their swords.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
It's MY blog...
It's my blog, so I have a few rules.
1. The blog writer gets to make the rules.
2. The blog reader is free to enjoy the things written by the blog writer.
3. Political correctness will not be tolerated.
4. The blog writer gets to change the rules to suit his current whims
5. Blog Readers are free to disagree in the comments section as long as they disagree in a civilized manner.
Of course, this is my blog, which is based on my version of events in my life as they happen. If anyone has a different version, they are welcome to start their own blog.
It's my blog, so I have a few rules.
1. The blog writer gets to make the rules.
2. The blog reader is free to enjoy the things written by the blog writer.
3. Political correctness will not be tolerated.
4. The blog writer gets to change the rules to suit his current whims
5. Blog Readers are free to disagree in the comments section as long as they disagree in a civilized manner.
Of course, this is my blog, which is based on my version of events in my life as they happen. If anyone has a different version, they are welcome to start their own blog.
a rant...
Ok, I'll admit I drive too fast. I don't even know what the speed limits are around here, because it really doesn't matter. I get in the car and drive. That driving style fits in well here - MOST of the time.
Occasionally, some jerk camps out in the left lane driving below the speed limit. Seriously, I understand. People are really in a bind because of fuel prices and they are driving slower to help increase fuel mileage. I get it. PLEASE, just do me a favor... Get out of the damn left lane. Slower cars to the right. The left lanes are for passing. If you are not passing anyone, keep moving to the right. I Houston, there are usually 3, and many times 4 or 5 lanes in each direction, surely you can find one of the right lanes that will suit you.
Lately, the majority of these slowpokes are driving a Prius. And to top it all off, they aren't even looking at the road, they are looking at that darn gauge on the dash telling them their efficiency. Selfish Birkenstock wearing, granola eating, tree hugging *&(%%$&^*^$'s. Typical liberal types. Only concerned about their little deals without regard for the effects on the rest of the people.
The icing on the cake was last week. I left work and drive into town to pick Matthew up from daycare. On the way back out to the suburbs, we were in the HOV lane (2 or more) and the lane was creeping along at a snail's pace. After about 30 minutes, we had made it about 6 miles and we saw the cause of the back-up. It was a hippie woman (probably hairy arm-pits) sitting stalled in her Prius, and she was ALONE. I know the Republic of Kalifornia allows you to drive alone in the HOV lane in a Hybrid, but we don't allow that in Texas. So, she thought she was entitled to ride in the HOV lane in her Prius, but instead she cause the rest of us to be significantly delayed, while belching tons more hydrocarbons than we should have while being stuck in the back-up.
She should have been arrested and as part of her bail, been made to purchase carbon offsets for all of the extra pollution she caused...
Ok, I'll admit I drive too fast. I don't even know what the speed limits are around here, because it really doesn't matter. I get in the car and drive. That driving style fits in well here - MOST of the time.
Occasionally, some jerk camps out in the left lane driving below the speed limit. Seriously, I understand. People are really in a bind because of fuel prices and they are driving slower to help increase fuel mileage. I get it. PLEASE, just do me a favor... Get out of the damn left lane. Slower cars to the right. The left lanes are for passing. If you are not passing anyone, keep moving to the right. I Houston, there are usually 3, and many times 4 or 5 lanes in each direction, surely you can find one of the right lanes that will suit you.
Lately, the majority of these slowpokes are driving a Prius. And to top it all off, they aren't even looking at the road, they are looking at that darn gauge on the dash telling them their efficiency. Selfish Birkenstock wearing, granola eating, tree hugging *&(%%$&^*^$'s. Typical liberal types. Only concerned about their little deals without regard for the effects on the rest of the people.
The icing on the cake was last week. I left work and drive into town to pick Matthew up from daycare. On the way back out to the suburbs, we were in the HOV lane (2 or more) and the lane was creeping along at a snail's pace. After about 30 minutes, we had made it about 6 miles and we saw the cause of the back-up. It was a hippie woman (probably hairy arm-pits) sitting stalled in her Prius, and she was ALONE. I know the Republic of Kalifornia allows you to drive alone in the HOV lane in a Hybrid, but we don't allow that in Texas. So, she thought she was entitled to ride in the HOV lane in her Prius, but instead she cause the rest of us to be significantly delayed, while belching tons more hydrocarbons than we should have while being stuck in the back-up.
She should have been arrested and as part of her bail, been made to purchase carbon offsets for all of the extra pollution she caused...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Summer Sucks...
Summer has arrived in the south. It never really left, more like it sort of just hid around the corner for a couple of weeks. From early April through late October, we see temperatures in the 90's and humidity in that range also. That means that shade provides a little relief, but not much. At we get closer to the middle of summer, the nights are quite warm also, so the morning low temperatures is generally 80 or higher.
I got up at the butt crack of dawn this morning to cut the grass before the heat hit. Ok, it was just before 8:00, but on a Sunday morning, that's early. It was already just over 80 degrees. That's not so bad, but with the sun out and no clouds, it didn't take long to hit 90. I believe it's supposed to settle in around 95 today. Add to that the downpours we get every afternoon lately, and the humidity is quite high also.
Thank God the A/C is running just fine today.
Summer has arrived in the south. It never really left, more like it sort of just hid around the corner for a couple of weeks. From early April through late October, we see temperatures in the 90's and humidity in that range also. That means that shade provides a little relief, but not much. At we get closer to the middle of summer, the nights are quite warm also, so the morning low temperatures is generally 80 or higher.
I got up at the butt crack of dawn this morning to cut the grass before the heat hit. Ok, it was just before 8:00, but on a Sunday morning, that's early. It was already just over 80 degrees. That's not so bad, but with the sun out and no clouds, it didn't take long to hit 90. I believe it's supposed to settle in around 95 today. Add to that the downpours we get every afternoon lately, and the humidity is quite high also.
Thank God the A/C is running just fine today.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day...
Last night I cooked my own Father's day meal, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Dinner was charcoal grilled baby back ribs and beef ribs. Beef ribs are pretty much ignored by most people cooking ribs, but man, they are great. Season them with salt and pepper, nothing else, then grill. Talk about good. Add some baked beans and you're set. I also diced up some tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc, mixed with black beans and some roasted corn (roast frozen corn in the oven), them add some lime juice and a few other things to make a top notch salsa.
We're about to pack up the above salsa and the family and head down to my parents house to spend the afternoon with my Dad and Grandfather. This evening we'll head to the in law's house to celebrate Father's day with them.
Shelly and I are fortunate to have great Dad's. I hope I am able to live up to their examples for my 2 boys.
Last night I cooked my own Father's day meal, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Dinner was charcoal grilled baby back ribs and beef ribs. Beef ribs are pretty much ignored by most people cooking ribs, but man, they are great. Season them with salt and pepper, nothing else, then grill. Talk about good. Add some baked beans and you're set. I also diced up some tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc, mixed with black beans and some roasted corn (roast frozen corn in the oven), them add some lime juice and a few other things to make a top notch salsa.
We're about to pack up the above salsa and the family and head down to my parents house to spend the afternoon with my Dad and Grandfather. This evening we'll head to the in law's house to celebrate Father's day with them.
Shelly and I are fortunate to have great Dad's. I hope I am able to live up to their examples for my 2 boys.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Blogs I read...
Ok, after a year or so of blogging, I have 3 or 4 regular readers, and another few that stop by once in a blue moon. Actually, there are more than that. I noticed I had a reader from Sao Paulo Brazil and another from somewhere in India last week. Hopefully this provides some measure of entertainment, or at least a break from the work you should be doing...
So, the question is: What does MELackey read when he's cruising the web? Well, here are a few of the blogs and other sites I peruse on a fairly regular basis.
The Adventures of Tioga and George. I came across George on a camping website I like to read. I've been following him almost daily since late in 2004. He has an interesting story about beating the odds and surviving cancer. The day he was declared to be in remission, he bought and RV, moved out of his apartment, and hit the road in search of adventure. The proverbial "sucking the marrow out of life". George has this amazing ability to connect to locals wherever he is. He spends a good bit of time in Mexico, and is in Israel now looking for adventure in the land of his ancestors.
Our Odyssey I also found these guys on the camping website. Click the Home tab on their website and read a little of their background. Basically they travel to each corner of the US (and places beyond) in their converted Neoplan Bus. They are "full-timers". The are quite service oriented people, devoting a great deal of time and personal resources to helping the Red Cross with disaster relief. Their blog is probably one of the most complete, informative reads around about an amazing list of topics.
I'm Always Mentally on Vacation and This Makes Some Folks Mad. This guy is just a hoot. I found Reggie's blog by just randomly clicking the "Next Blog". I believe one of the first posts I read was about a little boundary dispute he was having with a redneck neighbor (Whatever happened to those mouth breathers anyway, Wreg?). Reggie (aka Wreggie) lives and works in North Carolina, but he belongs on a beach on St Croix. As a matter of fact, he's there this week.
Bumfuzzle Man, you want to talk about adventure, this is it. This couple lived in Chicago and worked as commodities traders. One day, they decided they needed to buy a boat and sail the Caribbean for a year (they weren't boat people beforehand...). Four years later they had circumnavigated the globe. Immediately after upon returning, they ran the 2007 Great American Race, winning the Rookie Division in their '65 Porche 356C. After finishing the race, they completed the outfitting of a 1958 VW Bus and hit the road. Man, the stories they will have to tell their grandchildren one of these days. Be sure to set aside a complete weekend to read their adventures from the beginning.
I need to scram now, but be sure to stay tuned for the rest of the blogs I read regularly. Also, if you don't mind, take a minute to leave me a comment with any suggestions. If you are a regular reader, drop me a note and introduce yourself.
Ok, after a year or so of blogging, I have 3 or 4 regular readers, and another few that stop by once in a blue moon. Actually, there are more than that. I noticed I had a reader from Sao Paulo Brazil and another from somewhere in India last week. Hopefully this provides some measure of entertainment, or at least a break from the work you should be doing...
So, the question is: What does MELackey read when he's cruising the web? Well, here are a few of the blogs and other sites I peruse on a fairly regular basis.
The Adventures of Tioga and George. I came across George on a camping website I like to read. I've been following him almost daily since late in 2004. He has an interesting story about beating the odds and surviving cancer. The day he was declared to be in remission, he bought and RV, moved out of his apartment, and hit the road in search of adventure. The proverbial "sucking the marrow out of life". George has this amazing ability to connect to locals wherever he is. He spends a good bit of time in Mexico, and is in Israel now looking for adventure in the land of his ancestors.
Our Odyssey I also found these guys on the camping website. Click the Home tab on their website and read a little of their background. Basically they travel to each corner of the US (and places beyond) in their converted Neoplan Bus. They are "full-timers". The are quite service oriented people, devoting a great deal of time and personal resources to helping the Red Cross with disaster relief. Their blog is probably one of the most complete, informative reads around about an amazing list of topics.
I'm Always Mentally on Vacation and This Makes Some Folks Mad. This guy is just a hoot. I found Reggie's blog by just randomly clicking the "Next Blog". I believe one of the first posts I read was about a little boundary dispute he was having with a redneck neighbor (Whatever happened to those mouth breathers anyway, Wreg?). Reggie (aka Wreggie) lives and works in North Carolina, but he belongs on a beach on St Croix. As a matter of fact, he's there this week.
Bumfuzzle Man, you want to talk about adventure, this is it. This couple lived in Chicago and worked as commodities traders. One day, they decided they needed to buy a boat and sail the Caribbean for a year (they weren't boat people beforehand...). Four years later they had circumnavigated the globe. Immediately after upon returning, they ran the 2007 Great American Race, winning the Rookie Division in their '65 Porche 356C. After finishing the race, they completed the outfitting of a 1958 VW Bus and hit the road. Man, the stories they will have to tell their grandchildren one of these days. Be sure to set aside a complete weekend to read their adventures from the beginning.
I need to scram now, but be sure to stay tuned for the rest of the blogs I read regularly. Also, if you don't mind, take a minute to leave me a comment with any suggestions. If you are a regular reader, drop me a note and introduce yourself.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Like chocolate pudding, scraped across too much ham...
ok, I guess that tag line needs some explanation... It's from the Veggie Tales video "Lord of the Beans" Billboy used that phrase to describe that he was feeling stretched (tired).
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Matthew's toe is healing, although it was a little strange that the dead end fell off last night while he was at the in-laws house. He didn't notice it, and he tracked blood all over their light colored carpet. The good news is that it will have a little bit of a flat leading edge, but should look close to normal when the nail grows back.
Shelly is feeling much better, which is good. She was really in pain over the weekend and Monday night, to the point she was in tears and could barely move. Not good when you have a 4 week old that is nursing... Thankfully our mothers each took a day and stayed here with her so I could go to work.
I make it a point not to mention things about my work on the blog, but lets just say that we're very busy lately and I'm feeling a little stretched trying to balance the increased attention both family and work are needing. Work needs to be done as people are depending on me, but at the same time, things at home need to be done also (and here I am blogging - Katie said I had to...).
Anyway, I just wanted to post that things look like they are going to be getting back to normal pretty soon, thanks to the prayers and support of friends and family.
I need to scram now. Maid day is tomorrow and like always, the house needs to be straight before they can clean it. With all of the craziness over the last couple of weeks, we've had to postpone them a couple of times, and the house could really use a visit by the maids.
Barring any wild happenings, I promise the next post will be more in line with what you are used to from me. There have been a few interesting things and observations that I have in mind as great blog fodder. Stay tuned...
ok, I guess that tag line needs some explanation... It's from the Veggie Tales video "Lord of the Beans" Billboy used that phrase to describe that he was feeling stretched (tired).
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Matthew's toe is healing, although it was a little strange that the dead end fell off last night while he was at the in-laws house. He didn't notice it, and he tracked blood all over their light colored carpet. The good news is that it will have a little bit of a flat leading edge, but should look close to normal when the nail grows back.
Shelly is feeling much better, which is good. She was really in pain over the weekend and Monday night, to the point she was in tears and could barely move. Not good when you have a 4 week old that is nursing... Thankfully our mothers each took a day and stayed here with her so I could go to work.
I make it a point not to mention things about my work on the blog, but lets just say that we're very busy lately and I'm feeling a little stretched trying to balance the increased attention both family and work are needing. Work needs to be done as people are depending on me, but at the same time, things at home need to be done also (and here I am blogging - Katie said I had to...).
Anyway, I just wanted to post that things look like they are going to be getting back to normal pretty soon, thanks to the prayers and support of friends and family.
I need to scram now. Maid day is tomorrow and like always, the house needs to be straight before they can clean it. With all of the craziness over the last couple of weeks, we've had to postpone them a couple of times, and the house could really use a visit by the maids.
Barring any wild happenings, I promise the next post will be more in line with what you are used to from me. There have been a few interesting things and observations that I have in mind as great blog fodder. Stay tuned...
Monday, June 09, 2008
Been a rough week...
Although the surgery for Shelly went well last week, we're not quite up to speed yet. Shelly was feeling better Friday, but by Friday night she was having some pain. She went back to see the doctor this morning, but he doesn't seem to think it's anything other than maybe muscle strain. Whatever it is, she is in so much pain she can barely function. Let's hope this passes soon. I'm in the middle of some busy times at work and really need to be there as much as possible. With being on shuttle duty getting Matthew to and from daycare each day, I'm stretched pretty thin. Luckily, our Mothers are around and able to help out.
Matthew's toe is looking pretty rough, but it is healing. Most of the end that's not viable tissue is now hard and black, and is basically about to fall off. At least what is left will heal well enough. I don't know if I mentioned it last week, but both surgeons that looked at it expect the nail to grow back. Definitely an answered prayer on that one, if nothing than for cosmetic reasons.
Keep Shelly in the prayers this week. Taking care of a 4 week old that wants his mommy to feed him every couple of hours isn't easy when she's in so much pain.
Although the surgery for Shelly went well last week, we're not quite up to speed yet. Shelly was feeling better Friday, but by Friday night she was having some pain. She went back to see the doctor this morning, but he doesn't seem to think it's anything other than maybe muscle strain. Whatever it is, she is in so much pain she can barely function. Let's hope this passes soon. I'm in the middle of some busy times at work and really need to be there as much as possible. With being on shuttle duty getting Matthew to and from daycare each day, I'm stretched pretty thin. Luckily, our Mothers are around and able to help out.
Matthew's toe is looking pretty rough, but it is healing. Most of the end that's not viable tissue is now hard and black, and is basically about to fall off. At least what is left will heal well enough. I don't know if I mentioned it last week, but both surgeons that looked at it expect the nail to grow back. Definitely an answered prayer on that one, if nothing than for cosmetic reasons.
Keep Shelly in the prayers this week. Taking care of a 4 week old that wants his mommy to feed him every couple of hours isn't easy when she's in so much pain.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Success!!!
The pediatrician came through today with a surgeon that was able to work us in at 2:30 this afternoon. His opinion was that it was healing well so far, but he wants to see us again in a week or so to see how the tissue at the tip of the toe is doing. He suspects that it isn't viable, but it should be left on for now as a sort of protective layer over the healthy tissue that is under it.
He did tell me that I no longer should dress it every night with ointment, gauze, and complete wrapping of the foot to keep it all covered and protected. The instructions are a couple of band-aids and a sock on the foot to keep everything in place and protected.
A friend of my parents has a son-in-law that is an orthopedist in Baton Rouge. He spoke to one of his friends here in Houston, (also an orthopedist) and that friend called me tonight. He offered to look at it either tomorrow or Friday as a second opinion if we wanted him to. I think we'll take him up on the offer just to be safe. While we're spending Cigna's money, we might as well make sure we get the best care possible.
We looked up all of the bills submitted to them over the last couple of weeks. Did you know a 4 mile ambulance ride with 2 paramedics in Houston is $1,700 while a 40 mile ride with 3 paramedics from Copperas Cove, TX to Temple, TX is only $1,200? Maybe that extra $500 here is for the honkin' ladder truck that showed up with the ambulance last week...
The pediatrician came through today with a surgeon that was able to work us in at 2:30 this afternoon. His opinion was that it was healing well so far, but he wants to see us again in a week or so to see how the tissue at the tip of the toe is doing. He suspects that it isn't viable, but it should be left on for now as a sort of protective layer over the healthy tissue that is under it.
He did tell me that I no longer should dress it every night with ointment, gauze, and complete wrapping of the foot to keep it all covered and protected. The instructions are a couple of band-aids and a sock on the foot to keep everything in place and protected.
A friend of my parents has a son-in-law that is an orthopedist in Baton Rouge. He spoke to one of his friends here in Houston, (also an orthopedist) and that friend called me tonight. He offered to look at it either tomorrow or Friday as a second opinion if we wanted him to. I think we'll take him up on the offer just to be safe. While we're spending Cigna's money, we might as well make sure we get the best care possible.
We looked up all of the bills submitted to them over the last couple of weeks. Did you know a 4 mile ambulance ride with 2 paramedics in Houston is $1,700 while a 40 mile ride with 3 paramedics from Copperas Cove, TX to Temple, TX is only $1,200? Maybe that extra $500 here is for the honkin' ladder truck that showed up with the ambulance last week...
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
VERY full day...
First off, Shelly is home and feeling better. She's watching TV and eating dinner as I type. Three small incisions and a prescription for pain meds and we're good to go. Hopefully everything on that front will continue to go smoothly.
Still no appt for Matthew. I was bounced back and forth all afternoon. Just to save you guys the hassle of reading alll of the details, plastic surgeons and orthopedists apparently don't do toes, and podiatrists and general surgeons don't do anything but refer to one of the others (who don't do toes).
I'll keep trying tomorrow...
It's as if Matthew is the first child ever who had to have part of his toe reconnected.
First off, Shelly is home and feeling better. She's watching TV and eating dinner as I type. Three small incisions and a prescription for pain meds and we're good to go. Hopefully everything on that front will continue to go smoothly.
Still no appt for Matthew. I was bounced back and forth all afternoon. Just to save you guys the hassle of reading alll of the details, plastic surgeons and orthopedists apparently don't do toes, and podiatrists and general surgeons don't do anything but refer to one of the others (who don't do toes).
I'll keep trying tomorrow...
It's as if Matthew is the first child ever who had to have part of his toe reconnected.
Maddening...
I guess I shouldn't complain too much because our healthcare system has worked well for us over the last several weeks. Today I'm running into sort of a roadblock. Shelly is in surgery right now, and that part is hopefully going well. I suppose it's going well as long as no one comes out to the waiting room and looks for me.
The problem is getting Matthew in to see a surgeon about his toe. His pediatrician gave us the names of 4 doctors yesterday, 3 of which are in a practice affiliated with Texas Children's Hospital (TCH). Shelly called their office yesterday afternoon and after explaining the situation, they told her we didn't need them, we need a plastic surgeon, so we were referred to a pediatric plastic surgery practice also affiliated with TCH. It was after 4:30 when she called yesterday, and the lady that answered said everyone was gone for the day and we needed to call back today.
Well, I called them back a little while ago after Shelly was taken into surgery, and after getting the story from me about what happened, I was put on hold and eventually told that toes were not what they did, and I would need to call pediatric general surgery at a certain number - which just so happened to be the group we called yesterday. Great, now we're full-circle...
So, I called General surgery back and they listened to my story and... referred me back to plastic surgery... GRRRR. I "explained" to her that I've had about all of the fun I can stand and I'd like to get off the merry-go-round. She told me that maybe I should call the pediatrician back and ask him who I needed to call, which is when I told her he gave me a printout with their doctor's names and numbers. She put me on hold a few more minutes and said she needed to talk to their manager and would call me back. How much do we bet no one calls back?
I think I'll call the pediatrician's office and see of he will call and intervene on our behalf. Wish us luck... I really don't have time for this BS this week.
I guess I shouldn't complain too much because our healthcare system has worked well for us over the last several weeks. Today I'm running into sort of a roadblock. Shelly is in surgery right now, and that part is hopefully going well. I suppose it's going well as long as no one comes out to the waiting room and looks for me.
The problem is getting Matthew in to see a surgeon about his toe. His pediatrician gave us the names of 4 doctors yesterday, 3 of which are in a practice affiliated with Texas Children's Hospital (TCH). Shelly called their office yesterday afternoon and after explaining the situation, they told her we didn't need them, we need a plastic surgeon, so we were referred to a pediatric plastic surgery practice also affiliated with TCH. It was after 4:30 when she called yesterday, and the lady that answered said everyone was gone for the day and we needed to call back today.
Well, I called them back a little while ago after Shelly was taken into surgery, and after getting the story from me about what happened, I was put on hold and eventually told that toes were not what they did, and I would need to call pediatric general surgery at a certain number - which just so happened to be the group we called yesterday. Great, now we're full-circle...
So, I called General surgery back and they listened to my story and... referred me back to plastic surgery... GRRRR. I "explained" to her that I've had about all of the fun I can stand and I'd like to get off the merry-go-round. She told me that maybe I should call the pediatrician back and ask him who I needed to call, which is when I told her he gave me a printout with their doctor's names and numbers. She put me on hold a few more minutes and said she needed to talk to their manager and would call me back. How much do we bet no one calls back?
I think I'll call the pediatrician's office and see of he will call and intervene on our behalf. Wish us luck... I really don't have time for this BS this week.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Just a short update...
It's late and I'm tired. Funny how when you take a day off work, you end up working almost the same amount of hours by clearing everything up before and after you are out. I left the office at 11:30 tonight (after a brief break to run home for dinner - Mom is here and made a pot roast...).
Anyway, Matthew's appt was ok. His toe looks better, but the doctor said we need to consult with a pediatric surgeon. Shelly called a couple today and ended up being told that what we need isn't a general surgeon, but a pediatric plastic surgeon. I've got the numbers and while Shelly is in surgery tomorrow, I'll be calling to try to get Matthew an appointment with the plastic surgeon to have his toe checked out.
The pediatrician said that more than likely they will look at it and establish a baseline, then have us return in 3-4 weeks to see what it looks like then. Hopefully the dark place on the end of the toe is just bruised tissue that will eventually heal. I guess time will tell.
The good news is that the cut is healing up well enough that Matthew was able to take a real bath tonight with the foot unwrapped and in the tub. I've been bathing him for the last week sitting on a stool in the tub with his foot on the side. That kid loves baths and he was really happy to get to play in the tub tonight.
Shelly's surgery is at 9:30 in the morning, and we have to be there at 8:00 in the morning. This is not supposed to be a major deal, but our current situation with a 4 week old baby makes logistics a little difficult. My Mom came back today to help out with Jonathan. Matthew went down to Shelly's parents house to stay at least until tomorrow night. Hopefully he will be willing to stay there until Wednesday, we'll keep our fingers crossed. Of course, with Jonathan being a breastfed baby, there are other issues to deal with. We think we're on top of it, but it's just a hassle to deal with everything.
Well, off to bed. Let's pray for an "uneventful" day tomorrow. I'll try to post tomorrow night with an update.
It's late and I'm tired. Funny how when you take a day off work, you end up working almost the same amount of hours by clearing everything up before and after you are out. I left the office at 11:30 tonight (after a brief break to run home for dinner - Mom is here and made a pot roast...).
Anyway, Matthew's appt was ok. His toe looks better, but the doctor said we need to consult with a pediatric surgeon. Shelly called a couple today and ended up being told that what we need isn't a general surgeon, but a pediatric plastic surgeon. I've got the numbers and while Shelly is in surgery tomorrow, I'll be calling to try to get Matthew an appointment with the plastic surgeon to have his toe checked out.
The pediatrician said that more than likely they will look at it and establish a baseline, then have us return in 3-4 weeks to see what it looks like then. Hopefully the dark place on the end of the toe is just bruised tissue that will eventually heal. I guess time will tell.
The good news is that the cut is healing up well enough that Matthew was able to take a real bath tonight with the foot unwrapped and in the tub. I've been bathing him for the last week sitting on a stool in the tub with his foot on the side. That kid loves baths and he was really happy to get to play in the tub tonight.
Shelly's surgery is at 9:30 in the morning, and we have to be there at 8:00 in the morning. This is not supposed to be a major deal, but our current situation with a 4 week old baby makes logistics a little difficult. My Mom came back today to help out with Jonathan. Matthew went down to Shelly's parents house to stay at least until tomorrow night. Hopefully he will be willing to stay there until Wednesday, we'll keep our fingers crossed. Of course, with Jonathan being a breastfed baby, there are other issues to deal with. We think we're on top of it, but it's just a hassle to deal with everything.
Well, off to bed. Let's pray for an "uneventful" day tomorrow. I'll try to post tomorrow night with an update.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Remembering...
I was walking along with Matthew today and I thought back to a couple of months ago when we went to the little park in our neighborhood. The park has a lake that has a BUNCH of ducks. A few years ago we had an oriental guy come and remove a bunch of them. I'm not certain, but I'm betting they ended up plucked and hanging on one of the restaurants in the Chinatown area of Houston. He needs to come back because there is a definite overpopulation.
These are not the Mallard type ducks, these are the larger, uglier pond ducks that seem to find their way to all parks. The sort of "other side of the tracks kind of ducks". Anyway, Matthew thinks it's hilarious to follow or chase the ducks until they jump back into the water and swim away. Well, on that particular day, I told Matthew to kick the duck in the butt, with the knowledge that no duck is going to let him get close enough to kick it.
WRONG... I think the only crippled duck in the county was the closest duck to Matthew at that point, and he punted that poor duck. Before it could register in my mind what had happened, he lined up for the extra point... Luckily, I managed to stop him just before he hung his size 10 kids shoe up the ducks nether regions. Just my luck, I tell him to do the impossible, and he gets it done... Thankfully, no one else saw it. I'd hate to have to explain that one to the SPCA... Luckily, the duck didn't seem to have been injured by the butt-kicking he received...
I was walking along with Matthew today and I thought back to a couple of months ago when we went to the little park in our neighborhood. The park has a lake that has a BUNCH of ducks. A few years ago we had an oriental guy come and remove a bunch of them. I'm not certain, but I'm betting they ended up plucked and hanging on one of the restaurants in the Chinatown area of Houston. He needs to come back because there is a definite overpopulation.
These are not the Mallard type ducks, these are the larger, uglier pond ducks that seem to find their way to all parks. The sort of "other side of the tracks kind of ducks". Anyway, Matthew thinks it's hilarious to follow or chase the ducks until they jump back into the water and swim away. Well, on that particular day, I told Matthew to kick the duck in the butt, with the knowledge that no duck is going to let him get close enough to kick it.
WRONG... I think the only crippled duck in the county was the closest duck to Matthew at that point, and he punted that poor duck. Before it could register in my mind what had happened, he lined up for the extra point... Luckily, I managed to stop him just before he hung his size 10 kids shoe up the ducks nether regions. Just my luck, I tell him to do the impossible, and he gets it done... Thankfully, no one else saw it. I'd hate to have to explain that one to the SPCA... Luckily, the duck didn't seem to have been injured by the butt-kicking he received...
Toe news...
We have a follow-up appt tomorrow afternoon to let the doctor check on the progress on Matthew's toe. I'm still a little concerned, but it does look a little better now than it did almost a week ago. We took a few pictures tonight, but they are kind of gross, so I'm not going to post them now (maybe later). Where the two parts are stitched together are healing up, so I know that at least part of the severed part is still "living". The very tip is still a little dark looking. I'm not sure if it is bruised or if the tissue is "dead". I guess we'll know more tomorrow.
Shelly goes in tomorrow for one last appt with the surgeon, and then we go in Tuesday morning for the gall bladder removal. It's an out-patient laproscopic (sp?) type deal, so hopefully all will go well. Keep the prayers going if you don't mind. Hopefully our little string of bad luck will be over soon.
We have a follow-up appt tomorrow afternoon to let the doctor check on the progress on Matthew's toe. I'm still a little concerned, but it does look a little better now than it did almost a week ago. We took a few pictures tonight, but they are kind of gross, so I'm not going to post them now (maybe later). Where the two parts are stitched together are healing up, so I know that at least part of the severed part is still "living". The very tip is still a little dark looking. I'm not sure if it is bruised or if the tissue is "dead". I guess we'll know more tomorrow.
Shelly goes in tomorrow for one last appt with the surgeon, and then we go in Tuesday morning for the gall bladder removal. It's an out-patient laproscopic (sp?) type deal, so hopefully all will go well. Keep the prayers going if you don't mind. Hopefully our little string of bad luck will be over soon.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
On a more serious note...
I know it's a little out of character for me to be serious, but I'm being serious now. Take a minute to say a short prayer for healing for Matthew's toe. I was changing the dressing tonight and he was being a tough little guy, but it's hard to be tough for him when he points to the toe nail on the big toe on his other foot and says when it gets better it will have one (nail) just like that one. That's a rough time for a Daddy.
We're doing all we can, from the time he got hurt until now to do the best we can. He doesn't understand that the reason why we can't play on the playground, go to "school" with his friends or go swimming (we had to quit swimming lessons after just one week). We're just trying to keep him from injuring anything more than it already is. We clean and re-dress the toe every night, and it's tough because it just seems to look worse each time. The doctor yesterday said it looked hopeful, so I'm hopeful also (but worried if it's not obvious).
Of course, on top of all that, we're looking at surgery for Shelly early next week to remove her gall bladder. Thank goodness both our families are here in town and able to help with the kids, but it's still going to be a rough week next week.
I know it's a little out of character for me to be serious, but I'm being serious now. Take a minute to say a short prayer for healing for Matthew's toe. I was changing the dressing tonight and he was being a tough little guy, but it's hard to be tough for him when he points to the toe nail on the big toe on his other foot and says when it gets better it will have one (nail) just like that one. That's a rough time for a Daddy.
We're doing all we can, from the time he got hurt until now to do the best we can. He doesn't understand that the reason why we can't play on the playground, go to "school" with his friends or go swimming (we had to quit swimming lessons after just one week). We're just trying to keep him from injuring anything more than it already is. We clean and re-dress the toe every night, and it's tough because it just seems to look worse each time. The doctor yesterday said it looked hopeful, so I'm hopeful also (but worried if it's not obvious).
Of course, on top of all that, we're looking at surgery for Shelly early next week to remove her gall bladder. Thank goodness both our families are here in town and able to help with the kids, but it's still going to be a rough week next week.
That's my boy...
I came home this evening and was happy that everyone was in a decent mood and no trips were needed to the ER. Bonus that our friends that were going to bring dinner last night brought it tonight instead. Another bonus that more friends are signed up for tomorrow night.
Anyway, we took a walk after dinner tonight just to get everyone out of the house for a little while. I pushed Matthew in a stroller and Shelly carried Jonathan. An older couple (upper 80's) lives down the street and they were out in their yard, so we walked by to chat with them and let them meet Jonathan. Well, obviously Matthew has been paying attention to what and how baby brother eats... He lifted his shirt and pointed to his ninny and said "Baby brother only eats this". I think Mrs Cooke was speechless...
Breaking even - sort of...
Last night, while we were at the emergency room, My Mom was at the house with the boys. Jonathan was fine, but Matthew was a little out of sorts. He wanted his Daddy and was having nothing to do with anyone else. Shelly's parents came up and picked up our Expedition and Matthew and brought them to the hospital. Matthew was happy to be there with us. Of course, the truck was pretty much on empty, so Doc stopped and gassed it up for us (at least until the $75 pump shut-off). I guess you can say I broke even for the night. He refused my money when I tried to pay him, but the ER hit us up for the $75 co-pay. Oh well, a free tank of gas is not a bad thing.
While I'm thinking money, I wonder what 2 ambulance rides will cost? After the last week, we're thankful we have decent health insurance...
I came home this evening and was happy that everyone was in a decent mood and no trips were needed to the ER. Bonus that our friends that were going to bring dinner last night brought it tonight instead. Another bonus that more friends are signed up for tomorrow night.
Anyway, we took a walk after dinner tonight just to get everyone out of the house for a little while. I pushed Matthew in a stroller and Shelly carried Jonathan. An older couple (upper 80's) lives down the street and they were out in their yard, so we walked by to chat with them and let them meet Jonathan. Well, obviously Matthew has been paying attention to what and how baby brother eats... He lifted his shirt and pointed to his ninny and said "Baby brother only eats this". I think Mrs Cooke was speechless...
Breaking even - sort of...
Last night, while we were at the emergency room, My Mom was at the house with the boys. Jonathan was fine, but Matthew was a little out of sorts. He wanted his Daddy and was having nothing to do with anyone else. Shelly's parents came up and picked up our Expedition and Matthew and brought them to the hospital. Matthew was happy to be there with us. Of course, the truck was pretty much on empty, so Doc stopped and gassed it up for us (at least until the $75 pump shut-off). I guess you can say I broke even for the night. He refused my money when I tried to pay him, but the ER hit us up for the $75 co-pay. Oh well, a free tank of gas is not a bad thing.
While I'm thinking money, I wonder what 2 ambulance rides will cost? After the last week, we're thankful we have decent health insurance...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Frequent flier miles...
Man, we're having all of the health luck this week.
After Matthew's appointment today, I scrammed back to the office to try to play keep-up. I'm a little behind and was planning to work a little late this evening to get things squared away. Mom was at the house helping Shelly with things and some friends were planning to bring dinner to us (our Sunday School class brings meals 3 times a week for a few weeks when you have a baby).
About 4:45 I called the house to see how things were going, and Mom told me Shelly wasn't feeling well and I needed to come home NOW. I boogied on home and when I got here, Shelly was sort of laying back in a chair in the living room moaning in pain. She was having back and chest pains, her heart was racing, ans she was a little short of breath. I'm not into being a hero, so I called 911 and ordered up an ambulance. I'm getting good at this...
About 5 minutes later, the biggest honking fire truck in the fleet comes screaming down our street. The ladder truck. No, I didn't report a house on fire, I reported someone in need of medical assistance. Must have been a slow day at the station, so they all took a little ride. The ambulance pulled up less than a minute later, and we were on the way. I grabbed Shelly's purse, her shoes, and a pair of socks for her, and we were off.
Well, thankfully, it wasn't a heart issue. An EKG, X-ray, blood test, urine test, and an ultrasound revealed the presence of several gallstones.
So, that's 2 ambulance rides and ER visits in 3 days, with a couple of follow-up visits and at least one surgery coming up soon. Man, what a week this has been, and it's only Tuesday.
I wonder if the ambulance groups give frequent flier miles?
Another funny thing along the lines of the cop's questioning the other night... The first question they asked Shelly in the ER is if there were ever any incidences or threats of abuse or domestic violence in the home. I started to say "Yeah, she threatens to beat me all the time!", but they were not asking me. I'm starting to wonder if I look like a shady character...
Man, we're having all of the health luck this week.
After Matthew's appointment today, I scrammed back to the office to try to play keep-up. I'm a little behind and was planning to work a little late this evening to get things squared away. Mom was at the house helping Shelly with things and some friends were planning to bring dinner to us (our Sunday School class brings meals 3 times a week for a few weeks when you have a baby).
About 4:45 I called the house to see how things were going, and Mom told me Shelly wasn't feeling well and I needed to come home NOW. I boogied on home and when I got here, Shelly was sort of laying back in a chair in the living room moaning in pain. She was having back and chest pains, her heart was racing, ans she was a little short of breath. I'm not into being a hero, so I called 911 and ordered up an ambulance. I'm getting good at this...
About 5 minutes later, the biggest honking fire truck in the fleet comes screaming down our street. The ladder truck. No, I didn't report a house on fire, I reported someone in need of medical assistance. Must have been a slow day at the station, so they all took a little ride. The ambulance pulled up less than a minute later, and we were on the way. I grabbed Shelly's purse, her shoes, and a pair of socks for her, and we were off.
Well, thankfully, it wasn't a heart issue. An EKG, X-ray, blood test, urine test, and an ultrasound revealed the presence of several gallstones.
So, that's 2 ambulance rides and ER visits in 3 days, with a couple of follow-up visits and at least one surgery coming up soon. Man, what a week this has been, and it's only Tuesday.
I wonder if the ambulance groups give frequent flier miles?
Another funny thing along the lines of the cop's questioning the other night... The first question they asked Shelly in the ER is if there were ever any incidences or threats of abuse or domestic violence in the home. I started to say "Yeah, she threatens to beat me all the time!", but they were not asking me. I'm starting to wonder if I look like a shady character...
Still 10 toes...
Just a short update... We went to see the pediatrician today and the prognosis is a little better than what we were expecting. Last night when I changed the bandage, the end of the toe looked pretty white / gray and not pink like the rest of the toe. I didn't touch it more than necessary to change put more medicine and wrap it again.
When the Dr. looked at it this morning, he pushed on the end and said it was "blanching" a little (think the difference in color when you push on your skin with your finger), so it's possible that blood is flowing into the tip and it will heal.
We have a follow-up appointment next Tuesday to check again. We're praying that all will heal. (the nail growing back eventually would be a good bonus as well.
More later.
Just a short update... We went to see the pediatrician today and the prognosis is a little better than what we were expecting. Last night when I changed the bandage, the end of the toe looked pretty white / gray and not pink like the rest of the toe. I didn't touch it more than necessary to change put more medicine and wrap it again.
When the Dr. looked at it this morning, he pushed on the end and said it was "blanching" a little (think the difference in color when you push on your skin with your finger), so it's possible that blood is flowing into the tip and it will heal.
We have a follow-up appointment next Tuesday to check again. We're praying that all will heal. (the nail growing back eventually would be a good bonus as well.
More later.
Monday, May 26, 2008
ATV, Tractors, and Ambulances...
For the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to head out to the ranch. I know, we're crazy to hit the road with an almost 4 year old and an almost 3 week old, but hey, we live life on the ragged edge.
Shelly has been taking Matthew to swimming lessons each afternoon, and she generally gets home a little after 6:00 PM. Needless to say, by the time they got home, we loaded up, and Shelly got the baby fed and squared away, we finally pulled out of the driveway around 9:00 PM. After running through Chick-fil-a, and making a stop to feed Jonathan along the way, we pulled up at the ranch around 1:30am. Not too bad (I make it in just over 3 hours travelling alone). By the time we unloaded and got the kids in bed, it was about 2:30 by the time my head hit the pillow.
The day was a pretty full day. Matthew had not been to the ranch since late December, so we had to ride around the ranch in the Pathfinder, then the ATV, then ride the tractor for good measure. We went to town and picked up chicken strips for lunch, then hit the rack for a nap. After our nap, Doc (my father-in-law) took him out to feed the fish while I grilled steaks for dinner.
After dinner was when the excitement started...
We were just about finished with dinner when Matthew had to go to the restroom. I went and helped him. When he went back to the kitchen, he climbed onto the bench that my mother-in-law was sitting on - just as she was getting up from the bench. (the table has a picnic table type bench on one side). Well, the bench tipped over and the sharp edge hit Matthew on the big toe of his right foot, which put the whole house into high gear...
I came out of the bathroom in time to hear the crash and Matthew scream. Doc jumped up and said we needed to get to the hospital, and that's when I saw the aftermath. The end of Matthew's big toe was almost completely cut off. Doc and Shelly wrapped it up while I grabbed my wallet, shoes and Doc drove Matthew and I to town like our butts were on fire. (Shelly had to stay back with Jonathan)
It a moment of sheer brilliance, Ron (our quasi care taker for the ranch) met us in town and suggested that to avoid the long wait in the local ER, that we should stop at the EMS / fire station just as we entered town and let the paramedics check it out. It's good that we stopped because the hospital we were heading to in Killeen wasn't equipped to handle the repair, so the ambulance hauled us to Scott & White in Temple. This place is a level 1 trauma unit, so they are supposed to be the cat's meow for medical care.
Well, long story short, they stitched the end of his toe back on, it's obvious now that the repair didn't work and the end of the toe will need to come back off (they told me that they held little hope that the repair would be successful.) The good news is that they said it shouldn't effect his balance or mobility, so we're thankful in that respect
Matthew has been a little trooper throughout the whole ordeal, and I hope he will continue to do well. We'll call his pediatrician tomorrow morning and get an appointment with him, which will likely just be the beginning of the process. I'm sure we'll get referred to someone else (plastic surgeon?) to repair what can be repaired.
Now for a little bit of a rant...
I'm a good parent. I love my family and am attentive to my kids. I try my best to keep them safe. Shelly does too. We spend more money in health insurance premiums annually than we would on actual medical costs if we had to pay 100% for each visit because we want to have the best available in the case of an emergency. We buy good carseats and they are installed properly. Matthew even wears a helmet and is securely strapped to me when we ride the ATV. Why do I say all this? It's because when we were loaded up in the ambulance about to make the trip to the hospital, a cop opened the back door and refused to let them transport us until he had questioned me about how the injury had happened. I found out later that he had already questioned Doc.
OK, maybe there are some crappy parents out there, but here I am in the ambulance with my son, trying to get the best medical care money can buy, and this asshat is questioning me like one of us caused the injury - he literally asked me if any of us had pushed him or otherwise contributed to the injury.
I've calmed down a little about it and I was nice to the cop and answered his questions, but it still burns me a little...
For the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to head out to the ranch. I know, we're crazy to hit the road with an almost 4 year old and an almost 3 week old, but hey, we live life on the ragged edge.
Shelly has been taking Matthew to swimming lessons each afternoon, and she generally gets home a little after 6:00 PM. Needless to say, by the time they got home, we loaded up, and Shelly got the baby fed and squared away, we finally pulled out of the driveway around 9:00 PM. After running through Chick-fil-a, and making a stop to feed Jonathan along the way, we pulled up at the ranch around 1:30am. Not too bad (I make it in just over 3 hours travelling alone). By the time we unloaded and got the kids in bed, it was about 2:30 by the time my head hit the pillow.
The day was a pretty full day. Matthew had not been to the ranch since late December, so we had to ride around the ranch in the Pathfinder, then the ATV, then ride the tractor for good measure. We went to town and picked up chicken strips for lunch, then hit the rack for a nap. After our nap, Doc (my father-in-law) took him out to feed the fish while I grilled steaks for dinner.
After dinner was when the excitement started...
We were just about finished with dinner when Matthew had to go to the restroom. I went and helped him. When he went back to the kitchen, he climbed onto the bench that my mother-in-law was sitting on - just as she was getting up from the bench. (the table has a picnic table type bench on one side). Well, the bench tipped over and the sharp edge hit Matthew on the big toe of his right foot, which put the whole house into high gear...
I came out of the bathroom in time to hear the crash and Matthew scream. Doc jumped up and said we needed to get to the hospital, and that's when I saw the aftermath. The end of Matthew's big toe was almost completely cut off. Doc and Shelly wrapped it up while I grabbed my wallet, shoes and Doc drove Matthew and I to town like our butts were on fire. (Shelly had to stay back with Jonathan)
It a moment of sheer brilliance, Ron (our quasi care taker for the ranch) met us in town and suggested that to avoid the long wait in the local ER, that we should stop at the EMS / fire station just as we entered town and let the paramedics check it out. It's good that we stopped because the hospital we were heading to in Killeen wasn't equipped to handle the repair, so the ambulance hauled us to Scott & White in Temple. This place is a level 1 trauma unit, so they are supposed to be the cat's meow for medical care.
Well, long story short, they stitched the end of his toe back on, it's obvious now that the repair didn't work and the end of the toe will need to come back off (they told me that they held little hope that the repair would be successful.) The good news is that they said it shouldn't effect his balance or mobility, so we're thankful in that respect
Matthew has been a little trooper throughout the whole ordeal, and I hope he will continue to do well. We'll call his pediatrician tomorrow morning and get an appointment with him, which will likely just be the beginning of the process. I'm sure we'll get referred to someone else (plastic surgeon?) to repair what can be repaired.
Now for a little bit of a rant...
I'm a good parent. I love my family and am attentive to my kids. I try my best to keep them safe. Shelly does too. We spend more money in health insurance premiums annually than we would on actual medical costs if we had to pay 100% for each visit because we want to have the best available in the case of an emergency. We buy good carseats and they are installed properly. Matthew even wears a helmet and is securely strapped to me when we ride the ATV. Why do I say all this? It's because when we were loaded up in the ambulance about to make the trip to the hospital, a cop opened the back door and refused to let them transport us until he had questioned me about how the injury had happened. I found out later that he had already questioned Doc.
OK, maybe there are some crappy parents out there, but here I am in the ambulance with my son, trying to get the best medical care money can buy, and this asshat is questioning me like one of us caused the injury - he literally asked me if any of us had pushed him or otherwise contributed to the injury.
I've calmed down a little about it and I was nice to the cop and answered his questions, but it still burns me a little...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day...
Man, where would we be without mothers? Shelly and I are getting quite a bit of help from our moms this week. Both of them helped out with Matthew last week while we were in the hospital, and they have both spent the night with us helping with stuff around the house since we got home. My mom is back today and plans to stay until Friday. Jackpot for us. She's a whiz at laundry and is a pretty good cook also. We will eat like kings this week.
Speaking of eating like kings... I cooked a special Mother's Day dinner tonight. Grilled jumbo shrimp, squash & zucchini oven roasted with a little olive oil, and skillet potatoes. We'll have some pie in a little while.
I was left in charge of the kids earlier today. I left Jonathan alone for just a few minutes, and look what he got up to... Gonna have to keep an eye on this kid.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Katie, this one without the cap is for you... I took another one this afternoon and will upload it when I have a chance. We've been going since 7 AM Monday with virtually no sleep, so that's a priority now.
Here is another picture I'm happy to post.
This is my Grandfather, known to all as Grandaddy. He's my only grandparent left, and he makes it a point to do whatever it takes to be there for the birth of each great-grandchild. He does it because he wants to, but you can only imagine what it means to us that he was up there with us at 4 AM this morning welcoming the newest member of the family.
I'll write more on him later.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Almost Time...
Ok, is everyone still here?
I know it's been a long time. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging (ironic since my blog is basically just me writing about my life...)
I'm expecting to blog more frequently for at least the next couple of weeks because there is going to be a WHOLE lot happening.
Tomorrow morning at 5:30 we're heading to the hospital. It is time for Jonathan Kyle to meet the family. The due date is 5/8, but as he's estimated to be close to 9 lbs as of last Wednesday's visit, the Dr said it would be good to go ahead and see if we can make him come earlier. Matthew was 9 lbs 4 oz and Shelly isn't looking forward to squeezing out another little pumpkin headed baby.
I guess we're as ready as we'll ever be to have another baby. The room is ready, the clothes are washed and put away (mostly), the car seat is installed, and big brother Matthew is ready to meet baby Jonathan. We've even got one of those storks lined up to put in the front yard.
Funny story... Matthew knows baby brother is in Mommy's tummy and will come out soon. I was a little worried about what to tell him when he asked how baby brother got out. Well, the little genius figured it out all by himself. Apparently Jonathan has a pocket. In his pocket he has a key. When he gets ready to come out, he'll use his key to unlock Mommy's belly button and come out of the belly button. Whew... That's much better than anything I could have come up with...
Keep checking back. I'll post pictures from the hospital (they have Wi-Fi available now.)
Ok, is everyone still here?
I know it's been a long time. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging (ironic since my blog is basically just me writing about my life...)
I'm expecting to blog more frequently for at least the next couple of weeks because there is going to be a WHOLE lot happening.
Tomorrow morning at 5:30 we're heading to the hospital. It is time for Jonathan Kyle to meet the family. The due date is 5/8, but as he's estimated to be close to 9 lbs as of last Wednesday's visit, the Dr said it would be good to go ahead and see if we can make him come earlier. Matthew was 9 lbs 4 oz and Shelly isn't looking forward to squeezing out another little pumpkin headed baby.
I guess we're as ready as we'll ever be to have another baby. The room is ready, the clothes are washed and put away (mostly), the car seat is installed, and big brother Matthew is ready to meet baby Jonathan. We've even got one of those storks lined up to put in the front yard.
Funny story... Matthew knows baby brother is in Mommy's tummy and will come out soon. I was a little worried about what to tell him when he asked how baby brother got out. Well, the little genius figured it out all by himself. Apparently Jonathan has a pocket. In his pocket he has a key. When he gets ready to come out, he'll use his key to unlock Mommy's belly button and come out of the belly button. Whew... That's much better than anything I could have come up with...
Keep checking back. I'll post pictures from the hospital (they have Wi-Fi available now.)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Progress...
We've made pretty good progress around the house in the last week. Perfecto painted most of the inside of the house, and we had the carpets cleaned. The furniture has been put back in place and most of the pictures, paintings, and other wall decorations have been put back in their place. Realistically, it will take another couple of weeks to get things back in order. No real rush now other than we want to have everything knocked out by the time the baby comes.
I took some time out last weekend to help the father-in -law do a little work on the railings on their upstairs balcony. The spacing was large enough to allow a certain couple of 3 yr olds to fall through, so we worked put in some lattice and trimmed it out neatly with treated 1x2's. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself.
We've made pretty good progress around the house in the last week. Perfecto painted most of the inside of the house, and we had the carpets cleaned. The furniture has been put back in place and most of the pictures, paintings, and other wall decorations have been put back in their place. Realistically, it will take another couple of weeks to get things back in order. No real rush now other than we want to have everything knocked out by the time the baby comes.
I took some time out last weekend to help the father-in -law do a little work on the railings on their upstairs balcony. The spacing was large enough to allow a certain couple of 3 yr olds to fall through, so we worked put in some lattice and trimmed it out neatly with treated 1x2's. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Taking MLK day off...
I took a rare vacation day to stay home. Even though we're not moving, we decided to keep making progress on de-cluttering and otherwise sprucing up the house. Perfecto showed up bright and early this morning to start painting. I hate painting, so Perfecto is one of my favorite people this week.
Maybe I'll take some pictures a little later. The house is a complete wreck. Furniture is scattered everywhere, and all of the artwork and other stuff has been removed from the walls and is scattered around the rooms that aren't being worked on yet.
I'm about to go downstairs and help Shelly with cleaning out the inside freezer. I picked up one of the deer this morning that has been processed, and we have to make room for it and the other one that will be ready in another 2 or 3 weeks.
Unfortunately, I've been too busy to go down to the big MLK Parade. Dang.
I took a rare vacation day to stay home. Even though we're not moving, we decided to keep making progress on de-cluttering and otherwise sprucing up the house. Perfecto showed up bright and early this morning to start painting. I hate painting, so Perfecto is one of my favorite people this week.
Maybe I'll take some pictures a little later. The house is a complete wreck. Furniture is scattered everywhere, and all of the artwork and other stuff has been removed from the walls and is scattered around the rooms that aren't being worked on yet.
I'm about to go downstairs and help Shelly with cleaning out the inside freezer. I picked up one of the deer this morning that has been processed, and we have to make room for it and the other one that will be ready in another 2 or 3 weeks.
Unfortunately, I've been too busy to go down to the big MLK Parade. Dang.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Not moving.... Yet.
We met with the realtor last night. After going over comparables, talking about the market, and thinking about what our wants are, we had some decisions to make. This morning as we laid in bed thinking about what was ahead of us, we grabbed the computer and started crunching numbers. Of course, Shelly being the financial guru she is, she quickly built an excel spreadsheet to make the calculations we wanted. There it was, spelled out in black and white. We can afford the move.
The decision? We're not moving... yet.
The long and short of it is that we have a baby due the first week of May and we started thinking about all of the uncertainty in the situation. We have a short window in which to sell, buy, and move, and that adds a bunch of stress to a time that is already a little hectic as it is.
What do we do now? Same thing we've been doing. Heavy duty spring cleaning, organizing, repainting, carpet cleaning, and sprucing up the yard. After that's done, we sit back, relax in our clean, uncluttered home, and enjoy the new baby. I might even get to go camping a time or two and make a spring Axis deer hunt out in Rocksprings.
Maybe we'll move next year.
We met with the realtor last night. After going over comparables, talking about the market, and thinking about what our wants are, we had some decisions to make. This morning as we laid in bed thinking about what was ahead of us, we grabbed the computer and started crunching numbers. Of course, Shelly being the financial guru she is, she quickly built an excel spreadsheet to make the calculations we wanted. There it was, spelled out in black and white. We can afford the move.
The decision? We're not moving... yet.
The long and short of it is that we have a baby due the first week of May and we started thinking about all of the uncertainty in the situation. We have a short window in which to sell, buy, and move, and that adds a bunch of stress to a time that is already a little hectic as it is.
What do we do now? Same thing we've been doing. Heavy duty spring cleaning, organizing, repainting, carpet cleaning, and sprucing up the yard. After that's done, we sit back, relax in our clean, uncluttered home, and enjoy the new baby. I might even get to go camping a time or two and make a spring Axis deer hunt out in Rocksprings.
Maybe we'll move next year.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
What a morning ...
About mid-morning this morning, I sent Shelly an e-mail telling her how the day was going so far. She thought it was pretty funny, and worthy of sharing.
Just as I was about to go downstairs to leave this morning, Shelly called to remind me to take the leftover tamales with me for lunch. Thanks for the reminder. Those babies were good, so having them for lunch was a great idea. Besides, moving isn't cheap, so saving the cost of lunch is good.
A co-worker is having a baby tomorrow and she needed to borrow a carseat from us, so I had gone into the attic to get the carrier. The base to it was in the storage building, so I had to remember to grab it on the way out of the house. Here's how it went...
go downstairs and let the dog back inside...
think about tamales, gotta remember to grab them...
go out to shed and get carseat base...
stop at my counter in the kitchen to get keys, wallet, phone, etc...
remember I still need to grab the tamales...
put everything down to feed the dog before leaving...
pick up everything and head into the garage...
grab carseat with my already full hands...
open trunk of car to deposit carseat...
(Altima has that funny keyless key deal, so you just open the trunk)
trunk full of dry cleaning picked up last night, close trunk...
put everything down to unlock doors to open back door to put carseat in backseat...
notice trashcans out by street from yesterday...
pick up trashcans so HOA doesn't send me yet another nasty-gram about them...
Damn, leaving the house is a chore some days...
head out, traffic really backed up, so I take alternate route...
crap, wreck on alternate route, really backed up, stuck like Chuck for a while...
finally make it through the accident scene. Dang, car pieces and parts scattered all over creation...
finally get going, log truck exits freeway, cuts across 3 lanes of feeder, straight into my lane...
take evasive action (slam on brakes, hold on, shit pants - not really, but did fart a time or 2 on the way to work)
catch up to truck, roll down window, and give him the finger...
he honks and swerves at me again... I better quit while I'm ahead...
smooth sailing the rest of the way...
Get to work ...
Forgot tamales. Crap.
About mid-morning this morning, I sent Shelly an e-mail telling her how the day was going so far. She thought it was pretty funny, and worthy of sharing.
Just as I was about to go downstairs to leave this morning, Shelly called to remind me to take the leftover tamales with me for lunch. Thanks for the reminder. Those babies were good, so having them for lunch was a great idea. Besides, moving isn't cheap, so saving the cost of lunch is good.
A co-worker is having a baby tomorrow and she needed to borrow a carseat from us, so I had gone into the attic to get the carrier. The base to it was in the storage building, so I had to remember to grab it on the way out of the house. Here's how it went...
go downstairs and let the dog back inside...
think about tamales, gotta remember to grab them...
go out to shed and get carseat base...
stop at my counter in the kitchen to get keys, wallet, phone, etc...
remember I still need to grab the tamales...
put everything down to feed the dog before leaving...
pick up everything and head into the garage...
grab carseat with my already full hands...
open trunk of car to deposit carseat...
(Altima has that funny keyless key deal, so you just open the trunk)
trunk full of dry cleaning picked up last night, close trunk...
put everything down to unlock doors to open back door to put carseat in backseat...
notice trashcans out by street from yesterday...
pick up trashcans so HOA doesn't send me yet another nasty-gram about them...
Damn, leaving the house is a chore some days...
head out, traffic really backed up, so I take alternate route...
crap, wreck on alternate route, really backed up, stuck like Chuck for a while...
finally make it through the accident scene. Dang, car pieces and parts scattered all over creation...
finally get going, log truck exits freeway, cuts across 3 lanes of feeder, straight into my lane...
take evasive action (slam on brakes, hold on, shit pants - not really, but did fart a time or 2 on the way to work)
catch up to truck, roll down window, and give him the finger...
he honks and swerves at me again... I better quit while I'm ahead...
smooth sailing the rest of the way...
Get to work ...
Forgot tamales. Crap.
Still working on the house...
Part of the cleaning out / organizing process to get ready to move involves Matthew's toys. My God, I didn't realize how many toys that kid has. We've managed to whittle him down to what is still too many toys. I packed the rest up into a couple of large tubs. Actually, 4 large tubs and 2 medium sized tubs.
Side note to all... when #2 gets here in May, PLEASE don't buy him any more toys. We have plenty already. If you insist on buying toys, I'll sell you a gently used one for 1/2 price. It's a win-win situation. You get the satisfaction of spending money buying a toy for a child, and I don't have any more clutter in the house. Maybe I'll even promise to put the money into the college fund.
Aside from that, I've hung up the new faux wood blinds, pulled out some clothes and shoes to donate to charity, and a couple of other jobs.
Boring? Yep, but that's life at the moment.
What's coming up? The maids come tomorrow, the realtor is coming by to visit and have a walk-through on Friday night, my parents are going to come help pack up some extra stuff this weekend, and Perfecto is coming to paint next week. This is when things start happening fast. Hopefully we can keep up.
Part of the cleaning out / organizing process to get ready to move involves Matthew's toys. My God, I didn't realize how many toys that kid has. We've managed to whittle him down to what is still too many toys. I packed the rest up into a couple of large tubs. Actually, 4 large tubs and 2 medium sized tubs.
Side note to all... when #2 gets here in May, PLEASE don't buy him any more toys. We have plenty already. If you insist on buying toys, I'll sell you a gently used one for 1/2 price. It's a win-win situation. You get the satisfaction of spending money buying a toy for a child, and I don't have any more clutter in the house. Maybe I'll even promise to put the money into the college fund.
Aside from that, I've hung up the new faux wood blinds, pulled out some clothes and shoes to donate to charity, and a couple of other jobs.
Boring? Yep, but that's life at the moment.
What's coming up? The maids come tomorrow, the realtor is coming by to visit and have a walk-through on Friday night, my parents are going to come help pack up some extra stuff this weekend, and Perfecto is coming to paint next week. This is when things start happening fast. Hopefully we can keep up.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
It's a boy!!!
I think back in October before I went AWOL, I mentioned that we're expecting again. A few weeks ago, we found out that we're having another boy. Needless to say, Shelly was a little bummed. Don't get me wrong here. We're especially thankful for a seemingly healthy boy after what it took to get to this point, but with one boy already, we were hoping for a girl to even things out. Shelly's outnumbered as it is, and it looks like it's only going to get worse. On the bright side, I'll have 2 little knuckleheads to cut the grass for me in a few years.
I think back in October before I went AWOL, I mentioned that we're expecting again. A few weeks ago, we found out that we're having another boy. Needless to say, Shelly was a little bummed. Don't get me wrong here. We're especially thankful for a seemingly healthy boy after what it took to get to this point, but with one boy already, we were hoping for a girl to even things out. Shelly's outnumbered as it is, and it looks like it's only going to get worse. On the bright side, I'll have 2 little knuckleheads to cut the grass for me in a few years.
I'm not good with numbers...
Yesterday afternoon, I was at Home Depot getting the blinds cut to fit the windows. I guess it's asking too much to actually have someone there that knows how to do this job. I went in with the measurement of 42 1/4 inches wide for the new blinds. I went to the blind aisle and punched the little button for assistance. The girl that came to help had evidently just fallen off the turnip wagon. She started with a set of blinds 45.5 inches wide. When I told her I needed 42 1/4, she was completely bumfuzzled about what to do. She mumbled something about not being very good with numbers, then pulled out a tape measure and stretched it out. She then proceeded to ask me which little marking was a quarter inch. Holy crap. How do you work at Home Depot and not know how to read a tape measure? It was very confidence inspiring to say the least.
This girl had no idea. She ruined a set of blinds before she finally let me help her with the measurement and set the machine. For the rest of you that aren't good with numbers, that's 1 5/8 off each end. That's the 10th little black line between 1 and 2 on the tape measure.
Yesterday afternoon, I was at Home Depot getting the blinds cut to fit the windows. I guess it's asking too much to actually have someone there that knows how to do this job. I went in with the measurement of 42 1/4 inches wide for the new blinds. I went to the blind aisle and punched the little button for assistance. The girl that came to help had evidently just fallen off the turnip wagon. She started with a set of blinds 45.5 inches wide. When I told her I needed 42 1/4, she was completely bumfuzzled about what to do. She mumbled something about not being very good with numbers, then pulled out a tape measure and stretched it out. She then proceeded to ask me which little marking was a quarter inch. Holy crap. How do you work at Home Depot and not know how to read a tape measure? It was very confidence inspiring to say the least.
This girl had no idea. She ruined a set of blinds before she finally let me help her with the measurement and set the machine. For the rest of you that aren't good with numbers, that's 1 5/8 off each end. That's the 10th little black line between 1 and 2 on the tape measure.
Movin' on up...
Ok, not really movin' up, but we are preparing to put our house on the market. We're planning to make more of a lateral move. We expect to stay in the same general area of town, but get a few things different in our next house.The main deal will be a master bedroom downstairs, and I hope to get a 3 car garage.
When you live in a house for several years and you are a sort of a pack-rat like we are, the thought of selling the house is quite a daunting experience. We're going through, de-cluttering, and throwing a BUNCH of stuff away. I'm also performing a huge list of maintenance items. It's amazing the stuff around the house that you don't see as a big deal until you get ready to start showing your house. Here's what I did this weekend:
1. remove and replace a rotten piece of wood trim around my garage door then caulk around the new piece of wood.
2. clean mildew from top of patio cover, rear of house, and storage building.
3. clean outside of upstairs rear windows and caulk as needed.
4. Clean back patio ceiling fan
5. paint new wood trim listed above and touch up other areas near garage door (hit with trick mirror).
6. replace all toilet seats
7. replace 2 A/C vents that are starting to rust
8. cut out old caulk from master shower, clean with Clorox cleaner, re caulk with white anti-microbial caulk.
9. replace light fixture in downstairs 1/2 bath (project from SEVERAL months ago that never got completed)
10. measure for and purchase faux wood blinds for guest room and Matthew's room. I'm fine with the metal blinds currently there, but Shelly thinks that since all of the other rooms have wither real wood or faux wood, it will look better to be consistent in all rooms. Whatever. I just work here.
There were a couple of other things to do, but you get the idea. Next up, Meet with a realtor, move some items to storage, paint interior (call Perfecto), have carpets cleaned, hire some "guys" to spruce up the flower beds. We hope to be on the market Friday, February first. Wish us luck.
Ok, not really movin' up, but we are preparing to put our house on the market. We're planning to make more of a lateral move. We expect to stay in the same general area of town, but get a few things different in our next house.The main deal will be a master bedroom downstairs, and I hope to get a 3 car garage.
When you live in a house for several years and you are a sort of a pack-rat like we are, the thought of selling the house is quite a daunting experience. We're going through, de-cluttering, and throwing a BUNCH of stuff away. I'm also performing a huge list of maintenance items. It's amazing the stuff around the house that you don't see as a big deal until you get ready to start showing your house. Here's what I did this weekend:
1. remove and replace a rotten piece of wood trim around my garage door then caulk around the new piece of wood.
2. clean mildew from top of patio cover, rear of house, and storage building.
3. clean outside of upstairs rear windows and caulk as needed.
4. Clean back patio ceiling fan
5. paint new wood trim listed above and touch up other areas near garage door (hit with trick mirror).
6. replace all toilet seats
7. replace 2 A/C vents that are starting to rust
8. cut out old caulk from master shower, clean with Clorox cleaner, re caulk with white anti-microbial caulk.
9. replace light fixture in downstairs 1/2 bath (project from SEVERAL months ago that never got completed)
10. measure for and purchase faux wood blinds for guest room and Matthew's room. I'm fine with the metal blinds currently there, but Shelly thinks that since all of the other rooms have wither real wood or faux wood, it will look better to be consistent in all rooms. Whatever. I just work here.
There were a couple of other things to do, but you get the idea. Next up, Meet with a realtor, move some items to storage, paint interior (call Perfecto), have carpets cleaned, hire some "guys" to spruce up the flower beds. We hope to be on the market Friday, February first. Wish us luck.
Long Overdue update...
Man, I thought I sucked before at updating. 2 months later, I'm finally getting around to posting again.
OK, about those pics on the last update.
The first picture is probably the nicest buck I've ever seen while sitting in a deer stand. I don't know how wide his spread is, but people that seem to "know" tell me 22-24 inches. The widest one I've ever killed is 18 inches, which is still quite nice by any standards. The big news is that I let him go. I estimated he was 3.5 years old and he was chasing a doe at the time (it was just at the beginning of the rut), so I elected to pass. Hopefully he bred lots of does and passed those big antler genes on. We'll see in the coming years. I do now have 2 deer at the processors, so it was a good year even if I didn't put my tag on the trophy buck.
The middle 2 pics are just pics of Matthew and I having a good time hanging around at the ranch. He loves that deer hunting.
The last picture is of the inside of my deer stand. It's called "Casa del Marko". It sits on the ground on the side of a hill, which gives a great view of the creek bottom below. Lots of deer come hang out in this area to eat corn from the feeder or oats from the food plot. Here's the rub. I hunt this stand more than any other stand, and have seen more deer here, but I've never killed any of them I see from this stand. Why? I don't know. It's almost like I prefer just watching these deer and taking their pictures.
In the deer stand, I have everything laid out that I need to keep comfortable for a few hours of deer watching. The shelf above the window is for things I don't really need once I get settled in. from the left, binoculars case, camera case, flashlight, range finder case, and wasp spray. Early in the season, we seem to have a bunch of wasps hanging out in the deer stands.
On the bottom shelf, on the left you can just see the blue edge of my snack cooler. I typically pack 2 diet cokes and a couple of Little Debbies. Snacks on the deer stand are a family tradition that goes way back. Next is the Diet Coke, walkman, binoculars, cell phone, and range finder. Cell phone you ask? Set to silent, we send text messages back and forth. The members of our family sometimes hunt a couple hundred miles apart, but we always give the play-by-play via text message (which might explain the low kill rate...)
I should say something about my rifle. It's a Winchester model 70 Super grade. It was a wedding gift from Shelly. Eat your heart out guys. Not only does she hunt, she also bought me a top notch rifle for the wedding gift. (I got to pick it out, but hey, give the girl credit for actually buying a gun).
Hold on, I have a couple more updates.
Man, I thought I sucked before at updating. 2 months later, I'm finally getting around to posting again.
OK, about those pics on the last update.
The first picture is probably the nicest buck I've ever seen while sitting in a deer stand. I don't know how wide his spread is, but people that seem to "know" tell me 22-24 inches. The widest one I've ever killed is 18 inches, which is still quite nice by any standards. The big news is that I let him go. I estimated he was 3.5 years old and he was chasing a doe at the time (it was just at the beginning of the rut), so I elected to pass. Hopefully he bred lots of does and passed those big antler genes on. We'll see in the coming years. I do now have 2 deer at the processors, so it was a good year even if I didn't put my tag on the trophy buck.
The middle 2 pics are just pics of Matthew and I having a good time hanging around at the ranch. He loves that deer hunting.
The last picture is of the inside of my deer stand. It's called "Casa del Marko". It sits on the ground on the side of a hill, which gives a great view of the creek bottom below. Lots of deer come hang out in this area to eat corn from the feeder or oats from the food plot. Here's the rub. I hunt this stand more than any other stand, and have seen more deer here, but I've never killed any of them I see from this stand. Why? I don't know. It's almost like I prefer just watching these deer and taking their pictures.
In the deer stand, I have everything laid out that I need to keep comfortable for a few hours of deer watching. The shelf above the window is for things I don't really need once I get settled in. from the left, binoculars case, camera case, flashlight, range finder case, and wasp spray. Early in the season, we seem to have a bunch of wasps hanging out in the deer stands.
On the bottom shelf, on the left you can just see the blue edge of my snack cooler. I typically pack 2 diet cokes and a couple of Little Debbies. Snacks on the deer stand are a family tradition that goes way back. Next is the Diet Coke, walkman, binoculars, cell phone, and range finder. Cell phone you ask? Set to silent, we send text messages back and forth. The members of our family sometimes hunt a couple hundred miles apart, but we always give the play-by-play via text message (which might explain the low kill rate...)
I should say something about my rifle. It's a Winchester model 70 Super grade. It was a wedding gift from Shelly. Eat your heart out guys. Not only does she hunt, she also bought me a top notch rifle for the wedding gift. (I got to pick it out, but hey, give the girl credit for actually buying a gun).
Hold on, I have a couple more updates.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Hunting...
disclaimer: If you aren't a hunter and are morally opposed or otherwise against hunting, stop reading now. I'm not interesting in arguing about this issue. Thank you.
Those that know me know that were getting into my favorite time of the year. I've never been into the stick and ball sports. I never really played them. One year of each sport as a kid and I knew I didn't like them. I was the kid that couldn't hit, couldn't catch, and spent the year of t-ball out in right field picking clovers without a clue as to what the hell was going on. Luckily, my Dad was a hunter. I don't know how old I was the first time I went hunting, but let's say I don't remember NOT going.
Hunting was a family deal. My Dad and grandfather (mother's dad) hunted together and I usually got to sit on the stand with one of them. My grandfather likes to tell the story of me packing 2 Hot Wheels cars (one for each of us) in the hunting bag so we could play with them in the stand. One day I'll tell more stories about that.
I've got some pretty strong feelings about hunting and the ethics involved in it. We put quite a bit of time, effort, and money into deer management out at our ranch. This involves working with local wildlife biologists and a game management program to deal with issues such as habitat, food sources - both natural and supplemental, and water. It's more than the average hunter's deal of filling the feeder with corn and sitting in a stand to wait for the deer to come.
The reward for our hard work is the ability to see quality deer. With that reward comes a few things that I view as responsibilities to make sure you are being ethical with the hunting.
My first rule is that a weapon never goes out for a hunt before it has been check for accuracy at the range. You would not believe how many people will take the rifle out of the closet and head for the woods without bothering to sight in the rifle. I've never wounded a deer or had to track a deer I've killed. I have flat missed a couple of times, but I've never wounded one. (aim at the neck - it's a small target - you will either have a clean, quick kill, or you will have a clean miss).
The second rule is that you never attempt a shot you aren't sure you can make. It's almost impossible to hit a running deer and make a clean shot, so why even attempt it? There will be another chance at another time.
I know that some people have varying opinions, and I could one day change my mind, but for now I won't shoot a doe that has a yearling with her. Some of the experts say that they are old enough to fend for themselves, but there is still something about it that I don't like.
That's some of my main thoughts. I should probably say that while I really like hunting, part of what I like is the watching. I haven't killed a deer in a couple of years now. I've seen a bunch, but I've mainly enjoyed watching them do what deer do. One of these days I'll remember to take some pictures while I'm watching them.
I'll write more on this subject in the next couple of weeks.
Is there anyone else reading here that enjoys sitting in the woods watching the wildlife do their thing?
disclaimer: If you aren't a hunter and are morally opposed or otherwise against hunting, stop reading now. I'm not interesting in arguing about this issue. Thank you.
Those that know me know that were getting into my favorite time of the year. I've never been into the stick and ball sports. I never really played them. One year of each sport as a kid and I knew I didn't like them. I was the kid that couldn't hit, couldn't catch, and spent the year of t-ball out in right field picking clovers without a clue as to what the hell was going on. Luckily, my Dad was a hunter. I don't know how old I was the first time I went hunting, but let's say I don't remember NOT going.
Hunting was a family deal. My Dad and grandfather (mother's dad) hunted together and I usually got to sit on the stand with one of them. My grandfather likes to tell the story of me packing 2 Hot Wheels cars (one for each of us) in the hunting bag so we could play with them in the stand. One day I'll tell more stories about that.
I've got some pretty strong feelings about hunting and the ethics involved in it. We put quite a bit of time, effort, and money into deer management out at our ranch. This involves working with local wildlife biologists and a game management program to deal with issues such as habitat, food sources - both natural and supplemental, and water. It's more than the average hunter's deal of filling the feeder with corn and sitting in a stand to wait for the deer to come.
The reward for our hard work is the ability to see quality deer. With that reward comes a few things that I view as responsibilities to make sure you are being ethical with the hunting.
My first rule is that a weapon never goes out for a hunt before it has been check for accuracy at the range. You would not believe how many people will take the rifle out of the closet and head for the woods without bothering to sight in the rifle. I've never wounded a deer or had to track a deer I've killed. I have flat missed a couple of times, but I've never wounded one. (aim at the neck - it's a small target - you will either have a clean, quick kill, or you will have a clean miss).
The second rule is that you never attempt a shot you aren't sure you can make. It's almost impossible to hit a running deer and make a clean shot, so why even attempt it? There will be another chance at another time.
I know that some people have varying opinions, and I could one day change my mind, but for now I won't shoot a doe that has a yearling with her. Some of the experts say that they are old enough to fend for themselves, but there is still something about it that I don't like.
That's some of my main thoughts. I should probably say that while I really like hunting, part of what I like is the watching. I haven't killed a deer in a couple of years now. I've seen a bunch, but I've mainly enjoyed watching them do what deer do. One of these days I'll remember to take some pictures while I'm watching them.
I'll write more on this subject in the next couple of weeks.
Is there anyone else reading here that enjoys sitting in the woods watching the wildlife do their thing?
MICE...
A week or so ago, Shelly was organizing a few things in the pantry and came across evidence of a critter loose in the house. A package of peanut butter cheese crackers had been chewed on and some little droppings were on the bottom shelf. Let me tell you, there is NEVER just one mouse when you see evidence of a critter.
I went out and picked up a couple of glue traps and put them in the pantry, baited with a piece of animal cracker and a dab of peanut butter. That should get them. The next morning, one of my traps had been successful - sort of. The trap was moved and had all sorts of mouse hair and droppings on it, but no mouse. It must have been a heck of a show during the night. I wonder what Sweetie the Chihuahua thought about it. Surely she heard the commotion from her bed not 10 feet away.
Well, I moved the traps around a little, and put one in the garage behind the freezer where there was some mouse poop. About an hour later, I had a mouse. A quick thump to the head and he was history. One down, hopefully not many more to go. Back in late 2001 we had a mouse in the house. A couple of months later, I had caught 14 or 15 mice, one rat, and one baby rabbit on my glue traps. (the baby rabbit was carefully removed and went on to be eaten by a resident owl a short-time later). Thankfully, MOST of the critters were in the garage and not in the house.
Well, fast forward to Saturday. We had gone to the College Station to see the Aggies play (that's another rant for another day). We got home pretty late and I was checking the traps. I was looking in the corner of the garage near one of my storage cabinets that REALLY needed to be cleaned out and saw more mouse sign. Lots of mouse sign. Like lots of paper and stuff that had been chewed up I opened the cabinet and saw IT. A mouse nest. Crap, those little jokers were setting up housekeeping in my garage. No mice visible, but there was a nest. I set a glue trap and also put out a fancy new electric trap I bought. War has been declared.
This new electric trap is pretty slick. You put in 4 AA batteries and put a little bit of peanut butter in the trap. When Mr Mouse walks in to get his snack and steps on the little metal plates ZAP! I'm happy to report, the trap works as advertised. 2 Mousies down.
I got up early Sunday morning and started cleaning the garage. A full I have a trashcan full of JUNK that needed to be thrown out and found another nest in the clutter. In the next night or two, I'll finish the job and once again have both cars in the garage.
I wonder how many more I'll find. I checked tonight and there were no more signs (droppings) in the areas I cleaned out yesterday, so maybe there aren't too many more. One can only hope...
A week or so ago, Shelly was organizing a few things in the pantry and came across evidence of a critter loose in the house. A package of peanut butter cheese crackers had been chewed on and some little droppings were on the bottom shelf. Let me tell you, there is NEVER just one mouse when you see evidence of a critter.
I went out and picked up a couple of glue traps and put them in the pantry, baited with a piece of animal cracker and a dab of peanut butter. That should get them. The next morning, one of my traps had been successful - sort of. The trap was moved and had all sorts of mouse hair and droppings on it, but no mouse. It must have been a heck of a show during the night. I wonder what Sweetie the Chihuahua thought about it. Surely she heard the commotion from her bed not 10 feet away.
Well, I moved the traps around a little, and put one in the garage behind the freezer where there was some mouse poop. About an hour later, I had a mouse. A quick thump to the head and he was history. One down, hopefully not many more to go. Back in late 2001 we had a mouse in the house. A couple of months later, I had caught 14 or 15 mice, one rat, and one baby rabbit on my glue traps. (the baby rabbit was carefully removed and went on to be eaten by a resident owl a short-time later). Thankfully, MOST of the critters were in the garage and not in the house.
Well, fast forward to Saturday. We had gone to the College Station to see the Aggies play (that's another rant for another day). We got home pretty late and I was checking the traps. I was looking in the corner of the garage near one of my storage cabinets that REALLY needed to be cleaned out and saw more mouse sign. Lots of mouse sign. Like lots of paper and stuff that had been chewed up I opened the cabinet and saw IT. A mouse nest. Crap, those little jokers were setting up housekeeping in my garage. No mice visible, but there was a nest. I set a glue trap and also put out a fancy new electric trap I bought. War has been declared.
This new electric trap is pretty slick. You put in 4 AA batteries and put a little bit of peanut butter in the trap. When Mr Mouse walks in to get his snack and steps on the little metal plates ZAP! I'm happy to report, the trap works as advertised. 2 Mousies down.
I got up early Sunday morning and started cleaning the garage. A full I have a trashcan full of JUNK that needed to be thrown out and found another nest in the clutter. In the next night or two, I'll finish the job and once again have both cars in the garage.
I wonder how many more I'll find. I checked tonight and there were no more signs (droppings) in the areas I cleaned out yesterday, so maybe there aren't too many more. One can only hope...
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Preempted...
Shelly claims that she needs the computer tonight for legitimate purposes. We took a vote on whether her use was more important than blogging. Matthew and I voted for blogging. Shelly claimed that her one vote was the winner.
I may need to request a recount. Must have been some illegals or dead people voting on her side when I wasn't looking. Maybe Al Sharpton will come supervise the recount...
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
Shelly claims that she needs the computer tonight for legitimate purposes. We took a vote on whether her use was more important than blogging. Matthew and I voted for blogging. Shelly claimed that her one vote was the winner.
I may need to request a recount. Must have been some illegals or dead people voting on her side when I wasn't looking. Maybe Al Sharpton will come supervise the recount...
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Pop Quiz...
ok, pop quiz time. Staci, you are not allowed to answer since I already asked you.
What's the first thing you know?
I'll give you a hint... It's not your name, your mothers voice, etc. This question requires that you think outside the box a little.
Leave your answers in comments. I turned off the comment moderation for now so it's easier for you to post. What does the winner get? I don't know, how about bragging rights? Maybe I'll let you pick the topic for an upcoming post (and I can ad lib my way through a posting on your topic of choice)
Bonus joke...
Here's a bonus joke for you. It's one of my favorites (told in my best Cajun accent).
Boudreaux, Thibodeaux, Comeaux, and Fontenot were sitting around trying to think of what the fastest thing in the world is.
Boudreaux says "It has to be a thought. When you have a thought, before you know it, there it is. Now that's Fast."
Thibodeaux says "No, man, it has to be a blink. When you blink, it happens just like that (snaps fingers). Before you know it, you done blinked and it's over. You hardly even notice you've done it. That's fast."
Comeaux says "Yeah, those are fast, but Electricity is even faster. When you turn on the light switch, BOOM, the lights are on. When you turn the switch off, BOOM, darkness. Now that's fast."
Fontenot said, "Yeah, those are fast, but the fastest thing in the world is diarrhea." The others said "You're crazy. How do you figure that it's faster than the other stuff?" Fontenot answers "Well, when I woke up this morning with diarrhea, before I could think, blink, or turn on the lights, I done crapped my pants."
That my friends, is fast.
ok, pop quiz time. Staci, you are not allowed to answer since I already asked you.
What's the first thing you know?
I'll give you a hint... It's not your name, your mothers voice, etc. This question requires that you think outside the box a little.
Leave your answers in comments. I turned off the comment moderation for now so it's easier for you to post. What does the winner get? I don't know, how about bragging rights? Maybe I'll let you pick the topic for an upcoming post (and I can ad lib my way through a posting on your topic of choice)
Bonus joke...
Here's a bonus joke for you. It's one of my favorites (told in my best Cajun accent).
Boudreaux, Thibodeaux, Comeaux, and Fontenot were sitting around trying to think of what the fastest thing in the world is.
Boudreaux says "It has to be a thought. When you have a thought, before you know it, there it is. Now that's Fast."
Thibodeaux says "No, man, it has to be a blink. When you blink, it happens just like that (snaps fingers). Before you know it, you done blinked and it's over. You hardly even notice you've done it. That's fast."
Comeaux says "Yeah, those are fast, but Electricity is even faster. When you turn on the light switch, BOOM, the lights are on. When you turn the switch off, BOOM, darkness. Now that's fast."
Fontenot said, "Yeah, those are fast, but the fastest thing in the world is diarrhea." The others said "You're crazy. How do you figure that it's faster than the other stuff?" Fontenot answers "Well, when I woke up this morning with diarrhea, before I could think, blink, or turn on the lights, I done crapped my pants."
That my friends, is fast.
Big Ole Bag O' Toys...
For the last several weeks, Shelly and I have been attending a parenting course called "Love and Logic". Before Matthew was born, we took one called "Growing Kids God's Way", which is supposedly similar to Babywise. Of course, being the good parents we are, we don't put much of it into practice. We have picked up a few things. This one teaches you some ideas to get things across to the kids and get them to do what you want to do without always harping on them. Not completely bad.
I put one of the idea into motion tonight. It was time for Matthew's bath and the living room was a mess with all of his toys. I told him that all of the toys he wanted to keep, he needed to pick up. I would pick up and keep all of the ones that were left when he was "through" cleaning up. A few minutes later, he told me he was ready to go upstairs. I asked him if he was sure, there were an awful lot of toys left that I would be keeping. He was sure.
Man, he's going to be PISSED tomorrow evening when he starts looking for his toys. I seriously have about 2/3 of his toys that are currently downstairs, and almost ALL of the ones he really plays with. I have a pirate ship, "Lightening McQueen", all of his tools, all of his Hot Wheels trucks, his Bob the Builder hat, and several other items. I guess we'll see if this stuff really works.
For the last several weeks, Shelly and I have been attending a parenting course called "Love and Logic". Before Matthew was born, we took one called "Growing Kids God's Way", which is supposedly similar to Babywise. Of course, being the good parents we are, we don't put much of it into practice. We have picked up a few things. This one teaches you some ideas to get things across to the kids and get them to do what you want to do without always harping on them. Not completely bad.
I put one of the idea into motion tonight. It was time for Matthew's bath and the living room was a mess with all of his toys. I told him that all of the toys he wanted to keep, he needed to pick up. I would pick up and keep all of the ones that were left when he was "through" cleaning up. A few minutes later, he told me he was ready to go upstairs. I asked him if he was sure, there were an awful lot of toys left that I would be keeping. He was sure.
Man, he's going to be PISSED tomorrow evening when he starts looking for his toys. I seriously have about 2/3 of his toys that are currently downstairs, and almost ALL of the ones he really plays with. I have a pirate ship, "Lightening McQueen", all of his tools, all of his Hot Wheels trucks, his Bob the Builder hat, and several other items. I guess we'll see if this stuff really works.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Redirected...
Growing up, my family never was into camping, but I've always thought it was fun. I camped out when I was in the boy scouts as a kid, but nothing since then. That changed this year. Last Christmas I asked for and received a tent. This isn't just any tent, it's an SUV tent.
The problem with the camping is that in the Houston area, there are very few weekends that are suitable for tent camping. It's too hot most of the year, and raining the rest of the time. But, I'm determined to take my son camping, so on the 2 or 3 good weekends each year, we'll go out and sleep in the tent. One thing I learned on our first outing... Camping is fun and relaxing, but when doing it by yourself with a 3 year old, it's a TON of work. Did I mention that Shelly gave me the tent with the stipulation that I not involve her in any of my "fun"?
Shelly is not a camper, especially not a tent camper. Unfortunately, more deluxe camping accommodations (RV, etc) are not in the budget, and apparently never will be while she is involved with our finances. Have I mentioned that she has the initials CPA and CFP behind her name? Needless to say, that argument is pretty much done - no RV for this camper.
As of last weekend, the plan for this weekend involved loading up the camping gear and a certain 3 year old for a trip to the local state park. The weather is perfect, the Chamber of Commerce would be proud of the weather we are having. Mid 80's during the day, high 50's overnight. You couldn't order up better camping weather. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Apparently, there were many chores for me for this weekend that were deemed more important than camping with the little guy.
What's so important? I think it must be nesting. Most pregnant women supposedly go through it at some point. Well, she's jumping in with both feet. A professional organizer spent part of the day at our house on Friday to help Shelly figure out how to best deal with the mountain of stuff that is our kitchen. This spills over into the pantry and laundry room since they are all in the same vicinity. The time with the organizer was a gift from Shelly's mother. Unfortunately, the $200 trip to The Container Store last night wasn't included in that gift.
So, instead of spending the afternoon in communing with nature, I hung up all manner of racks, sorters, broom hangy things, etc, etc. Really, that was just an hour or so. I also mowed, edged, weed-eated, trimmed bushes, took the truck for an oil change / transmission service (wasn't in the mood to do it myself), and had both cars washed. After that, I went to the grocery store, cooked dinner, then cleaned up after dinner. Yes, Shelly was busy today also, but this is my blog - if she wants to talk about her busy day, she can get her own blog.
The consolation - Shelly has agreed to go camping with Matthew and me in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how that goes when it happens.
In other news today - the Aggies beat Nebraska. Ok, so Nebraska sucks this year, but at least it wasn't another loss for the Aggies. Yes, Katie, even with the win, Fran should still keep working to find a good realtor. Maybe he'll even sneak out in the middle of the night like he did for you guys. I still say it's pretty sad when our 300 lb running back has the 2 longest passes this year (50+ yards each) and our QB has the most rushing yards on the team.
Growing up, my family never was into camping, but I've always thought it was fun. I camped out when I was in the boy scouts as a kid, but nothing since then. That changed this year. Last Christmas I asked for and received a tent. This isn't just any tent, it's an SUV tent.
The problem with the camping is that in the Houston area, there are very few weekends that are suitable for tent camping. It's too hot most of the year, and raining the rest of the time. But, I'm determined to take my son camping, so on the 2 or 3 good weekends each year, we'll go out and sleep in the tent. One thing I learned on our first outing... Camping is fun and relaxing, but when doing it by yourself with a 3 year old, it's a TON of work. Did I mention that Shelly gave me the tent with the stipulation that I not involve her in any of my "fun"?
Shelly is not a camper, especially not a tent camper. Unfortunately, more deluxe camping accommodations (RV, etc) are not in the budget, and apparently never will be while she is involved with our finances. Have I mentioned that she has the initials CPA and CFP behind her name? Needless to say, that argument is pretty much done - no RV for this camper.
As of last weekend, the plan for this weekend involved loading up the camping gear and a certain 3 year old for a trip to the local state park. The weather is perfect, the Chamber of Commerce would be proud of the weather we are having. Mid 80's during the day, high 50's overnight. You couldn't order up better camping weather. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Apparently, there were many chores for me for this weekend that were deemed more important than camping with the little guy.
What's so important? I think it must be nesting. Most pregnant women supposedly go through it at some point. Well, she's jumping in with both feet. A professional organizer spent part of the day at our house on Friday to help Shelly figure out how to best deal with the mountain of stuff that is our kitchen. This spills over into the pantry and laundry room since they are all in the same vicinity. The time with the organizer was a gift from Shelly's mother. Unfortunately, the $200 trip to The Container Store last night wasn't included in that gift.
So, instead of spending the afternoon in communing with nature, I hung up all manner of racks, sorters, broom hangy things, etc, etc. Really, that was just an hour or so. I also mowed, edged, weed-eated, trimmed bushes, took the truck for an oil change / transmission service (wasn't in the mood to do it myself), and had both cars washed. After that, I went to the grocery store, cooked dinner, then cleaned up after dinner. Yes, Shelly was busy today also, but this is my blog - if she wants to talk about her busy day, she can get her own blog.
The consolation - Shelly has agreed to go camping with Matthew and me in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how that goes when it happens.
In other news today - the Aggies beat Nebraska. Ok, so Nebraska sucks this year, but at least it wasn't another loss for the Aggies. Yes, Katie, even with the win, Fran should still keep working to find a good realtor. Maybe he'll even sneak out in the middle of the night like he did for you guys. I still say it's pretty sad when our 300 lb running back has the 2 longest passes this year (50+ yards each) and our QB has the most rushing yards on the team.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Frog Hunting...
I guess it is the unusually wet spring and summer we have had, but we have a TON of frogs. As a matter of fact, we had just over 5 inches of rain at my house Monday afternoon. The frogs seem to keep themselves pretty well hidden during the day, but at night they are pretty easy to find. They seem to mostly hang out around the edges of the flowerbeds, near the stone borders, and along the edges of the sidewalk, right where the grass meets the concrete.
Several weeks ago, I took Matthew out with a couple of flashlights and we went "frog hunting". Well, the kid now loves frogs. He insists on frog hunting almost every night. He stalks the frogs with a flashlight. Once he finds one, I shine my light on it and he puts his light next to the frog and the frog. After holding it for a second and laughing, he places them in the grass.
Last night, he picked up a little frog. just before he put the frog down, I heard "hey, the froggy tee-teed on my hand". That was pretty funny, especially coming from a kid that a few months ago hated to have dirty hands. Yes, I did teach him that we have to wash our hands good with soap after handling frogs...
Well, tonight, Matthew wasn't having any part of missing out on the frog hunt, so we grabbed our lights and hit the sidewalk. After finding several, I sent him in the house while I retrieved a few items from my car. As I walked in the house, Shelly was leading Matthew out saying something along the lines of "I don't allow frogs in my house". Evidently, Matthew faked dropping the last frog and carried him in the house.
Yep, he's ALL boy. I guess now we'll have to start checking his pockets to make sure no critters get snuck into the house.
I guess it is the unusually wet spring and summer we have had, but we have a TON of frogs. As a matter of fact, we had just over 5 inches of rain at my house Monday afternoon. The frogs seem to keep themselves pretty well hidden during the day, but at night they are pretty easy to find. They seem to mostly hang out around the edges of the flowerbeds, near the stone borders, and along the edges of the sidewalk, right where the grass meets the concrete.
Several weeks ago, I took Matthew out with a couple of flashlights and we went "frog hunting". Well, the kid now loves frogs. He insists on frog hunting almost every night. He stalks the frogs with a flashlight. Once he finds one, I shine my light on it and he puts his light next to the frog and the frog. After holding it for a second and laughing, he places them in the grass.
Last night, he picked up a little frog. just before he put the frog down, I heard "hey, the froggy tee-teed on my hand". That was pretty funny, especially coming from a kid that a few months ago hated to have dirty hands. Yes, I did teach him that we have to wash our hands good with soap after handling frogs...
Well, tonight, Matthew wasn't having any part of missing out on the frog hunt, so we grabbed our lights and hit the sidewalk. After finding several, I sent him in the house while I retrieved a few items from my car. As I walked in the house, Shelly was leading Matthew out saying something along the lines of "I don't allow frogs in my house". Evidently, Matthew faked dropping the last frog and carried him in the house.
Yep, he's ALL boy. I guess now we'll have to start checking his pockets to make sure no critters get snuck into the house.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Comcast Sucks...
We have been sheep for many years. TV from the local cable company, high speed internet from the same group. Phone has always been with BellSouth, AT&T, or whoever the local remnant of what once was Bell Telephone is. When you do it that way, you likely pay more.
Well, we pay in the $90 range for the basic digital cable and broadband internet. They were through Time Warner, but Comcast recently took over. It's not a good change. The price of the cable boxes went up to $7 each, and the sports package is going from $4 to $8. They are also starting to charge a rental fee for the cable modem, which was always free from Time Warner. Basically, nickle and diming you to death.
They have been really pushing the VOIP phone deal, and have been advertising a $99 deal for digital cable, cable internet, and the VOIP phone deal (Phone over the cable internet). Shelly called and held for over 20 minutes. when the guy finally answered the phone, he told her we were not eligible since we were already customers. It would cost us about $130 or so. No negotiation, no customer courtesy adjustments available.
Looks like Direct TV and DSL are in our future. Shelly writes the checks to pay the bills, and they pissed her off. Basically, they bit the hand...
What do you want to bet that they kiss my butt 9 ways from Sunday and offer me the moon when we call to cancel?
We have been sheep for many years. TV from the local cable company, high speed internet from the same group. Phone has always been with BellSouth, AT&T, or whoever the local remnant of what once was Bell Telephone is. When you do it that way, you likely pay more.
Well, we pay in the $90 range for the basic digital cable and broadband internet. They were through Time Warner, but Comcast recently took over. It's not a good change. The price of the cable boxes went up to $7 each, and the sports package is going from $4 to $8. They are also starting to charge a rental fee for the cable modem, which was always free from Time Warner. Basically, nickle and diming you to death.
They have been really pushing the VOIP phone deal, and have been advertising a $99 deal for digital cable, cable internet, and the VOIP phone deal (Phone over the cable internet). Shelly called and held for over 20 minutes. when the guy finally answered the phone, he told her we were not eligible since we were already customers. It would cost us about $130 or so. No negotiation, no customer courtesy adjustments available.
Looks like Direct TV and DSL are in our future. Shelly writes the checks to pay the bills, and they pissed her off. Basically, they bit the hand...
What do you want to bet that they kiss my butt 9 ways from Sunday and offer me the moon when we call to cancel?
(un)SCREWED...
Last night, after dinner, I heard Shelly in the living room "Where do all of these screws keep coming from?" There were 8-10 little silver screws on the living room floor. She found a few more the day or so before also. After investigating a little, I noticed Matthew playing with Felipe'. For the parents of little kids, that is a character from Disney Channel's Handy Manny. Felipe' is the Phillips head screwdriver. Ok, he has several toy screwdrivers, etc, but somewhere he had found one of my real screwdrivers.
The mystery was starting to come together... Now, where did the screws come from? Was our house about to collapse from missing fasteners? It IS a Pulte home... After a quick check, it was discovered that a couple of his toys had empty holes where screws once lived. After a good laugh, and banishing Felipe' back to Daddy's toolbox in the garage, we could once again say "This Mystery Is History"
Last night, after dinner, I heard Shelly in the living room "Where do all of these screws keep coming from?" There were 8-10 little silver screws on the living room floor. She found a few more the day or so before also. After investigating a little, I noticed Matthew playing with Felipe'. For the parents of little kids, that is a character from Disney Channel's Handy Manny. Felipe' is the Phillips head screwdriver. Ok, he has several toy screwdrivers, etc, but somewhere he had found one of my real screwdrivers.
The mystery was starting to come together... Now, where did the screws come from? Was our house about to collapse from missing fasteners? It IS a Pulte home... After a quick check, it was discovered that a couple of his toys had empty holes where screws once lived. After a good laugh, and banishing Felipe' back to Daddy's toolbox in the garage, we could once again say "This Mystery Is History"
Monday, October 15, 2007
Blaming the dog...
While I was out of town for the weekend, my parents kept Matthew so Shelly could get a little rest and get caught up on some stuff around the house. Matthew had a ball, especially since my sisters daughter that is about the same age was also there with him.
At one point on Saturday, Matthew and Allison were playing in the sandbox on the back patio and Matthew had to use the bathroom. Of course, for him that means stripping from the waist down and peeing off the edge of the patio. That's my boy. Even funnier was that earlier in the day he had done the same thing, and Allison also stripped down and was trying to pee off the patio like Matthew did. Poor thing. Mom had to explain to her that little girls couldn't do it like that. Matthew had announced several times this week "Only boys" when asked about "tee-teeing in the grass".
Well, this time, Matthew needed to take care of a little more than just whizzing off the patio. He announced that he had to poop. Before Mom could tell him that they needed to go in the house, he turned around, stuck his behind out a little and dropped one right on the patio. My parents didn't know what to think. Of course, they called me and gave me a hard time about raising a kid that would do such a thing.
Now, the question is - Where on Earth did he learn such a thing?
I blame the dog. She does it all the time.
While I was out of town for the weekend, my parents kept Matthew so Shelly could get a little rest and get caught up on some stuff around the house. Matthew had a ball, especially since my sisters daughter that is about the same age was also there with him.
At one point on Saturday, Matthew and Allison were playing in the sandbox on the back patio and Matthew had to use the bathroom. Of course, for him that means stripping from the waist down and peeing off the edge of the patio. That's my boy. Even funnier was that earlier in the day he had done the same thing, and Allison also stripped down and was trying to pee off the patio like Matthew did. Poor thing. Mom had to explain to her that little girls couldn't do it like that. Matthew had announced several times this week "Only boys" when asked about "tee-teeing in the grass".
Well, this time, Matthew needed to take care of a little more than just whizzing off the patio. He announced that he had to poop. Before Mom could tell him that they needed to go in the house, he turned around, stuck his behind out a little and dropped one right on the patio. My parents didn't know what to think. Of course, they called me and gave me a hard time about raising a kid that would do such a thing.
Now, the question is - Where on Earth did he learn such a thing?
I blame the dog. She does it all the time.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Whooped...
That's Southern for TIRED. Or is it whuped?
Bro-in-law and I headed up to the ranch Friday evening to get things ready for deer season. The guy that looks after things at the ranch for us took care of the food plots for us. I think he planted 2,000 lbs of oats, so our food plats are going to be pretty nice this year. With that done, all we had to do was was fill the feeders and check all of the stands for wasps. Sounds easy, huh? Well, 1300 lbs of corn, 100 lbs of milo (for the wild turkeys), a bunch of grass cutting, and several cans of wasp spray later, we're through.
Thankfully, the weather was near perfect. It was in the lower 80's with a decent breeze, and it sure felt good to be working outside. We started early Saturday morning, and knocked out most of it by around 2:00 or so. We stopped, had a sandwich for lunch, and then turned on the Aggie game. Man, what a disappointing game. The Aggies stunk up the place. You sort of expect more from a team with a $2 mil per year coach. Too bad we can't send him back to Alabama.
Of course, I forgot the camera, so these are pics from a few months ago.
That's Southern for TIRED. Or is it whuped?
Bro-in-law and I headed up to the ranch Friday evening to get things ready for deer season. The guy that looks after things at the ranch for us took care of the food plots for us. I think he planted 2,000 lbs of oats, so our food plats are going to be pretty nice this year. With that done, all we had to do was was fill the feeders and check all of the stands for wasps. Sounds easy, huh? Well, 1300 lbs of corn, 100 lbs of milo (for the wild turkeys), a bunch of grass cutting, and several cans of wasp spray later, we're through.
Thankfully, the weather was near perfect. It was in the lower 80's with a decent breeze, and it sure felt good to be working outside. We started early Saturday morning, and knocked out most of it by around 2:00 or so. We stopped, had a sandwich for lunch, and then turned on the Aggie game. Man, what a disappointing game. The Aggies stunk up the place. You sort of expect more from a team with a $2 mil per year coach. Too bad we can't send him back to Alabama.
Of course, I forgot the camera, so these are pics from a few months ago.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
It's that time of year again...
Fall is in the air. We have a few weeks of college football under our belts(Gig 'em Aggies), and it's time to start thinking about heading onto the woods. Folks, it's almost Hunting Season. Yes, I know dove season, and numerous other seasons have already opened, but I'm talking about Deer Season.
I'm leaving tomorrow after work for the ranch. Bro-in-law (Shelly's brother) and I are heading out to filler feeders, ready stands, relax a little, and perhaps shoot at a few doves. Of course, we also have satellite TV up there to watch the Aggies and the NASCAR race. I promise, I'm not completely redneck. I still have all of my teeth, and Shelly and I were not related before we got married. Hey, I live in the South, what do you expect from me?
I'll try to take the camera out there and snap a few pictures, then I'll explain my deer hunting "style" to you. I get picked on by friends and family, but hey, you might as well enjoy yourself when you are sitting in the woods - who cares if you never really kill any deer...
In the coming weeks, I'll wash all of my camo clothes in scent free detergent, hit the rifle range, and generally be useless for anything else. Sounds like fun to me.
Fall is in the air. We have a few weeks of college football under our belts(Gig 'em Aggies), and it's time to start thinking about heading onto the woods. Folks, it's almost Hunting Season. Yes, I know dove season, and numerous other seasons have already opened, but I'm talking about Deer Season.
I'm leaving tomorrow after work for the ranch. Bro-in-law (Shelly's brother) and I are heading out to filler feeders, ready stands, relax a little, and perhaps shoot at a few doves. Of course, we also have satellite TV up there to watch the Aggies and the NASCAR race. I promise, I'm not completely redneck. I still have all of my teeth, and Shelly and I were not related before we got married. Hey, I live in the South, what do you expect from me?
I'll try to take the camera out there and snap a few pictures, then I'll explain my deer hunting "style" to you. I get picked on by friends and family, but hey, you might as well enjoy yourself when you are sitting in the woods - who cares if you never really kill any deer...
In the coming weeks, I'll wash all of my camo clothes in scent free detergent, hit the rifle range, and generally be useless for anything else. Sounds like fun to me.
Physical training starts tomorrow...
I opened the e-mail and got the message I've been waiting for. It's an invitation to join in a charity bike ride benefiting the Make A Wish Foundation. It's just less than a month away, so intense training has to start soon. I plan to start training tomorrow morning.
Of course, this deal isn't quite as big as some big name events, like the MS 150 or the Kyle Petty Charity Ride, but everyone can't participate in every event.
No, friends, this event is different. It is tailored to a different crowd. It's a bike ride like no other (Along the same lines as Frank Costanza's Festivus for the Rest of Us. - something for everyone else).
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Tour de Donut. Imagine the idea behind this deal. You hop on the bike and ride down the road. Before long, you come to a checkpoint loaded with as many donuts as you can cram in. Each donut you consume knocks 5 minutes off your ride time. Think of it... If you play your cards right by riding fast and downing donuts like that Japanese kid eats hot dogs, you could actually finish the race before you started.
How will I train? Will I drag the bike out of the shed, air up the tires, put on my little biker shorts, and strap on my helmet? Not me? I'm driving my happy butt down to Shipley's and working over a few hot glazed.
I opened the e-mail and got the message I've been waiting for. It's an invitation to join in a charity bike ride benefiting the Make A Wish Foundation. It's just less than a month away, so intense training has to start soon. I plan to start training tomorrow morning.
Of course, this deal isn't quite as big as some big name events, like the MS 150 or the Kyle Petty Charity Ride, but everyone can't participate in every event.
No, friends, this event is different. It is tailored to a different crowd. It's a bike ride like no other (Along the same lines as Frank Costanza's Festivus for the Rest of Us. - something for everyone else).
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Tour de Donut. Imagine the idea behind this deal. You hop on the bike and ride down the road. Before long, you come to a checkpoint loaded with as many donuts as you can cram in. Each donut you consume knocks 5 minutes off your ride time. Think of it... If you play your cards right by riding fast and downing donuts like that Japanese kid eats hot dogs, you could actually finish the race before you started.
How will I train? Will I drag the bike out of the shed, air up the tires, put on my little biker shorts, and strap on my helmet? Not me? I'm driving my happy butt down to Shipley's and working over a few hot glazed.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
BIG NEWS!!!
Several posts back, I opened up about a little of the trouble we've had this year. Well, Matthew is happy to announce that there is a baby sister in Mommy's tummy. Actually, we're not sure what it is because it's still too early to tell. Matthew's request for a baby sister has been duly noted, and hopefully we are able to give him what he has asked for.
We're only 10 weeks along, but at least we made it past the psychological point of 9 weeks, 3 days that our 1st miscarriage took place. Of course, there is still quite a ways to go, but the doctor had a pretty good round of tests done a couple of weeks ago, and everything was good so far. There is another appt next week, so keep your fingers crossed (and keep us in your prayers also). We are excited, but there is always a little worry in the background.
The good news (sort of) is that Shelly has been pretty sick for the last several weeks. We take that as a good sign since Shelly was pretty sick for the first several months she was pregnant with Matthew, and not so sick for the 2 pregnancies earlier this year. I guess it's good that she has evening sickness instead of morning sickness, so getting up and starting the day isn't too bad for her. The flip side is that she's pretty grumpy in the evenings and doesn't feel like doing much besides going to sleep. Man, our house is starting to look a little rough inside. Maybe I can con my one of Matthew's grandmothers into coming over one day and doing a little laundry and perhaps cooking a little dinner (Mom, a roast with rice, mushroom gravy, and purple hull peas would be excellent...)
Oh, I almost forgot... In addition to the "baby sister" in Mommy's tummy, Matthew has also reported that he has a Clifford in his tummy. That's Clifford as in Clifford the Big, Red Dog (Google it if you've never heard it). We have no idea where that came from, but it was pretty funny at the time. Kids can come up with some pretty funny stuff.
Several posts back, I opened up about a little of the trouble we've had this year. Well, Matthew is happy to announce that there is a baby sister in Mommy's tummy. Actually, we're not sure what it is because it's still too early to tell. Matthew's request for a baby sister has been duly noted, and hopefully we are able to give him what he has asked for.
We're only 10 weeks along, but at least we made it past the psychological point of 9 weeks, 3 days that our 1st miscarriage took place. Of course, there is still quite a ways to go, but the doctor had a pretty good round of tests done a couple of weeks ago, and everything was good so far. There is another appt next week, so keep your fingers crossed (and keep us in your prayers also). We are excited, but there is always a little worry in the background.
The good news (sort of) is that Shelly has been pretty sick for the last several weeks. We take that as a good sign since Shelly was pretty sick for the first several months she was pregnant with Matthew, and not so sick for the 2 pregnancies earlier this year. I guess it's good that she has evening sickness instead of morning sickness, so getting up and starting the day isn't too bad for her. The flip side is that she's pretty grumpy in the evenings and doesn't feel like doing much besides going to sleep. Man, our house is starting to look a little rough inside. Maybe I can con my one of Matthew's grandmothers into coming over one day and doing a little laundry and perhaps cooking a little dinner (Mom, a roast with rice, mushroom gravy, and purple hull peas would be excellent...)
Oh, I almost forgot... In addition to the "baby sister" in Mommy's tummy, Matthew has also reported that he has a Clifford in his tummy. That's Clifford as in Clifford the Big, Red Dog (Google it if you've never heard it). We have no idea where that came from, but it was pretty funny at the time. Kids can come up with some pretty funny stuff.
I'm BAAACCCKKKKK!!!!
Man, it has been quite a while since I've updated. Hopefully all of you find this post before too long. I think I had a few regular readers before I started being a bum and not posting. Leave a comment so I'll know you folks are still around.
What's been going on with me to keep me from posting? Much the same as always, just pretty busy in the evenings for a couple of weeks there. The problem with blogging is that if you don't keep up with it, it's hard to get back into it. I've not really know where to start because there is so much to talk about. I'll catch everyone up on what's been happening over the next week or so. Some of it involves pictures, so of it just involves a little typing to work the stories out. Sit back, and hold-on, because the next week or so might be a little busy. I promise, there will be a few good stories, and maybe a laugh or 2 along the way.
Next Post... Big news...
Man, it has been quite a while since I've updated. Hopefully all of you find this post before too long. I think I had a few regular readers before I started being a bum and not posting. Leave a comment so I'll know you folks are still around.
What's been going on with me to keep me from posting? Much the same as always, just pretty busy in the evenings for a couple of weeks there. The problem with blogging is that if you don't keep up with it, it's hard to get back into it. I've not really know where to start because there is so much to talk about. I'll catch everyone up on what's been happening over the next week or so. Some of it involves pictures, so of it just involves a little typing to work the stories out. Sit back, and hold-on, because the next week or so might be a little busy. I promise, there will be a few good stories, and maybe a laugh or 2 along the way.
Next Post... Big news...
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Interesting trial...
I've e been reading the highlights each evening about the trial of former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade. If you haven't heard the story, Google her name or look at the Houston Chronicle's website.
It seems that this lady got a quite large salary and a monthly stipend on top of that to maintain a home suitable for the president of a University. It seems that she was last year or so she spent a HUGE amount of money on landscaping for her $1 mil + home and the bill was sent to the University. The University then paid it. She claims she meant to pay it and TSU was billed by mistake. Well, an investigation started and the she ended up being fired. She's now charged with felony crimes and could possible spend some time in prison. Probably as long as Andy Fastow of Enron fame.
OK, here is my beef with the deal...
It shouldn't be this way, but minorities, especially black minorities often start out with some level of disadvantage. In America's history, expectations of blacks were low. As many people tend to live up to what is expected of them, generations under-performed when compared to whites. Limitations were imposed on these folks and opportunities were withheld. Skip forward a few years from the civil rights era, and groups like the NAACP, United Negro College Fund, quotas, etc were instituted, and opportunities started becoming available.
The problem at this point is that many of the people of age to take advantage of these new opportunities had parents that were of another generation, and did not push their children to excel and take advantage of these opportunities (It's still a vicious cycle today - as evidenced by some of the people brought out of the shadows and into the spotlight after Hurricane Katrina)
But, some people did take advantage of what was offered, and worked hard to better themselves. Priscilla Slade was one of these people. I don't know this woman's life story, but She graduated with an undergraduate degree from Mississippi State, a masters from Jackson State, and a PhD in Accounting from University of Texas. I've become an Aggie fan as my wife has a masters in Accounting from Texas A&M, but I can tell you, you gotta be pretty smart to get out of Austin with a Masters in any of the business disciplines (as it is VERY hard to even get in). This lady is nice looking, well educated, and likely worked hard to get where she was. If I remember correctly, she was Dean of the business college at TSU before getting picked to be president.
Where am I going with this? I'll tell you. It really burns me to see so many minorities that use their talents (education, athletic ability, etc) to get ahead, only to get greedy. So many of them take advantage of the position they have attained honestly and just completely screw the pooch for nothing but greed. As a member of the majority race (although a shrinking majority), I have to live with the way previous generations treated minorities (usually blacks). We are reminded about it constantly by certain activists (who would be out of a job if they didn't constantly stir the pot).
Yes, whites fail colossally (the guys at Enron as a perfect example). They also fail often. The difference is that the whites seem to have nothing to prove, and nothing more to really gain. The minorities are still fighting to catch up, and it seems that too many of the ones that make it don't seem to worry much about the ones coming after them.
What a shame.
Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
I've e been reading the highlights each evening about the trial of former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade. If you haven't heard the story, Google her name or look at the Houston Chronicle's website.
It seems that this lady got a quite large salary and a monthly stipend on top of that to maintain a home suitable for the president of a University. It seems that she was last year or so she spent a HUGE amount of money on landscaping for her $1 mil + home and the bill was sent to the University. The University then paid it. She claims she meant to pay it and TSU was billed by mistake. Well, an investigation started and the she ended up being fired. She's now charged with felony crimes and could possible spend some time in prison. Probably as long as Andy Fastow of Enron fame.
OK, here is my beef with the deal...
It shouldn't be this way, but minorities, especially black minorities often start out with some level of disadvantage. In America's history, expectations of blacks were low. As many people tend to live up to what is expected of them, generations under-performed when compared to whites. Limitations were imposed on these folks and opportunities were withheld. Skip forward a few years from the civil rights era, and groups like the NAACP, United Negro College Fund, quotas, etc were instituted, and opportunities started becoming available.
The problem at this point is that many of the people of age to take advantage of these new opportunities had parents that were of another generation, and did not push their children to excel and take advantage of these opportunities (It's still a vicious cycle today - as evidenced by some of the people brought out of the shadows and into the spotlight after Hurricane Katrina)
But, some people did take advantage of what was offered, and worked hard to better themselves. Priscilla Slade was one of these people. I don't know this woman's life story, but She graduated with an undergraduate degree from Mississippi State, a masters from Jackson State, and a PhD in Accounting from University of Texas. I've become an Aggie fan as my wife has a masters in Accounting from Texas A&M, but I can tell you, you gotta be pretty smart to get out of Austin with a Masters in any of the business disciplines (as it is VERY hard to even get in). This lady is nice looking, well educated, and likely worked hard to get where she was. If I remember correctly, she was Dean of the business college at TSU before getting picked to be president.
Where am I going with this? I'll tell you. It really burns me to see so many minorities that use their talents (education, athletic ability, etc) to get ahead, only to get greedy. So many of them take advantage of the position they have attained honestly and just completely screw the pooch for nothing but greed. As a member of the majority race (although a shrinking majority), I have to live with the way previous generations treated minorities (usually blacks). We are reminded about it constantly by certain activists (who would be out of a job if they didn't constantly stir the pot).
Yes, whites fail colossally (the guys at Enron as a perfect example). They also fail often. The difference is that the whites seem to have nothing to prove, and nothing more to really gain. The minorities are still fighting to catch up, and it seems that too many of the ones that make it don't seem to worry much about the ones coming after them.
What a shame.
Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Jury Duty...
After rescheduling 2 times, I had no more mulligans left, so I reported this morning for jury duty. The bad thing about jury duty here is at the courthouse is downtown, and I live 25 miles away. I live in one suburb and work in another. That means I don't have to go downtown and fight traffic. This morning I fought that traffic. I hate traffic.
So, an hour commute to report for jury duty at 8am. I was picked as number 37 in a 48 person panel, of which 12 would be picked. Yippie, a civil deal. One guy suing another for injuries from a car accident. What's worse, the plaintiff is a former cop. He is now a hairdresser. Heh, heh. What a change...
The funny thing about juries is how bad everyone tries to get out of them. One guy did the math and figured out that he was close enough to the front to get picked, so he went for broke. The plaintiff was a quite large guy. This potential juror claimed to have an eating disorder and would find it impossible to be impartial to a guy of that size. Pretty original. He didn't get picked, so I guess it worked.
In the end, I was finally released around 1:00 or so. In Houston, that means walking a couple of blocks from the courthouse to the building that the jury pool assembles to pay for parking. The kicker, jury duty pays $6 per day and parking is $5.50. What's even better? Effective tomorrow, the juror pay is $40 per day. I wonder what they will increase parking to?
After rescheduling 2 times, I had no more mulligans left, so I reported this morning for jury duty. The bad thing about jury duty here is at the courthouse is downtown, and I live 25 miles away. I live in one suburb and work in another. That means I don't have to go downtown and fight traffic. This morning I fought that traffic. I hate traffic.
So, an hour commute to report for jury duty at 8am. I was picked as number 37 in a 48 person panel, of which 12 would be picked. Yippie, a civil deal. One guy suing another for injuries from a car accident. What's worse, the plaintiff is a former cop. He is now a hairdresser. Heh, heh. What a change...
The funny thing about juries is how bad everyone tries to get out of them. One guy did the math and figured out that he was close enough to the front to get picked, so he went for broke. The plaintiff was a quite large guy. This potential juror claimed to have an eating disorder and would find it impossible to be impartial to a guy of that size. Pretty original. He didn't get picked, so I guess it worked.
In the end, I was finally released around 1:00 or so. In Houston, that means walking a couple of blocks from the courthouse to the building that the jury pool assembles to pay for parking. The kicker, jury duty pays $6 per day and parking is $5.50. What's even better? Effective tomorrow, the juror pay is $40 per day. I wonder what they will increase parking to?
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